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| ISE 1985 - 1987 Rich Rust - Vocals John Spadaro - Lead Guitar Dan Rembert - Rythum Guitar Drew Carothers - Bass Rob Sheppard - Keyboards Shawn Cray - Drums & Vocals The Story of the First Show The Story of Playing at Crafton Park |
| The Story of ISE |
| Early in 1985, best friends Rich Rust (vocals and keyboards), Dan Rembert (guitars), and Shawn Cray (drums) created a band with one goal in mind, to become rock stars. The three of them already conjured up the name for the band, while they dreamt of the certain stardom. Initially, this Top-40 cover band was dubbed ISSE (pronounced ice). Now the group required band members to complete the inspiration. The three friends started looking for assistance to get their musical careers to the masses. The search occurred in phases. Phase I happened just outside of reality. They often filled the remaining spots with other friends posing as members of the band. Because of the friend�s unwillingness to participate in the �puppet show� and the sure thing that this would land them in the nut house instead of the manor house, this idea was thrown out the window. Phase II happened a little closer to reality. The group acquired an agreeable participant to become rock stars with them. The first test subject was Brad Graham. For whatever reason, the union never stuck, but the audition session that resulted was quite entertaining. (Some where, on the internet probably, you can find a video recording of the four pseudo rock starts lip-synching to the Van Halen album 1984.) The next experiment proved to be a very promising one. Shawn heard through the Cray-family grapevine that his cousin, Chris Cray, played guitar and was very talented. A meeting was arranged and a jam session proceeded in May of 1985. It was magical and Chris lived up to his billing. ISSE transformed into Kous, because of the two pairs of cousins in the band. The initial rehearsal generated excitement and big plans exploded in every direction. After a photo session for some publicity shots and other important issues were taken care of, the group scheduled the next practice for a month later and discussed the line up. Dan planned to move to bass and allowed Chris to take center stage due to his obvious ability. The three friends watched Chris drive away in his parent�s car with the anticipation of the next practice on their minds. During the break, the news that ensued was tragic. Chris, who was only 15-years old at the time, was killed in an ATV accident. The front wheel of his tricycle ran into a chain which then bounced up and instantly took his young life. When the new band-mate passed, he took the band name with him. This news wounded the spirit of the new friends and cousin, but they were determined to continue with the pursuit in tribute. While the hunt continued, a modification in the name was also required. ISSE was continuously mispronounced. The sound of �issy� echoed in the 6 ears and a change was forthcoming. Rich suggested that the band drop one �s� and the rest is history. With the name altered, the group was sure this would attract a suitable set of musicians and the mispronouncing would cease. Well, at least half of the plight ended, however the public still called them �isy�. After many months of searching for the missing pieces and coming up short, the puzzle fell into place in September 1985. After Shawn returned from band camp (insert your �American Pie� joke here), he passed the good news on to Rich and Dan that he may have found a solution in the form of a trombone player. A meeting was arranged with the potential player and the three struggling musicians. The encounter took place in a garage in Rosslyn Farms, a small, upscale community just outside the city limits of Pittsburgh, PA. It was the emptied garage that the three seekers found John Spadaro with his guitar, Rob Sheppard behind his keyboards, and their leader and fellow band-geek, Drew Carothers with his favorite Richenbacker bass. A demonstration of their original and cover tunes followed by an exchange of plans for the future. Drew knew that Shawn was talented at drums and invited him to join them in their band. Shawn turned to his comrades-in-arms and stated, �Not without them!