Brad's Many Bands

Quick link to my current band's web site where you can get more information and listen to songs:

I love playing music. I started singing in the school choir in the 5th grade and joined The Plymouth Boy Choir in Fort Wayne shortly afterwards where I would receive vocal lessons for three years. My parents got a piano at about the same time and I soon learned how to play, eventually taking 2 years of lessons. In sixth grade, I joined the school band and learned how to play the trumpet, which I played through high school. However, I haven't touched trumpet since I graduated.

Some friends and I decided to start an alternative rock band when I was in 9th grade with me playing keyboards. Our bass player dropped out almost immediately, so (with a little help from my guitar-playing friend Chip) I taught myself how to play bass. One Christmas, in the 10th grade, I picked up my aunt's acoustic guitar. After struggling with it for about two months, I gave up. About a year later, the guitar player quit our band so I HAD to learn how to play it. I borrowed a 12-string acoustic guitar and a chord fingering book from my good friend Jeff's dad. After many months of painful practice, I finally got it. Jeff was usually drumming in the same band that I was in, and every once in a while he'd let me play his drum set and give me some tips. By the time I graduated college (Purdue University) I was a pretty decent drummer too. My favorite instruments to play are (in order): guitar, drums, bass, piano, then trumpet. However I feel that I am most talented on (in order): bass, guitar, drums, piano, trumpet.

So anyway, I thought I would dedicate a page to all the bands I have ever played in and include pictures and sounds when possible.

Jump links to bands listed further down on the page

Signal 30
Third Rail
Crunge Machine
Just Plain Ugly
8' to ∞
(No Name)
Veign
Freakafunk
Psycholicious
Schwa
lackluster
Spun
Green Light Go
The One Eyed Kings
The Full-Blooded Hooligans
This Side Up

SIGNAL 30

1987-1991
Hometown: Fort Wayne, IN
Original line up: Brad Loase - Bass, vocals; Jeff Witwer - Drums, vocals; Chip Jacobs - Guitar, vocals
Other members/changes: Brad Loase - Guitar, vocals; Jenny Welch - Bass; Dan Hough - Drums; Jon Pavrachi - Bass

Signal 30 was the first real band that I was in. We played mostly covers from the Cure, U2, and The Police. Our name came from the title of one of those scare movies they show you during driver's education. Signal 30 was a police code for a traffic accident with fatalities. We usually played talent shows, but we were known to just pack our equipment into a car and drive to the outdoor mall or a friend's garage and plug-in. We recorded two songs for a Battle of the Bands contest which was so horrible we agreed to never discuss it again. The songs were quite good though, and I may put one on MP3.com. Chip quit and rejoined a few times, with Jenny filling in whenever we needed her. Dan came on board after Jeff graduated high school and drummed in a few talent shows and our demo. Jeff and I took this band to Purdue where we practiced at the Wesley Foundation (Jeff had some connections). Chip was too busy pledging for a fraternity, so we hooked up with Jon to play bass. The band finally broke up to form Third Rail.

THIRD RAIL

1991-1992
Hometown: West Lafayette, IN
Original line up: Brad Loase - Guitar, vocals; Jeff Witwer - Drums; Tony Lewellen - Bass, vocals
Other members/changes: Mike - Vocals

Third Rail started when Signal 30 was playing at a party. Our bass player took a break and Tony picked up his instrument and started playing. A spontaneous jam took place (as I recall I was playing a funky version of "Suicide Blonde"). Everything clicked and Jon wanted to play in another band, so we asked Tony to join Signal 30. Tony (being a man with a good sense of what's cool, but a very poor sense of tact) told us we should forget all of our wimpy songs and covers and write all new heavier original songs. We had a sound like Primus, Fishbone or Red Hot Chili Peppers (Tony also played a part in showing me how to play slap bass). The name came from the "hot", energized rail used to power electric trains (Two were for the wheels, the third supplied the power). We played quite a few parties on campus and were starting to get a small following when Jeff had a falling out with Tony over a girl (of all things). Not long afterwards, Jeff was looking for something else, so I remained loyal to Jeff and quit the band also. Unfortunately, I have no recordings or pictures of Third Rail, but if you ask me, I'll play "New World Order" or "Concrete Jungle" for you on my guitar. Tony started another band called Jah-bone that had some minor success in the Lafayette area.

