Here's the story...I've been in several bands. In fact, I was in one band that had 4 names over the lifetime of that band. Instead of sending you on a wild chase of all the bands of which I've been a part, I'll just post a bit of a history:
Experiments in Perception
1992-1994 (more or less), Fresno, California
My roommate and good friend Stephen Gonzalez and I formed this band in our front room. We had two or three cheap keyboards, an electric guitar, an electric bass, a mini drum pad, a cassette recorder, and a lot of artistic inspiration. We had a dozen or so songs and we played at a total of three parties (I think) and the band came to an end when Steve moved out and I (shortly thereafter) finished college and moved from Fresno. Steve and I are still good friends and we both have continued with our passion for music in other music endeavours.
Purelace
1997-Summer 1998, Turlock, California
This was a band with my (now ex) brother-in-laws and their cousing and my friend Anthony. It was very fun and we went quite a long way. In fact, we went all the way to Hollywood, except our manager decided that this name wouldn't work, so we then became:
Two Times You
Summer 1998-1999(ish), Hollywood, California
We didn't really live in Hollywood. We all still lived in Turlock and practiced there, but we made regular trips to Hollywood for photo sessions, studio sessions, and general band management. By this time it was just me, Brad, Joe, and William. Anthony was no longer in the band. But the name didn't sit well with all of us, so we changed it again.
So What
1999-later in 1999, Hollywood, California (and Turlock)
This name was rather short lived. We started working in a different studio with a different engineer and producer. We also had a second manager. But in the end, things with that manager didn't last (our first manager was a bit over-protective). And so we went with yet another new name.
Sunday Second
1999-2000, mostly Turlock, California
We were still working with our manager in Hollywood, but we didn't travel down there as much. I think everyone knew that the idea of us making it as professional musicians was probably not going to happen. However, some of the band members still felt it was worth trying. We hung on for a while, but in the end, I left the band, and my (now ex) wife, so that was pretty much that. Our lead singer, Brad, is still working a bit with some people in Southern California (in fact he lives down there) and I hope he gets some of his music published because he has a lot of good tunes.
Half Day Road
mid2000-late2000, Modesto, California
I got into another band with some friends and we recruited my brother to sing for us. We practiced and really had a good sound and presence. We played one show in late October, 2000, and my brother quit shortly thereafter. It was fun while it lasted.
BandKamp
late2000-2002, Modesto, California
But the drummer and guitarist and I weren't discouraged, we got a new sexy girl singer and a top-notch keyboardist and formed a new band. It took some time for us to figure out the name, but in July 2001, we played our first show and were an immediate hit on the local scene...sort of. Everyone who watched us loved our shows. We kept at it for almost 2 years and played out a half a dozen times. We always had fun when we did, too. But, alas, all good things must come to an end and I quit that band in June 2002. I had figured that I would be out of the band scene for a bit, but I was immediately taken into the ranks of...
Modern Day Moses
June2002-December2002, Modesto, California
This was fun. In the 6 months that I was in this band, we played the X-Fest, the Fat Cat (several times), the International Festival, and the Brown Jug. We really had things together and we all enjoyed performing. Unfortunately, our drummer moved to Washington to be with his girlfriend (now wife) and our singer moved to Monterey. So that pretty much put an end to that endeavour. But what a fun time it was.
Decades
summer2003-January 2004
This was an interesting time. I joined up with a group as a rhythm guitarist and played at one summer party with them. That evening, the singer and lead guitarist quit. The rest of us mulled around for a bit (I was in the process of getting married and weddings are very time consuming) and eventually found another lead guitarist. We played the Wine and Cheese Festival in Riverbank that fall (both days) as our only show. It was really fun, because I had moved back to being a guitarist and I stepped up as lead singer. All the previous bands (except for Experiments in Perception) had me on bass and backing vocals. Well, we dropped our new guitarist right after that show and went back to the garage and continued to mess around with various cover songs. We ended up getting another guitarist, but I left shortly after that.
Priority None
2005 (I think)
This was one attempt that my friend Anthony and I tried to get a band started. Anthony was with me in Purelace years before and he and I had been anxious to get a music project started. So, we got together in the garage with my keyboardist from BandKamp and started to mess around with sounds. We got a bass player on board, but still no drummer. We tried a few out, but none seemed to fit right. Eventually, we got my old BandKamp drummer. However, scheduling didn't work out with Anthony and he left. So that left a four-piece doing alternative rock cover songs. I was excited to be doing the guitar and vocal thing again, though. We played one party and it was a lot of fun. Shortly thereafter, however, things in my life got rather complicated and I had to bow out gracefully.
Acoustic Project
2006-2007
I got involved in an acoustic three-piece for over a year. We did all cover songs, but we made sure to pull them away from their original stylings and make them our own. We practiced fairly regularly and only played out one show at my brother's coffee shop. It was a lot of fun, however, and I did learn a lot and improve my singing.
25 cent elvis
2006-present
I started playing my acoustic a lot more ever since my ex-wife bought me another acoustic for Christmas 2005. This is a solo project that I do regularly at the various open mic jam nights around town. I've played a few "real" shows as well. And I have one scheduled in two weeks. It is a lot of fun learning new songs and taking my vocals to new places. I intend to keep this particular part of my musical expression going for a long, long time.
Motorcade North
2007-present
So in the summer of 2007, Anthony and I once again decided to make a go at a band. We got together a couple of times with the intention of using my computer software for percussion and writing some songs around that. We figured we'd pick up a bass player, drummer, and singer later as we built our songs. We practiced a few times and wrote a couple of tunes over the summer. Then in the late fall, our drummer Steve (who we both had worked with before in other small projects) came on board. Since then we've written 6 very solid songs. We also have a vocalist going to try out at our next practice. Beyond that, we only need a bass player to come on board and complete the line up. We're hoping to be playing out within a couple of months!
Project Charlotte
2000ish-???, Modesto, California
Ever since I left Sunday Second (and even a little before that) I have had ideas that get jotted down on paper and little lyrics and tunes that have been stored, waiting for that day that they could be realised. I'm still working on it, but I've made some progress. These ideas have always gone under the name of "Project Charlotte" because I've always liked that name. So they will continue to sit and brew until they manage to rise to the surface and get tracked out. I am currently working on my computer to realize some of this music, but it is a slow process. In a way, this is sort of the "catch all" for anything that doesn't fit into my other music projects.
So that's pretty much it, as far as my band history goes. Some of these bands had websites, and some of them are still up and running. I won't bother to link to them as they have nothing of interest for any of you, anyway.