| Page 1 bio...By Russell K |
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| The original idea for this band came up between myself and the bass player from "Typhiod Mary" (Danny Butler), while we were playing a T.M. gig at Hartley's in North Arlington NJ in early 1998. That night we learned that our guitar player, Jeff Kittren, would be transferring to Florida in the not-too-distant future, which really sucked. Since Danny (who actually introduced me to bands like "Symphony X" and "Stratovarius") and myself are huge prog fans, we decided to start a project playing the type of material we loved and that no-one else was doing at the time, except for "Power Windows" and "Images and Words" (who have since become an original band). So, as Jeff went south, so did "Typhoid Mary". Around October of 1998 I started placing monthly ad's in all the local musician mags looking for a guitar player, singer and keyboard player. As I was speaking to Chich one day, he mentioned that he'd like to be the guitar palyer for this project that I was naming "AWAKE", (after a "Dream Theater" album). As a short-term fix until we found a keyboard player, he suggested we use a friend of his (Joe) to play rhythm guitar. In December of 1998 I got the call from Damon asking for an audition, as he shared the same exact idea that Danny and I originally had for this band. We waited until January to actually try him out, as we were still looking for a singer and there was alot of music for everybody to learn. In the middle of January we went to this shit-hole of a studio called B-Sharp and attempted to jam. Of course we got 9" of friggin' snow that day. Danny didn't show, and we had to use Otis as a fill-in for the singer that we didn't yet have. The only encouraging aspect of the jam was that I met a 24 year old, blind keyboard player who absolutely kicked the shit out of anybody I'd ever been in a band with...(sorry Morgan), so this was good. In April of 1999 we picked up Martyn Jenkins from Wales, yes...Wales!!! He has an incredible voice and awesome stage presence...not to mention a BEAUTIFUL home in Pennsylvania, with a huge basement that we practiced in twice a week for 6 months while we put together our set-list. During this time we picked up Martyn's friend Greg to play bass since Danny didn't work out. Here we go already! In September of 1999 we played our first gig together at a place called "The Merry-Go-Round", near Trenton, to a very receptive crowd. We only played 7 songs beacuse it was an open-jam, but it was good to finally play out. In September and November of '99 we played at Hartleys in North Arlington NJ to small but energetic crowds, but as things progressed there was tension within the band. Damon and I weren't happy with the direction the band was going in, and we didn't totally agree with some of the music that we were learning as a sacrifice for other musicians in the band that weren't able to play the more difficult material that we wanted to cover. Greg wasn't showing up to practices, and Joe would rather mess around with his PlayStation then practice, parts that Chich took a lot of time breaking down and teaching him. We knew Greg was a temporary solution anyway, but in the beginning we really did want things to work out with him...he is a nice guy and fun to drink with, but it just didn't work. (March 2000) So, Joe put an ad in the Aquarian/E.C. Rocker for a bass player. Tom Campbell answered it and ultimately came to our show at Hartleys on St. Patricks day to check us out. Martyn had to step out of the band due to scheduling conflicts with work and his travels, so this was Luke Cory's (of Killerwatt and Vintage) first show with us. In between sets I spoke with Tom and discussed some changes that he felt needed to take place in order for him to join the band, and we reached an agreement. The next day, Chich had the un-pleasant task of firing Joe, who did not take it well at all. Nothing against him, another nice guy, but just not at the same playing level that we were all at. Now with a new singer, bass player, and one less guitar player, we started to make changes with the material that Damon and I felt needed to be made in order to keep our sanity. We dropped over 20 songs and decided to learn stuff like The Trees, Roundabout, 6:00, Best I Can, etc...the material this band was supposed to do from the beginning but got pushed aside in order to learn less challenging songs just so we could get out and gig quicker. During a practice in September of 2000, Chich and Damon had an arguement and Chich quit. As we played at a Labor Day Party at Tom's house, we used it as a try-out for his friend Doug, who was given a cd of some of the material we cover after. Doug learned over 20 songs in just 2 weeks, we clicked and were amazingly tight, so we hired him. Over the next 9 months we played at Hartley's twice, opened for my friends in "Power Windows" at The Wreck Room in Wallington 3 times, headlined at Razzles in SeaSide Heights, and also at The Sports Section in Union twice. Our last gig with that line-up was June 2001 at The Sports Section, which marked Luke's last show with us... here we go again. So I started placing monthly ad's in the papers for a new singer. After 4 months and 6 different applicants, we finally found Greg Romanoff.. This guy drove up from Philly every Thursday for practice, if that isn't dedication then I don't know what is. Around Christmas 2001, I decided that we should change the name of the band, since only 2 of the original members remained...and because I got tired of the 'we are AWAKE, and we hope you are too' jokes. After a few weeks and some rather strange suggestions, we chose VISIONS. I wanted a short, one word name with a progressive link, VISIONS being not only the name of RUSH's only official biography, but also the title of a 1996 Stratovaruis CD, off which we play The Abyss Of Your Eyes. In early March, 2002, we recorded our DEMO at the Den Recording Studio, and sent a copy to Lisa in the Hard Rock Division of STARS PRODUCTIONS. She invited us to play at the open mic jam that she holds in coordination with A's in Bergenfield. So on Wednesday, April 17th, we did. As a result, they booked us on the spot to play at A's just 2 weeks later, opening for Facelift - the Alice in Chains Tribute. For now she will only book us as a supporting act until our fan base increases, which puts us right back where we started...booking ourselves. Then, around Memorial Day, Greg drops a bomb shell on us...he needs to take a 6-12 month hiatus from the band in order to take care of some pressing personal issues, which makes us a 4-piece again. So Damon and I discussed how we wanted to handle this new dilemma, meaning do we want to find just a new singer, or someone that sings and plays an instrument? We played through the summer undecided on what we wanted to do, and around the end of September we came to a conclusion...we realized that since we had different opinions of which direction we wanted the band to go in from Tom, that we should look for a singing bass-player...one that has a different range than Damon in order to help alleviate some of the lead vocal duties that are a bit of a stretch for him. We interviewed 4 different guys and decided on 2 that we wanted to audition because we felt they were groomed on the same material that we cover..........ah, but now a sticky situation!!! Now I had the unnerving task of telling Doug what we felt needed to be done in order for the band to progress in the direction that we originally wanted, (our initial VISION, if you will), with the risk of losing him in the process as he and Tom are very close friends. Doug was a little suprised at our plans, but he agreed with what we were trying to accomplish for the sake of the bands evolution. He asked for some time to mull over if he wanted to continue with us or not, and gave us permission to hold auditions. >Page 2>> |
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