CRUNGE MACHINE

1992-1994
Hometown: West Lafayette, IN
Original line up: Brad Loase - Guitar, vocals; Jeff Witwer - Drums, vocals; Greg Smith - Bass, vocals
Other members/changes: Greg Smith - Guitar, vocals; Kenny Redman - Bass; Dave - Drums

I have often said that Crunge Machine is my proudest accomplishment in life. Third Rail had jammed with Greg a few times earlier so when the band broke up, he seemed like a logical choice to help form a new band. We originally called ourselves Crunch Machine because we liked the word "Crunch" printed on Cap'n Crunch cereal. This was later changed to Crunge Machine after the Led Zepplin song "The Crunge". It was also meant as a tongue-in-cheek joke about the grunge bands that were coming out of Seattle (which we all liked). I had just discovered Nirvana, and since Jeff and I didn't have cable, we never got sick of them like everyone else with MTV. We started out with a handful of original songs and many covers from Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Ministry, Dinosaur Jr., and The Wonderstuff. Nirvana was so popular at the time that it didn't take very many parties for us to get a large following. Eventually we dropped most of the covers and replaced them with more grunge rock originals. The greatest feeling I can ever remember is playing a song I wrote, "No Angel", and hearing the crowd singing back over me at a packed party. We recorded a 5 song EP with Pelicore that we named "Laxative Roulette" after a stupid Mylanta commercial. We would drop off about 20 tapes at Von's Music and they would be out in 3-4 days. We easily sold over 100 tapes there. Soon after we recorded the EP, we met Kenny who was a big fan and knew how to play. Greg was looking for a way to get back onto guitar, so we let him in. We played at quite a few cities including Evansville (Crystal Palace?), Fort Wayne (The Monkey Lust), and Indianapolis (The Sitcom). We shared the stage with such names as Watershed and Brainiac. We were never very good at self-promotion, but I always felt that if the right person had heard us, Crunge Machine could have made it. After Jeff graduated from Purdue, we kind of lost some energy. We didn't write any new songs and Jeff's replacement couldn't match his skills. It was probably all for the best because I needed to focus on school and I was going to leave anyway. But it sure was fun while it lasted. Kenny and Greg went on to form a cool power-pop band called Walker and even went on the road to California.

JUST PLAIN UGLY

1994-1994
Hometown: Clarksville, TN
Original line up: Brad Loase - Guitar; Ed - Lead guitar; I don't even remember who the other guys were

I am almost ashamed to talk about this band. Having just moved to a small town in western Kentucky, I was eager to find any band that was even remotely grunge or alternative. I decided to give these guys a try after I saw their flyer in a music store. They weren't bad musicians, but the lead guitar player was a jerk and he thought he was a better player than he actually was. He also had no idea as to what was cool (he wouldn't change the band name even after I pleaded with him. He claimed they had a big following under that name). We had one original song and covered Aerosmyth, Greenday, and the Gin Blossoms. We only played one outdoor party that got rained out half way through our set. The drummer and I would constantly make fun the guitar player and his over-the-top ego, so it wasn't long before I quit. Thank God there are no recordings of me with this band. I have no idea what those guys are doing now.

8' TO ∞

1995-1996
Hometown: Hopkinsville, KY
Original line up: Brad Loase - Bass, vocals; Warren Musser - Guitar; Mike - Guitar; Chip(?) - Drums

I had met Warren at work and was so glad to know another musician in Kentucky that was at least on the same page that I was. We had jammed together a few times on electric guitars when we decided to try joining a band. We saw a flyer in a music store and met Chip and Mike. They were pretty cool guys but somewhat inexperienced (I believe this was the first band for both). I was actually a better drummer than Chip, but I thought he would improve in time. Mike had written a couple of good Creed type songs and I had a few post-grunge rock songs for about 8 original songs. Then we covered Alice In Chains, Bush, Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, Live, and Weezer (an alternative potpourri). We got our name from the last focus setting on a 35mm camera, however it had to be drawn out of a hat because not everyone liked it. Mike would eventually quit because he didn't like me. We played at a couple of nearly empty bars and a coffeehouse where the average age had to be below 17. We also played a Battle of the Bands that rivals the disaster the Signal 30 underwent. The organizing geniuses of this event (some high school kids) rented a park shelter for a weekend. They decided to have something like 16 amateur bands play over 2 days and you had to pay $16 to get in. Needless to say, our ONLY audience (aside from the other bands) was the three guests that we were allowed to get in free. Growing frustrated with the lack of results from all our hard work, I started playing with another band in hopes that I could reclaim some of the glory of Crunge Machine. Warren could see the writing on the wall so he decided to quit the band. He told me he was quitting music altogether, which I hope is not true. Warren was a great player, a quick learner and an excellent teacher. I hope he still picks up his Gibson every now and then.

