All on Black (The Ghosts of my Rock Romances)
It has been a long time since I played in a band. A few years ago I jammed with a group for a few months, gigged with them, and got out at the right time for me. But in that situation I felt more like a session guitarist than a full fledged band member.
This past weekend I played in a band... A tribute band.
Behold, "All on Black." A one night only tribute band to maybe my all time favorite punk band, Alkaline Trio.
Now I'm certainly not an authority on performing in a bands –as previously stated I haven't played out much over the last 15 years– but I do understand interpersonal bandmate dynamics. Those are universal and pretty much eternal.
Bands are like girlfriends because both rely heavily on chemistry, shared goals, passion, and how you deal conflict. Girlfriends that turn into wives are bands that tour and eventually perform full time. Maybe they make it big, maybe they have a year or two of middling success before packing it in and getting divorced. Full time bands take the biggest leap of faith you can imagine because several people's livelihood are at stake and you really need to believe you've got something special to go full time. So just like measuring up your romantic relationship for lifelong, legally and potentially spiritually binding partnership, going full time as a band is the biggest decision of your life.
I never was in the position to make that leap. There were moments where eloping was discussed but more on that sliding door later. Right now, I'd like to equate every band I've been in to a type of romantic courtship.
To be fair, this wasn't so much a band as it was a quartet of 6th graders who were listening to a lot of Green Day and loved the idea of a band. We wrote lyrics to at least one verse (that I can't remember the words, but do remember singing them over and over) and we had a slogan that is far too embarrassing to publish here. None of us played rock instruments, but one of our dad's had a guitar and we all wanted to learn. Gotta start somewhere right, just like the idea of having a girlfriend in pre-school.
Our bassist had owned a bass for a week. I had been playing guitar for a year. Our "drummer" had never drum before but was picking it up much better than you'd think. There is a video of us practicing and we played at least one show. In the moment we talked a lot about how we were gonna be huge, but of course it was awkward and died a fast death as soon as we were public.
Built on the demise of a different band (which I worshiped), I joined as the replacement guitarist. Like replacing Rambo with a birthday party clown. We had a lot of fun, I learned a lot. We played one, maybe two shows that were exhilarating and then we broke up because... you know, teenage politics. I wish we had stayed together for a few more years, a promising trio and I was never in a band with Elliot again (a big regret).
I was and still am a massive third-wave ska fan. Preshrunk was an attempt at ska but we pretty much just replaced the bassist from Hoax and added horns to a bunch of songs that I didn't write. We played three shows (one being a surprise party for me). We broke up prematurely because the band got upset I kept cancelling practice at the last minute. Legit reason and I wish I could change that because I really wanted to be in a kickass ska band. There is nothing more fun and I loved those guys. I mistreated them and they wanted out.
My family moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan for my junior year of high school and within two weeks of living there I had made a whole new slew of friends and was drafted into a modern pop-rock band. First none punk or ska band of my life. Learned how to play lead and mask my skill deficiencies. Made some great friends, played a bunch of shows, but I had other dreams and the long distance band I formed back in Iowa was where my heart was truly with. We broke up rather unceremoniously and in the middle of recording an album. I felt bad about it but they replaced me and carried on.
Eight Miles Out playing and winning battle of the bands. Highlights: Best friends, lots of shows, too much to recount.
Chris on Bass (then Guitar) and Vox, Myself on Guitar and Vox, Drummers: Andrew, Tim, Bill, Alex, Noah on Bass
Chris Saldanha and I were best friends from 5th grade into college. We both loved Blink 182, played in Preshrunk together, I tried to sneak him into Hoax, but ultimately High Jinx was our destiny. We struggled to get going as I lived in Michigan and he was in Iowa but ultimately the internet allowed us to ugly recordings of tunes and we made it work. Eventually we switched drummers, rebranded as Eight Miles Out and switched up our sound a bit to be more Jimmy Eat World meets Thursday by way of Blink 182 sounding. Then we switch drummers again, went to college, added a bassist when Chris switched to guitar and played a few dozen shows over the course of four years.
