carbide

Inside the Spiral Termination CD

At the I-Rock on a Z-rock night

From a show at the Foundry in Detroit

This Band has somewhat of a legend status in Detroit . Carbide has been kicking it around the city since 1984. Most metalheads would have at least heard of us. I joined Carbide in 1990. I don't think the band was doing much until I arrived. I had met these guys previously, and they were co-owners and operating a 24 track studio close to my home, so I joined and I was a perfect fit. We were playing shows shortly after me joining and the recordings started. With Carbide, we were able to get good shows and get exposure. There was an audience for live music more so back then. We were gigging alot, not just your showcase shows, we'd find gigs that paid after playing 4 sets. These made for long nights playing covers and originals. We were able to muster enough money to release our professionally recorded album,'Spiral Termination'. We had already released a cassette of other material, this time it had to be a CD which wasn't so easy financially or otherwise back then. Through a rough road we finally got it out, drawing rave reviews and it was selling nicely at the shows.

Once the CD was out we had to get it into the hands of the right people. We mailed out CDs all over, record people and such, I was able to obtain alot of addresses to send promos out to media types. The internet was not a factor for most people didn't have it then. We peppered magazines all over the globe trying to make a name for ourselves. With positive reviews from mags such as Burnnnn and Heavy Oder Was?!, we were able to sell CDs overseas. Large orders came in from record stores and distributors. Mail from all over the world was coming in. They wanted Carbide, and we were happy to get it to them. We were really doing well in Japan and Germany. Though the CD was a success, we never got the big call for a record deal.

With funding from the sales of 'Spiral Termination", we were able to release another CD. This one named 'Product of the Real World'. Problems arose during the recording process. We would finish the recording but Nick our drummer was leaving after the recording was done. Jeff and I carried on and we released the CD then found another drummer, Derek, an old band mate of mine from Letching Grey. We promoted our new CD but it never had the impact the first CD did. We did a few shows, wrote some new material and recorded with Derek, but with Derek living 200 miles away we knew he was a temporary member. We might have continued the band, but our practice facility was being sold. The Liberty Bowl/The Ritz had been sold to K-Mart. So we packed it up and that was last time Carbide played. The songs recorded with Derek are now available on the CARBIDE WEB SITE. Check them out. You will also find all the ordering information to obtain Carbide CDs? along with other unreleased Carbide songs . The website takes you through the recording years of Carbide.