(NO NAME)

1996-1997
Hometown: Clarksville, TN
Original line up: Brad Loase - Bass; Mikey(?) - Drums; Eric Daily - Guitar

I remember Mikey approached me after an 8' to Infinity show at the coffeehouse. He was impressed that we chose to play "Killing In the Name Of" and "Bombtrack" by Rage Against the Machine rather than the more popular "Bulls on Parade". I hinted to him that I was interested in playing in another, heavier band. We got together at Eric's house not long after and I was immediately impressed with Mike's drumming. He is the only other drummer I have played with that could possibly be better than Jeff is. Eric was a great guitar player too, but he was very much into Korn and wanted me to tune my four string bass down to B. Using standard gage strings, the string tension would be very loose and difficult to play. It was also much harder for my sound to cut through on my amplifier. I would usually go back to standard tuning and play a different bass line. These guys were closer to my age than 8' to Infinity, so we seemed to click a little bit better. We had about five original songs and would cover Rage Against the Machine, Korn, Tool, and Smashing Pumpkins every now and then to amuse ourselves. However, the band never played out and we rarely even practiced in front of friends. It was one of Clarksville's better secrets I guess. I ended up playing with Veign at the same time as Eric and Mikey, and would have to leave both bands in my move to Dayton. I haven't heard from Eric or Mikey since I moved, but I think Eric was planning to move out west.

VEIGN

1996-1997
Hometown: Clarksville, TN
Original line up: Brad Loase - Bass, vocals; Anthony Graham - Vocals, guitar; Justin - Drums; I don't the other guitar player's name

I don't really remember how I came to meet these guys, but they were all in the Army stationed at Fort Campbell. I figured, with all their army buddies, they would have a built in following - no such luck. We would practice at the Recreation Center on base, which was somewhat of a hassle because I didn't have a Ft. Campbell sticker on my car. I had to drive about 25 minutes from my apartment, park my car outside the gates and transfer all my equipment into their vehicle just to unload it inside the gate. We got the name by default when we got a gig before we had a name (I think Justin came up with it). We only had one original song and covered Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Bush, and Filter. Anthony loved Pearl Jam (which I didn't really care for) and we would practice Rear View Mirror about five times in a row each rehearsal. It really sounded good and Anthony sounded a lot like Eddie Vedder, but his fixation on that song was ridiculous. I had always wanted to play at the Warehouse in Clarksville and that turned out to be Veign's only show. There was a decent sized crowd, I'd say 50-60 people and they seemed to pay attention to us. But it wasn't the enthusiastic camaraderie I was expecting from their fellow recruits. When I got another job offer in Dayton, it wasn't too hard to say good-bye.

FREAKAFUNK

1997-1998...continuing today
Hometown: Piqua, OH
Original line up: Brad Loase - Bass, guitar, programming; Tom Lhamon - Vocals; Steve Ali - Vocals; Jaime Brown - Vocals, turntables
Other members/changes: Josh Vetter - Bass; Mark Powell - Drums

When I got my new job I trained with Steve and Tom in the lab. I had seen Tom do some cool spoken word stuff live at a park concert in Piqua. But it wasn't until I went over to Steve's house that I realized they both wanted to start a band. I brought over my acoustic guitar and played a song I wrote, "Rosalita", and we decided that we had something. Steve was really into rap and I was curious how it would sound with an old grunge-head like me playing the instruments. The first couple of practices I brought over my bass rig and drum machine which we would run through Steve's stereo. We wrote "Cheap Wine" and "Warning" in about a day (I programmed the drum machine and wrote bass/guitar lines. Steve and Tom came up with the lyrics). Soon, Jaime was bringing over his turntables and rapping too and we evolved into a heavy-rock/rap thing with a few mellow, flowing type songs. We even covered The Beastie Boys and Slick Rick. We all took a trip to Jeff's house in Crawfordsville and recorded four songs on his ADAT recorder. We made our own tapes and gave many away. When I look back at it, of all the bands I've been in, I think Freakafunk got the most response with the least amount of effort. (It never got as big as Crunge Machine, but I don't think we tried as hard either.) Jaime eventually ran into some personal problems, so we ended up letting him go. We played quite a few shows and it was easy to plug the drum machine into the P.A. and have my guitar or bass on top of that. There were some grumbles in the local scene because we weren't using live drums. Also, Piqua was largely a death metal scene - not very receptive to rap. Yet still people came to our shows at the VFW Hall in Piqua, The Rusty Nail in Lima, Wright State University, and the Circle Center in Dayton to name a few. We made several recordings with Jason Jacoby and I have placed a few at our mp3 site. In an effort to give us a heavier sound, we added Josh and Mark. Although I was glad to have a more versatile stage performance, it cost me some control over the music. It also brought other musical influences into the group, which (at times) interfered with the bond that Tom, Steve, and I had formed. We never recorded with live drums. The band started to crumble when Steve and Tom got new jobs and I didn't see them on a day-to-day basis. The 30-minute drive to Steve's started to wear on me (I would go right after work). After a show with the Komandos at the VFW hall, Tom announced that he was quitting. I tried to go on with Steve, but it wasn't the same, and I was ready to quit. Josh and Mark went on to other bands that were more suited to their styles.