In college Chris and I dormed together for two years and at a low point in our personal lives we talked about dropping out and moving to LA to "go for it." But after sleeping on it, we never discussed it again. Over time our goals, musical style, and beliefs diverged. We faded away after three and a half recordings. We were never anyone's favorite band but we were my favorite band. Also, the last slew of demos we were recorded had some serious verve to them. Chris and I just lost the fire. Still love that dude and maybe if a few things went differently... oh well, I love my life now and look back fondly on 8MO. For more, watch the doc I put together about our run.
Evil Geniuses playing Franks. Highlights: Crazy fun, living the dream, every show was a dance party.
Too many band members over the run.
Right around high school graduation a local ska band 8MO had played with asked if I wanted to join their group so the guitarist could play trombone. I jumped at it faster than you could imagine. Another four years of laughs and crazy fun. We kept going well into college and never really attempted to play anything resembling a tour. Towards the end I was enjoying the Evil Gs more than 8MO only because of the fun in the shows and songs. Interpersonal turmoil that isn't mine to air stifled the band and we broke up after a very heated argument over a songwriting choice that was just a red herring for one person's post-relationship rage. Not a fun way to end a wonderful group.
Duck and Cover - Before Sunrise Fling
You meet with a ticking clock already established and leaves it open to nothing but fun. Still at the end you miss the experience and wish it had lasted longer.
Duck and Cover playing campustown. Highlights: hired gun, fun new bandmates, playing someone else's awesome songs.
Tom Kuphal vocals, Parker Griggs drums and songwriter, Jordan Jensen bass, Keith Rich guitar backing vox, myself guitar.
In college a friend's band wanted to replace a guitar player and asked me to fill in until they found a replacement. I knew it was temporary and I loved their band so I said signed up. In those six months we played a ton of shows and I THINK my personal "bon vivant" vibe actually tilted the serious nature of the group to a more enjoyable space. Of course they eventually found a permanent guitarist and sent me adrift. Maybe the best run I had with a group, simply because I knew what I was there for and what I wasn't. Although being the permanent rhythm guitarist might have been cool.
Tiddly & The Winks - Canadian Girlfriend
If no one ever meets her, did she ever exist?
The skeleton of the Evil Gs tried to make something happen and we laid the framework for two songs but never got past two practices. You need someone in the band that keeps the juice going, books shows, and cheerleads everyone to keep the faith. It's not always the singer or songwriter and the person who was likely to be the leader in Tiddly was burnt out after the Geniuses.
On The Brink - Ships in the Night
A moment of intense spark with no follow through. Wrong place, wrong time.
Right before college graduation I jammed with some dudes from a dead Iowa City band. We had two AWESOME practices and the spark was real. But then the drummer got an engineering gig out east and I moved to Chicago with my girlfriend. Not a sliding doors moment because we were all post-band at that point but if it were three years earlier lives would have been different.
DCS - Platonic Friendship
From the jump you can just feel the night will end with a high five and a head scratch.
Five years after college, Marieta and I moved back to Iowa and bought a house. I was so stoked to jam with some friends in my basement. We had some songs and we'd all separately done the band thing before, but I just couldn't write lyrics about girls anymore or play Verse-Chorus-Verse modern rock, also I dead-set against playing 10pm concerts to 10 disinterested strangers. When it fizzled out I was actually kind of happy.
Named company time because we wrote music for work... at first. Highlights: the whole run
AJ Hodgeman, Jaocb Rosdail, Myself
Around the same time as DCS I started writing novelty rap and kids music with some creative work friends. Way different vibe than any "band" I'd ever been in, but we recorded a bunch of tunes, shot music videos, and had fans. We were a band (who never played a show). The three of us occasionally stoke the coals of this creative fire years after we've worked together.
Six years after Company Time an old ska scene acquaintance invited me to jam with his country-pop group. I brought something indie and little loud to the group. I certainly changed it and maybe not for the better (the group disbanded within a year of my departure). We gigged, attempted to record, and I ultimately dropped out after some tense conversations about how I was altering the lead artists initial intent. I wasn't interested in playing how she wanted and she respected my honesty. Was a fun dalliance that know one but the five of us will ever remember.
Finally up to today. Jordan Jensen has been one of my best friends since I saw him play in Duck and Cover and then started hanging out. He invited me to play in Duck and Cover, we were in DCS together, I helped get him into The Horseshoe Spatulas (a friend's band that is my favorite Iowa act, ever). He knew for years I wanted to play an Alkaline Trio tribute show and this year he made it happen. He booked the shower, recruited his old drummer Mookie, and barged us into his bands practice space. Jordan is a great bandleader and an even better friend. All on Black did not have a perfect set (false starts, I had a cold, fudged notes), but truthfully we were probably better than 60% of the shows Alkaline Trio has played. Jordan and I have talked about another tribute show, so who knows... maybe in a year I'll have to update this post. That would be rad.