� The negotiations were quick and the two pairs of three-somes became an army of six. ISE was solidified as a band. Rich on vocals, John at lead guitar, Dan on rhythm guitar, Drew at bass, Rob on keyboards, and Shawn kept the rhythm to the entire show. The band spent the next 3-months in hiding. The Cray�s attic turned into a rehearsal space and the occasional hotel room for the band. John and Drew were driven perfectionist and they, along with Shawn lead the way to the rock promised land. Rob, Dan, and Rich sat in the back-ground with the sporadic good-idea or song suggestion. The band turned into a machine over the next few months. They looked through the top-40 listings to get more songs to agree upon or discard. They placed on the selves cover tune after cover tune to practice and refine. ISE was more than a band, it was an adventure. ISE found the line-up and arranged the songs, but now they had to find the supporters. The first ISE appearance was in December 1985. The band arranged a half-hour set and booked a two-night gig at Carlynton High School. Friday night was the junior high and Saturday night was the senior high Christmas dance. The set included �One Thing Leads to Another�, �Tequila�, �Say You, Say Me�, �Cold as Ise�, �Moving in Stereo�, and the original, instrumental �Frozen Extremes�. The band was paid $30 for their time, but the money meant nothing to the guys in the band. The experience outweighed any amount of money they could have made that night. It was exhilarating to say the least. The crowd became instant fans of the group, a cult following was created, and a fan club was formed, they called themselves �the Isicles�. The band also made their first recording, Cold as ISE, Live at Carlynton. ISE went back incognito to work on its next projects. Over the next 6-months, the band produced recordings and practiced for the next appearance. The recordings In Cold Blood and Living on the Thin ISE, Live at the �On Top of the World� Club came from this time period. The camaraderie that developed during this time made this band tighter than any practice time they put in, which was also amassing. They were truly becoming brothers. The kinship showed in the music and it was illustrated by the holes in the walls from the long nights of heated discussions and mistakes. Hours turned into days and days turned into weeks spent on perfecting the music. The hobby intensified and converted into work. The band members put in hours at the attic sweat-shop. The hard work would pay big dividends at the Liberty Concert on July 4, 1986. ISE went from a little high school dance band to the opening act for the principal local celebration in just half a year. The entire community was coming to watch the maturation of the six local heroes on the stage at Crafton Park. The band took the stage in front of about a thousand roaring fans. The young men transformed into a combined presence on the stage that evening. While the earlier December gig pushed the band into the local limelight, this concert established ISE as local legends. Hard work and dedication to their craft helped launch the musical careers of these teenage icons. The well-designed set included �Addicted to Love�, �Hey You!�, �Wild Thing�, �You Really got Me�, �Home Sweet Home�, and carry-overs �Frozen Extremes� and �Cold as Ise�. The recording Breaking the Ise, Live at Crafton Park chronicled this performance both in video and audio format. The achievement of this concert initiated invitations to other local festivals and activities during the summer of �86. The band was on the cusp of greatness, but the intensity must have burnt too hot. The success that ISE found in the year with this line-up was soon lost after Drew and Rob engaged in their college careers and John pursued other musical interests. ISE was forced back into a three-some and once again looking for musicians to fill the holes. The search continued once again. The remaining members fell right back into their old roles as hunters. In the interim, the trimmed down version of ISE recorded Freeze-Dried, Live at the Basement Club and the EP Cold-Hearted Woman (Two Timin' Baby). These recordings lacked the intensity that was expected from the band. It was official; the band was on the down-fall of stardom. Efforts to salvage the brilliance of the six-piece band took place over the next year or so. Line-ups continued to change with the likes of talented musicians like Mike �E�, Ron Stetz, Len Costa, and Reagan Geismen. These variations produced some more fun times, but none of them captured the passion of the past year and it was time to call the project�s �time-of-death�. ISE changed phases and drifted away when Shawn joined John in his hard-rock project and Dan and Rich started their own projects. Drew moved on and formed many popular bands in the Chicago and LA areas. Rob was last located in Alaska. As the sextet, live performances established ISE as a talented local band and the compilation recording, The ISE Age, emerged to be an ideal sample of the life and times of ISE. It was truly the ISE age during the �short but sweet� life span of this celebrated local Pittsburgh band in the mid �80s. Stories are still told of the glory days of ISE and the tall-tales continue to grow. If you look at the family tree of Pittsburgh rock, you would discover ISE talent at the root of it all. The Affordable Floors, the Breakup Society, Brownie Mary, the Dharma Sons, the Distractions, the Jet Fighters, Karetaker, the Movies, the Nixon Clocks, and Soulbent all have musician links to ISE. When you listen to a band playing live in Pittsburgh, they somehow have six-degrees or less of separation to the greatness that was and still is ISE. |