About a year later, Tom approached me with five songs that he wanted to record on his own. They were closer to the original style that Freakafunk started with and I once again had total control over the instruments. We recorded the songs over several months (one session a month) with help from Jeff and his ADAT. We ended up putting Freakafunk as the artist's name on the CD. Tom and I continue to get together almost every month and do some intense sessions. Occasionally we will bring Steve back into the mix and we have kicked around the idea of "cashing in" on a Freakafunk reunion tour. Tom provides me with great inspiration and we make some pretty good music together.

PSYCHOLICIOUS

1998-2001
Hometown: Dayton, OH
Original line up: Brad Loase - Drums, vocals; Jeff Witwer - Guitar, vocals; Chasity Ali - Bass
Other members/changes: Russ - Guitar; Dan Toohey - Bass, guitar; Kevin Nichols - Bass

Although the band's birth was in '98, Psycholicious was really conceived about three years earlier. Jeff had started fumbling around on guitar and was beginning to show some promise writing several loud, droney type songs. I would get on the drums and live my dream about someday drumming for a band. Occasionally, our friend Dewey Johnson would join in our jam sessions. Jeff had always had Psycholicious in his rolodex for band names he would like to use. Flash forward to 1998 when Jeff moved in to my apartment in Dayton. We both had enough equipment to supply two whole bands, but we didn't have enough musicians. We finally talked Chaz into playing with us even though she had never played bass in her life (she could sort-of play guitar). We held a few practices at her house before we rented a public storage garage. We would plug all amps into an incandescent light bulb socket in this 10' by 10' garage (a quarter of the floor space was also used for storage!) It was cramped and HOT in the summer, COLD in the winter (I remember wearing winter jackets and hats during some practices). It was also a very big hassle to practice because we had to call ahead to make sure the manager on duty was the one who would allow us to practice. We also had to be out of the gated area by 9:00 (once, Dan's truck got locked in because we stayed there too late!) Jeff met Russ over the internet and he added a nice twang to our psychedelic sound. I don't know if it was the heat at practice or if Russ never really clicked with our style, but he ended up quitting after about three months. It got to be too much for Chaz also since she had a 1 year old daughter and no car of her own. We started Schwa to keep our musical juices flowing, but eventually found Dan by posting a flyer in a music store. He liked our influences and was willing to practice in the storage space so...he was in! Dan played bass for Jeff's songs, switching instruments with Jeff for his own songs. Dan plays with an open-style of tuning giving his songs a droning, suspended chord feeling. We have two solid hours of original music that sounds like Hum, The Dandy Warhols and Yo La Tengo. We also cover a few tunes by The Byrds, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Love Spit Love, and Soft Cell. We have recorded a CD ourselves which we call Raw. We have spread over 50 discs to friends in the area. The three of us played a few shows in Piqua together, but not very many people showed up. We have also played unplugged a few times at The Canal Street Tavern. Kevin was added to give Dan and Jeff full-time guitar duty, but he would quit without playing one show due to some painful arthritis in his hand joints. Dan also has some medical complications with his thyroid making it difficult for him to get the energy to play. Dan eventually left to join an excellent band called Eyesinweasel with former Guided by Voices member Tobin Sprout. Jeff and I lost motivation for searching for new members, so we decided to shelve this band.