Now this is not an exhaustive list but everything on here was either formative for me, jammed frequently, or gigged out. I wasn't sure how to include Myld Stallions, a trio cover band where I played drums (sloppily I must add) and at our only show, in the middle of our 2 hour set the bassist and I took center stage and played an acoustic version of Green Days "Dominated Love Slave." Twist my arm and I guess we were a one-night stand, as it was fun but messy, stilted, and in the act you feel nothing but regret (I must confess I have never personally had a one-night stand).
What a weird post. Playing music was like breathing air for me from 1998-2005. I mean I was such a poor student because all I wanted to focus my time on was songwriting, playing guitar, chasing a few girls, and playing with cameras. Like Iron Man in Avengers: Endgame, I don't want to go back and change the past, but I certainly don't mind looking back and playing "What if?" To all thegirls bands I've loved before, I miss you. It's nice to know I can relive these glory days every so often.
This past weekend I played in a band... A tribute band.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Bethany Jensen |
Behold, "All on Black." A one night only tribute band to maybe my all time favorite punk band, Alkaline Trio.
I'm a serial analogist, metaphorist, and similator, and a common comparison I like to make is of girlfriends (or I guess romantic relationships if you are of a different romantic persuasion than mine, I'll stick with girlfriends to keep this a clean analogy) and bands.Finally figured out the 1st time I saw @Alkaline_Trio; Jan 17, '99 Val Air Ballroom. Damn snowy night, ~50 people there, A3 blew me away. Approached them after the set, they seemed spent, & had zero merch. Went home and mail ordered Goddamnit from @asianmanrecords that night. pic.twitter.com/HVHSyaUidn— Patrick Boberg (@PatBoBomb) October 31, 2019
Now I'm certainly not an authority on performing in a bands –as previously stated I haven't played out much over the last 15 years– but I do understand interpersonal bandmate dynamics. Those are universal and pretty much eternal.
Bands are like girlfriends because both rely heavily on chemistry, shared goals, passion, and how you deal conflict. Girlfriends that turn into wives are bands that tour and eventually perform full time. Maybe they make it big, maybe they have a year or two of middling success before packing it in and getting divorced. Full time bands take the biggest leap of faith you can imagine because several people's livelihood are at stake and you really need to believe you've got something special to go full time. So just like measuring up your romantic relationship for lifelong, legally and potentially spiritually binding partnership, going full time as a band is the biggest decision of your life.
I never was in the position to make that leap. There were moments where eloping was discussed but more on that sliding door later. Right now, I'd like to equate every band I've been in to a type of romantic courtship.
Swirl - Pre-school girlfriend
Your parents think you're cute.To be fair, this wasn't so much a band as it was a quartet of 6th graders who were listening to a lot of Green Day and loved the idea of a band. We wrote lyrics to at least one verse (that I can't remember the words, but do remember singing them over and over) and we had a slogan that is far too embarrassing to publish here. None of us played rock instruments, but one of our dad's had a guitar and we all wanted to learn. Gotta start somewhere right, just like the idea of having a girlfriend in pre-school.
Vintage - Junior high date
Neither of you know what you're doing, you tell people you're a thing, but first sign of daylight and it falls apart. |
| Hoax playing Elliot's backyard. Highlights include first songwriting, playing show, bad music. Chris Saldanha on drums, Elliot Tommingo on bass (band leader), myself on guitar. |
Hoax - first high school girlfriend
High school is big, the first girl in high school to hold your hand is a dear diary moment. The end is inevitable but still a bruiser. |
| Hoax playing our 9th grade talent show. Highlights: Nerfherder cover, Glad, Happy Days, Eating Contest Elliot Tommingo on bass/vocals (band leader), Bill Gongol on drums, myself on guitar/vocals. |
Preshrunk - high school heartbreak
You are a freight train of hope and daydreams that derails painfully.
Playing my surprise half-birthday. Highlights: first ska band, all good friends, party band.
