Lightsabers and Lollipops

okee dokee.
i kinda promised i would write about this chapter of my life to someone who's name starts with "H".

i haven't checked the spacemanrocks archives so hopefully this story isn't a repeat. if so, hopefully i will put in some new spins, twists, curves and knee joints.

we are going to take a trip in the "wayback machine" to retrospect the history of my involvement in the musical genre.

especially that of when i was in a band or two. i was the lead vocalist on more than one occasion for bands that played that wonderful sound that we have all come to know and love as "METAL."

i'm trying to recall this in order. hopefully i get it all right. high skool was a long time ago...

i remember in 8th grade i had a plan. i was gonna form a band. i had all i needed to start (according to my young lil brain.)
i had a name.

LEGEND

i was of course, lead vocals. whenever i got my hands on a guitar i was also gonna be play rhythm. my friend john k. was pre destined to play drums since he played them in jr. high band. what better reason?
it wasn't the best plan, but the wheels were turning in my head.

between 8th grade and freshmen year i worked all summer long at my dad's pool company. i pretty much got paid at the end of the break with my pick of a guitar at the shop that bought a spa from the company.

the flying V's were screamin out to me. and somedays i wonder how my life would have been different if i would have gone that route.
but the guitar that really jumped at me was from the Peavey Generation series. it was a one of a kind design. it was a tortoise shell design and looked purple in some light and almost black in other light.


the guitar pictured is not the actual one, i don't have any pics of it and neither do you.

the dealer threw in a Peavey Rage amp (one of the best wee lil amps you'll ever find)and we were on our way to greatness.

of course, i've never had the gift.
i have always had the love of the music, but never the, i guess the word would be aptitude.
my right hand would never communicate with my left. i think it might have been that fall i took off the stairs when i was a young lad.
plus the fact that i rarely practiced, unless you count the times in front of the mirror pretending to be a rock star.
took lessons, the teacher took off west for reasons unknown.

anyway, carried the guitar around to events. it rarely came outta the case. at that time i was in the habit of carrying a pick in my pocket.

since i was sooo stinkin cool and had the "Rock Star" look down i started getting offers to be in bands.

i hope i get these in order.

the first one was just some guys in my same class. never went anywhere. in fact the guy who was gonna be a drummer had... problems. he got beaten up so badly by another person in skool that the paramedics had to cut his shirt off. he was mad cuz it was his favorite megadeth shirt. he was also suspected for stabbing an ex-girlfriends horse in the neck like 47 times. i believe he also wrote her notes in blood, his i hope. anyway, that band never took off, the bassist never liked me.

then i was going to be the vocalist of a semi-religious band i think titled "tower."
i went to one practice at the church, i can't say for sure but i think they wanted me to be a Lutheran as well. so out i went. i went and saw them at a battle of the bands. it was the same year that "the doors" movie came out. they were the only band that DID NOT play L.A. Woman. their vocalist who replaced me was too shy to look at the audience. he faced the drummer the whole time. it was embarrassing to watch. they broke up shortly after.

then there was my favorite.

MORBID CURIOSITY


pictured from left to right: eric, drums. dan, guitars. Space, vocals. and um, drew? bass.

now that was a somewhat serious gig.
i got in by being in choir with the bassist. (yes, i was in choir. shut up)
he of course asked me into the band because i looked like a singer. luckily, the band was metal and i could growl. the guitarist was awesome. he was the heart of the band. we would practice at his house. we did have trouble again with the drummer. he had did some time in jail. he also had recent dents and cracks on his car cuz of a fight he had in which he threw the other guy onto his car.
we had to let him go, considering he went back to jail and wasn't coming out any time soon.
so we got another drummer, he worked out pretty good. the only problem we seemed to have with each other was he was into satan and i was into Christ. he wanted to play slayer and i wanted to sing Vengeance Rising. (oh the irony nowadays.)

we had some serious songs under our belt. at least 2 originals. i have one on tape, and i really really want it recorded digitally. a song called, "forever sleep."

well, we hung out alot. got the name around, even hung out enough to practically be roadies for a band called "neuro toxin."
side note: the guitarist was friends with smashing pumpkins before they were big. he kept telling em to check em out, but they weren't metal enough for me. he even knew their dog. (bugs superstar)

after some good times and tunes, they kicked me out. reason: the bassist wanted to sing. he thought the girls would throw themselves at him if he was on the mic. unfortunately, he was pretty ugly, so that plan didn't work for him. he soon left the band.
he was replaced by his cousin, who was actually better.
shortly after, i was asked back into the band. and we got back to rockin.
one day, the drummer brought some groupie girls to a practice. they were your typical metal fan girls. tight jeans with designs down the sides, usually involving metal medallions. white shirts, black leather jackets with tassles and big big hair.
the drummer told me that he asked the later what they thought of the singer (me.)
one of the girls tilted her head to the side and said, "eh, i'd do him."
that was one of the two times in my life that i've heard that said about me.
i won't tell you about the other time...
in neither instance, have i ever been, um, done.

anywayyyyyyyy, we rocked hard. i played bass on one song. we even made a thrash version of old mcdonald. but, got kicked out again. gently this time. the drummer's love of satan had taken over. he wanted me out, and the guitarist wanted more diversity in the sound. maybe he saw the change comin. metal would die soon. come back, die, come back and die again. i blame Jack Black.

and that was that. i caught up with the guitarist some time later and found that "Morbid Curiosity" was no more and that he was playing in a band called Dionysus. i'm sure he's been involved in several projects since then. who knows?


notice the acid washed jeans on Space.

i was actually accepted into one more band after that. but that was just for one whole day. they even had a manager that made me promise to wear a scarf when it was cold cuz my voice was my instrument. but for some reason me and my friend mike (who got me in the band) never showed up for the second practice.

the closest thing to being in a band that i can remember was a group we formed at Cornerstone Festival called "Happy as Hell, my foot." ...but that's a story for another time.