SCHWA

1999-2002
Hometown: Fairborn, OH
Original line up: Brad Loase - Bass, vocals; Jeff Witwer - Drums, vocals; Jon - Guitar

During a Psycholicious hiatus, Jeff and I were looking for something else to do musically. We spotted a flyer looking for "bored musicians", specifically a drummer and bass player. I called Jon with the intention of drumming, but after talking to him I realized that I might not be up to snuff with my skills. I quickly included Jeff in our first jam (I KNEW Jeff would be up to task) and Schwa was born. The name is another name that Jeff had been thinking of - it means the "uh" sound used in pronunciation keys and is represented by an upside-down "e". We have written about and hour and a half of original songs which are heavy rock/alternative. Some kind of sound like Creed, Jane's Addiction (without Perry Farrell), Primus, Rage Against the Machine, and Slayer. We also have almost an hour's worth of cover songs from such bands as Nirvana, Bush, Everclear, Filter, Jefferson Airplane, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and The Sex Pistols. We have played at the 1470 Club and the Canal Street Tavern's Summer Band Playoffs. Everybody in the audience got to vote for their favorite of three bands for the evening, then every band gets $1 for every vote they receive. Somehow, we had seven friends show up, but we only got five votes! :-( The winning band had something like 27 votes but fortunately, we did not finish last that night. Schwa recorded a 4-song demo called Shrine. We have given away over 20 discs tyring to get shows. We have since released another 12-song CD called Lose. Jon has Cleveland in 2001, but he had been coming back to Dayton to jam whenever he could. Eventually it became too much of a hassle to schedule a practice that included a four hour drive, so we decided the best thing to do was end the band.

Jeff had bought an acoustic guitar several years earlier and we would usually play some Psycholicious songs acoustically just for fun. One day he turned to me and said he really wanted to get serious about playing out as an acoustic duo. We wrote and learned a ton of songs, eventually getting a 90-minute original set and a 150-minute cover set. We tried to play songs that all ages would like to make it easier to get shows. I came up with the name after hearing a Verve Pipe song which used the word "lackluster" and thought it was appropriate for this band - no drums, no theatrics, just stripped down, pure music. We started playing regular shows at the Leaf & Vine in Troy, OH and the Firefly Coffeehouse in Ft. Wayne, IN. We also played in Eaton, West Chester, Cincinnati, Miamisburg, and Dayton. We discovered how easy it was to promote a band that wasn't loud like a full rock band, and how simple it was to transport and set up our equipment. We recorded two CD's entitled "Special Delivery" and "Nothing Lacking" which showcase our original songwriting, live performances, and cover playing skills. After a couple of years, it became harder and harder to schedule performances. It may have been because we were a sort of an acoustic rock band and not the more traditional, folk type of acoustic groups people wanted to hear. Also, some of our usual venues stopped featuring live music - other than open-mic nights. I got tired of driving 30 minutes downtown to play a 20 minute open-mic set on a Thursday night (usually around 11:00pm). I think we both missed the energy of putting on a show with a full, electric band and we had just started Green Light Go for that reason. In any case, we played a graduation party for a friend of Jeff's and never scheduled any more shows. Eventually we stopped practicing as Lackluster and focussed on our other groups.

With so many of my other bands winding down, I found myself once again looking for a new group. I was tired of trying to break into the original music scene in Dayton and just wanted to find a group that could easily find an audience and be fun. I came across Jim's flyer looking for a bass player at the local grocery store and called the number. At the time, they already had another bass player lined up so he told me he'd keep my number if things didn't work out. About a month later I had all but forgotten about Jim when he called asking if I was still available. I agreed to come over and we played several tunes off of their set list, many of which I already knew. They were impressed at how quickly I was able to pick up the songs and liked my style. I thought the guys were very talented and had picked some great songs. I was slightly disappointed that Sam played an electronic drum set, but I was willing to overlook that. We practiced at Sam's house (which was in my neighborhood) under the name 'Sudden Trauma'. We quickly decided we didn't like that name and I came up with Krankenstein after watching a Gwar video that featured the drug-addicted monster. I had only been practicing with the guys a few weeks when I received an e-mail about a place in Middletown that was trying to fill a last minute cancellation. This would become our first show. The next show was a house warming party for a friend. Some alcohol-induced behavior gave the guys the final straw they were looking for to ask Sam to leave the group. Needing the services of a drummer, I called on my good friend Jeff. He sat in on a practice at my house and really impressed the guys. Before we knew it, we played a wedding reception with Jeff under the name 'The Banned' simply because we had grown tired of Krankenstein and couldn't think of a new name. We added a lot of songs with Jeff and got really good. Our set included Hoobastank, Bush, Foo Fighters, Live, Jimmy Eat World, and many more. Nearly all of them were still in regular rotation on the radio and we duplicated them almost perfectly. We soon landed on the name Spun and began making promotional packages including a 7-song CD, website (the first website I've ever had for a band), and even a huge banner. We played in Xenia, Miamisburg, and Riverside and got connections to even more shows.