Chris, Garrett on Sax, Bill drums, Vikas bass, Eric trumpet, Ben auxillary, Myself guitar
I was and still am a massive third-wave ska fan. Preshrunk was an attempt at ska but we pretty much just replaced the bassist from Hoax and added horns to a bunch of songs that I didn't write. We played three shows (one being a surprise party for me). We broke up prematurely because the band got upset I kept cancelling practice at the last minute. Legit reason and I wish I could change that because I really wanted to be in a kickass ska band. There is nothing more fun and I loved those guys. I mistreated them and they wanted out.
AKA - fun rebound
Find yourself somewhere unexpected and take a stab. Fun, disjointed ride with a slightly regrettable ending. |
| AKA highlights played shows in kilt, cow costume, mixed plaid suit, a bunch of original tunes, good friends Myself on guitar/backing vox, John on drums, Chris lead vocals/backing guitar, Scott bass, Kevin lead guitar |
High Jinx / Eight Miles Out - old flame
The one you keep on a pedestal. There were flaws and you know why it ended but that girl was important.Eight Miles Out playing and winning battle of the bands. Highlights: Best friends, lots of shows, too much to recount.
Chris on Bass (then Guitar) and Vox, Myself on Guitar and Vox, Drummers: Andrew, Tim, Bill, Alex, Noah on Bass
Chris Saldanha and I were best friends from 5th grade into college. We both loved Blink 182, played in Preshrunk together, I tried to sneak him into Hoax, but ultimately High Jinx was our destiny. We struggled to get going as I lived in Michigan and he was in Iowa but ultimately the internet allowed us to ugly recordings of tunes and we made it work. Eventually we switched drummers, rebranded as Eight Miles Out and switched up our sound a bit to be more Jimmy Eat World meets Thursday by way of Blink 182 sounding. Then we switch drummers again, went to college, added a bassist when Chris switched to guitar and played a few dozen shows over the course of four years.
In college Chris and I dormed together for two years and at a low point in our personal lives we talked about dropping out and moving to LA to "go for it." But after sleeping on it, we never discussed it again. Over time our goals, musical style, and beliefs diverged. We faded away after three and a half recordings. We were never anyone's favorite band but we were my favorite band. Also, the last slew of demos we were recorded had some serious verve to them. Chris and I just lost the fire. Still love that dude and maybe if a few things went differently... oh well, I love my life now and look back fondly on 8MO. For more, watch the doc I put together about our run.
Evil Geniuses - Summer Camp Girlfriend
The most fun you'll ever have. Youthful and joyous. Destined to end if someone gets too serious, and end ugly. But you remember the highs more than anything else.Evil Geniuses playing Franks. Highlights: Crazy fun, living the dream, every show was a dance party.
Too many band members over the run.
Right around high school graduation a local ska band 8MO had played with asked if I wanted to join their group so the guitarist could play trombone. I jumped at it faster than you could imagine. Another four years of laughs and crazy fun. We kept going well into college and never really attempted to play anything resembling a tour. Towards the end I was enjoying the Evil Gs more than 8MO only because of the fun in the shows and songs. Interpersonal turmoil that isn't mine to air stifled the band and we broke up after a very heated argument over a songwriting choice that was just a red herring for one person's post-relationship rage. Not a fun way to end a wonderful group.
Duck and Cover - Before Sunrise Fling
You meet with a ticking clock already established and leaves it open to nothing but fun. Still at the end you miss the experience and wish it had lasted longer.
Duck and Cover playing campustown. Highlights: hired gun, fun new bandmates, playing someone else's awesome songs.
Tom Kuphal vocals, Parker Griggs drums and songwriter, Jordan Jensen bass, Keith Rich guitar backing vox, myself guitar.
In college a friend's band wanted to replace a guitar player and asked me to fill in until they found a replacement. I knew it was temporary and I loved their band so I said signed up. In those six months we played a ton of shows and I THINK my personal "bon vivant" vibe actually tilted the serious nature of the group to a more enjoyable space. Of course they eventually found a permanent guitarist and sent me adrift. Maybe the best run I had with a group, simply because I knew what I was there for and what I wasn't. Although being the permanent rhythm guitarist might have been cool.
Tiddly & The Winks - Canadian Girlfriend
If no one ever meets her, did she ever exist?