Unfortunately, in 2003 personal differences erupted between Jeff and other band members. He didn't like the songs we were playing and felt we were too critical of him and his playing. Jeff's departure caused us to lose a lot of momentum, but we persevered looking for a replacement. Additionally, Troy announced he would be moving to Kansas City at the end of 2003. All of us are so sad to hear Troy is leaving us, but we realize his family comes first and we wish him all the best. We found ourselves looking for several new members throughout 2003 and finally hooked up with John and Keith (in what I call Spun, phase II). John's got a terrific voice and is an excellent front man. Keith's other band (Identity Crisis) had folded, so I asked him to join Spun. He really liked our songs and eagerly joined the band. It didn't take us long to gel with the new guys since they both played like pros. We played regularly at The Dublin Pub, Wing's Officers Club, and Jags. Spun was finally starting to get some of the success that we had deserved for so long. John pushed for more dance songs to engage the crowd, and while it wasn't our favorite kind of music, it was a pretty cool feeling to pack a dance floor to the music you're playing. Here are the songs Boys of Summer and Play That Funky Music. However, Joe disagreed with the direction the band was going and decided to leave in 2004 to concentrate on his all-original band. Once again, the search was on and we auditioned several musicians with me rotating to the empty spot (drums/bass/or guitar). We ended up with Eddie on guitar. Eddie was a great performer and an accomplished guitar player, but ultimately didn't have the time to learn all the songs and keep up his studies at his technical school. After only a couple of shows, Eddie left to focus on his studies. While Eddie had been learning songs, we practiced many times as a four-piece, so we decided to remain in that configuration for a while. In early 2005 John went through some personal problems which required him to relocate to Oklahoma. We knew we would have a hard time replacing him and auditioned several guys before we found Derrick, a singer for a Troy-based band called The Alvins. Not long after we recruited Derrick, Joe's other band began to lose members and he asked to re-join Spun to keep up his musical outlet. We gladly welcomed Joe back, and started to pick up several new songs. Around mid-2005, Keith announced that he wanted to devote more time to his football coaching responsibilities and would leave the band at the end of the year. We went through a lot of growth with Keith and it was sad to see him go. His work on the website, attitude towards the band, and connection with our fans was greatly appreciated and was sorely missed. He took it upon himself to find his own replacement, Sean. Although Sean is my age, he hadn't drummed since high school. But after one audition we could tell he hadn't lost his edge after all those years. Sean's progress was so great that he replaced Keith even earlier than expected. After several shows with Derrick, we began getting more criticisms of his singing and stage presence from audience members and bar owners alike. Things we thought would improve were still lacking, so we decided to see what other singer options were available in Dayton.

Expecting a long, drawn out audition process, we invited Nick over in late 2005. He amazed us with his voice and style, so much that we asked Derrick to leave after that one practice. Nick's singing rivals John's and has caused all of us to improve our own playing. Being a strong salesman, Sean did some incredible work booking the band (now Spun, phase III), and 2006 was our busiest year ever. We played at The Upper Deck, The Avalanche Lounge, Walnut Hills, The Oregon Express, Sharkey's, JD Legends, and many more. We had a tremendous St. Patrick's Day show at Dunaway's in Troy. Sean even managed to get us sponsored by a local liquor distributor. Beyond that, Sean developed several Spun trinkets for the bands promotion, including temporary tattoos, mardi gras beads, frisbees, and T-shirts. But of course, things never lasted very long with this group: more personal issues developed with Jim in the summer of 2006 and he separated from his wife. Joe had some problems with Jim and would finally leave for good after our Halloween show at the Dublin Pub. Nick joined another band named Blare and encountered his own personal troubles in his life. Balancing our own feelings about each other and performing became too much of a struggle and we cancelled several shows in Fall of 2006. We managed to play as a four-piece on New Year's Eve 2006 at The Dublin Pub and this became our final show. We never announced our breakup, thinking that if by some miracle we would reunite, we wouldn't want anyone to know how shaky things were. I prepared the following post for our website anyway:

It was bound to happen someday, we just hoped it never would. Spun is disbanding after our New Year’s Eve 2006 show at the Dublin Pub. It seems fitting that our last show will be at a place that gave us a big step up in the local music scene, and that we’ll be surrounded by so many friends for our farewell concert. We’d like to acknowledge everyone who ever participated in this band from our very first show in Middletown, July 5, 2002, under the name Krankenstein. To all the great venues that let us play: your hospitality was amazing. To our devoted families: we couldn’t have done this without your outstanding support. Finally, to everyone who ever came out to see us – you gave Spun life. We are forever grateful to have had the opportunity to bring something we love so much into the public, and have it embraced by so many. The spirit of Spun will live on in our memories.

• 4-1/2 years
• 5 singers
• 4 drummers
• 3 guitar players
• 1 bass player ;-)
• 71 shows
• 28 public venues
• 9 private parties
• 122 songs
• 3 band names
• Hundreds of fans
• Countless good times

In many ways, Spun approached the level of pride that I had with Crunge Machine. The feeling of companionship with the core members of Spun (Troy, Jim, Joe, Keith, and Sean) is probably the highest I've ever had with any band. They have truly become some of the best friends I have had since moving to Ohio. I will always remain their friend and cherish the memories we have.

This band formed out of the ashes of Psycholicious when Jeff quit Spun. I didn't completely understand why he quit, but I harbored no ill will toward him. Besides, I was still interested in drumming, so when he found another interested musician, I decided to give it a shot. We played all original songs, mostly old Psycholicious tunes but many from Derek. Jeff wanted the sound to be mellower than Psycholicious, more like Spiritualized or Luna. In my opinion, it was virtually the same band: droning songs with various levels of intensity. Derek uses an interesting digital pickup that converts his guitar signal to violins, keyborad, and even drum sounds. The name came from Derek's suggestion and is simply a catchy phrase. The band never had a bass player and didn't have a chance to develop past our six song set list. I kept having to miss practices due to scheduling conflicts, so I decided it was best for me to step back from this band. Derek and Jeff intend to go on as an acoustic duo, and I may be able to re-join them if any of my other bands fall apart.

During all our problems with Spun, it looked like that band would fall apart. At the very least it would take us months to find a replacement for Jeff and Troy and work up a set that we could perform. While reading ads for drummers, I came across one for an Englewood band seeking a drummer. If it wouldn't have said Englewood, I wouldn't have responded. But I figured it was close and I may be 'out of work' soon anyway, so I dropped Vince a line. I told him I'm primarily a guitar and bass player, but I would like to play drums. He said he already had a drummer but was interested in adding another guitar and sent me a set list. It included Matchbox 20, Tonic, Black Crows, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and Train. In addition, they have a handful of original songs. I liked most of the bands, so I came over. Things went pretty well and we got to work. The name was decided after a process of elimination and no one really caring what we were named. The other guys have a lot of connections so this band could probably satisfy my desire to play out often. In 2004, Mike announced that One-Eyed Kings wasn't what he really wanted to do and he was leaving to pursue other interests. We auditioned Dale from Keith's defunct band, Identity Crisis. He already knew several songs, and was able to turn around about eight more songs every practice. It didn't take long for him to fill the bass slot in the band, and we were back to gigging in no time. As Vince would schedule shows, I would tell him the Spun schedule, so I wouldn't double book myself. I realized something had to change when I had six weekends booked with Spun out of the next three months and One-Eyed Kings still couldn't find anything. Spun was quickly gaining popularity yet despite our best efforts, the One-Eyed Kings were definitely on a downward slide. I announced my departure in early 2004 and we played our last show together at Bunkers in Vandalia. Keith voiced his concern in the effort to find a replacement and the struggle with our declining popularity. They all decided not to go on as a group after the Bunkers show. All the guys were great musicians and knew their stuff about equipment. One-Eyed Kings was a great learning experience for me and I enjoyed our time together.