The skeleton of the Evil Gs tried to make something happen and we laid the framework for two songs but never got past two practices. You need someone in the band that keeps the juice going, books shows, and cheerleads everyone to keep the faith. It's not always the singer or songwriter and the person who was likely to be the leader in Tiddly was burnt out after the Geniuses.
On The Brink - Ships in the Night
A moment of intense spark with no follow through. Wrong place, wrong time.
Right before college graduation I jammed with some dudes from a dead Iowa City band. We had two AWESOME practices and the spark was real. But then the drummer got an engineering gig out east and I moved to Chicago with my girlfriend. Not a sliding doors moment because we were all post-band at that point but if it were three years earlier lives would have been different.
DCS - Platonic Friendship
From the jump you can just feel the night will end with a high five and a head scratch.
Five years after college, Marieta and I moved back to Iowa and bought a house. I was so stoked to jam with some friends in my basement. We had some songs and we'd all separately done the band thing before, but I just couldn't write lyrics about girls anymore or play Verse-Chorus-Verse modern rock, also I dead-set against playing 10pm concerts to 10 disinterested strangers. When it fizzled out I was actually kind of happy.
Company Time / PB & AJ - "Work Wife"
There is chemistry, inside jokes, but lines are never crossed.Named company time because we wrote music for work... at first. Highlights: the whole run
AJ Hodgeman, Jaocb Rosdail, Myself
Around the same time as DCS I started writing novelty rap and kids music with some creative work friends. Way different vibe than any "band" I'd ever been in, but we recorded a bunch of tunes, shot music videos, and had fans. We were a band (who never played a show). The three of us occasionally stoke the coals of this creative fire years after we've worked together.
Dewitt - Internet Dating
Modern dating is something I know nothing about personally other than what I've witnessed from the sidelines. It appears meeting someone has never been easier and people are trying things that they never would've had the opportunity to 15 years ago.
DeWitt highlights gigged out again, fun, pushed me into different styles, lead guitar.
Jessica DeWitt is Singer/Songwriter, Tony Leo on bass, Mmyself on guitar, Amanda violin/back vocals, brad on drums
Six years after Company Time an old ska scene acquaintance invited me to jam with his country-pop group. I brought something indie and little loud to the group. I certainly changed it and maybe not for the better (the group disbanded within a year of my departure). We gigged, attempted to record, and I ultimately dropped out after some tense conversations about how I was altering the lead artists initial intent. I wasn't interested in playing how she wanted and she respected my honesty. Was a fun dalliance that know one but the five of us will ever remember.
All on Black - Vacation Girlfriend
You have a specific purpose, no one is thinking beyond the deadline. Some highs, some awkward lows, but fun and memorable.
All on Black at Vaudeville Mews. Highlights: Playing some of my favorite tunes.
Jordan, Mookie, Myself
Finally up to today. Jordan Jensen has been one of my best friends since I saw him play in Duck and Cover and then started hanging out. He invited me to play in Duck and Cover, we were in DCS together, I helped get him into The Horseshoe Spatulas (a friend's band that is my favorite Iowa act, ever). He knew for years I wanted to play an Alkaline Trio tribute show and this year he made it happen. He booked the shower, recruited his old drummer Mookie, and barged us into his bands practice space. Jordan is a great bandleader and an even better friend. All on Black did not have a perfect set (false starts, I had a cold, fudged notes), but truthfully we were probably better than 60% of the shows Alkaline Trio has played. Jordan and I have talked about another tribute show, so who knows... maybe in a year I'll have to update this post. That would be rad.
Now this is not an exhaustive list but everything on here was either formative for me, jammed frequently, or gigged out. I wasn't sure how to include Myld Stallions, a trio cover band where I played drums (sloppily I must add) and at our only show, in the middle of our 2 hour set the bassist and I took center stage and played an acoustic version of Green Days "Dominated Love Slave." Twist my arm and I guess we were a one-night stand, as it was fun but messy, stilted, and in the act you feel nothing but regret (I must confess I have never personally had a one-night stand).
What a weird post. Playing music was like breathing air for me from 1998-2005. I mean I was such a poor student because all I wanted to focus my time on was songwriting, playing guitar, chasing a few girls, and playing with cameras. Like Iron Man in Avengers: Endgame, I don't want to go back and change the past, but I certainly don't mind looking back and playing "What if?" To all the
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