Tom never stopped his musical endeavors, even when he quit coming down to Dayton. He began to create complete songs on his computer, using mostly samples and occasionally some musical friends of his up in Lima. Describing his songs as a combination of Outkast and The Hives, he would burn CD's for his friends who would give him plenty of positive feedback. He would even submit CD's to a radio station that featured local music and was one of the more popular artists - despite the fact that he had no band. As he stated on a radio interview, he came up with the name as a way to describe his group of friends that would come over to listen to music and drink. Eventually, he entered a CD in a Battle of the Bands contest that the radio station was organizing for the Square Fair, never dreaming it would actually get picked. Of course, that's exactly what happened - so he quickly began scrambling for musicians. He found guys for the drums and bass, but none of the guitar players fit in for the style and diversity he was looking for. After he called me and explained the whole story, I agreed to practice for what was supposed to be our only show. They didn't have a good place to practice in Lima (not that I was interested in driving up there every time) and I had all the equipment in my basement, so they made the hour drive down to Dayton for our practices. Tom mailed me a CD of songs he wanted to do. When I played it, I was amazed by its originality, production quality, and appeal. I tabbed every guitar note out over the next two days, not wanting to miss any nuance that Tom had created. It really didn't take us long to sound like a band that had been together for years. Both Bill and Jeremy had previous band experience and were great heads-up players. Square Fair came and went (although the results after first place we never announced, we supposedly came in second out of six) but the guys didn't want to stop what we had started. As long as they were willing to make the drive, it wasn't too much trouble to squeeze another group into my schedule - so we continued, wrote more songs, and eventually ended up with a 70-minute set. We play all originals except for covers from The Stooges and an old local band The Fast Ones. We played several shows at Harry's Hideaway in Lima, sometimes adding Dan into the mix so Tom wouldn't have double duty of DJ-ing and singing. However, Dan has said he has too many other things he's doing and had to step back from the Hooligans. Although Tom always says he doesn't consider himself much of a musician (he can't really play any instrument), he proves that you don't have to know how to play in order to make cool music. He just has a sense of what works together and has the ability to transform what's in his head to CD's or live musicians. Without a doubt, Tom is one of the BEST musicians I've ever collaborated with.

About the time Spun was winding down I realized I needed to take a break from bands. I had very few periods in my adult life where I wasn't heavily involved with musical groups. Tom announced he and his wife Lori were expecting a baby and it made me realize that my hobby was proving to be a distraction for many other areas in my life that I wanted to develop (having kids of my own, spending time with Dawn, several home improvement projects). Honestly, the long drive up to the shows we played in Lima got to me as well, especially since we didn't get paid. I hated to let the guys down, but I told them I was leaving in the Fall of 2006. Everyone was shocked and disappointed, but understood that things change. Tom had already formed a new band with some of the Fast One's members, named Sonic Action. Bill and Jeremy went on to form a new band with a couple of the guys from Jeremy's other band (Stone Halo).

Well, of course it didn't take long for things to change. Occassionally I went up to Sean Orban's house for some jam sessions with other musicians, and we kicked around the idea of doing something "Spun-like". Sean had already joined This Side Up, but was hoping another group could fill inbetween any down time the band had. Dawn told me that she did NOT feel like bands were interfering with our personal relationship, and gave me her blessing to find a new group. Sean and I started regular practices with Joe Thornton and some other people in a group we named Connect Five. It proved unbelievably difficult to get anything accomplished with the group, and we ended up pulling the plug after struggling to get a full set from May to July 2007. I told Sean in an email that Connect Five was too much of a drain on me and I was ready for an extended break. Not thirty minutes later he sent me a message saying the bass player in This Side Up was quitting and they would be interested in trying me out. In fact, they were scheduled for a professional photo shoot the next day and weren't sure what to do now that they'd be missing a member. I ended up going to the photo shoot before I even played a note with these guys! Honestly, the set list was not my first choice for songs (Journey, Billy Joel, Bon Jovi), but after I saw how well they went over at TaleGators bar in Centerville, I was sold. The group sounded incredible, now I understood what Sean meant about getting good equipment. The vocal harmonies were pristine, and were already in four parts so I could focus on bass playing. What I really liked was how professional these guys were; they had a solid business plan for getting wedding and corporate event gigs. I played a few songs at Talegators, and ended up having two and a half weeks to learn their entire set since several members went away on vacation. I was ready to play my first show with them, Alter Fest on September 1. What a way to start! I did a lot of work on the website and everyone is jumping in with both feet to make the group successful. We're already playing 3 major festivals this year along with several important corporate events - we played on top of the dugout at Fifth Third Field! Things are certainly looking up for This Side Up.

Home Links Email me at loase AT netscape DOT com