1991
Three Guys
Charlie Korch - Drums
Mike Todd - Bass
Eddy Zak - Guitar
I had been playing on and off Mike Todd and Eddy Zak from 1985-1990. Early versions of this band included another guitarist
and a vocalist, but the nucleus mutated into "Three Guys" (for lack of a better name) in 1991. We played a combination of
original (written by Eddy) and cover songs in the jazz-fusion realm. After a short period of playing clubs such as the Bitter
End in New York City this band became a vehicle for Eddy Zak's great playing and became "Swivelhead". Eddy has since gone
on to become a member of "Seven and the Sun" and now plays with Atlantic Recording Artist "Toby Lightman".
1992
Innuendo:
Charlie Korch - Acoustic & Electronic Drums, Backing Vocals
Keith Kukla - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Conrad Mir - Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Lou Gomez - Bass (1992)
Paul Coelho - Bass, Backing Vocals (1992-1993)
Keith Valpone - Lead Vocals
This band started out as two vehicles that merged into one. Keith Kukla and I were trying to put together a band, as was
Keith Volpone. The three of us decided to play together and recruited bassist Lou Gomez. This band always wrote originals,
but played covers also in order to be able to fill out a three hour set, and to secure gigs in the New Jersey and New York
City scene. The genre of music that was being created would best be called commercial hard rock in the style of Bon Jovi and
other commercial bands of the generation. After this band broke up singer Keith Volpone continued playing with other local
musicians (including my former band mate Eddy Zak) and formed Atlantic recording artist "Seven and the Sun".
Blindsight:
Charlie Korch - Acoustic & Electronic Drums, Backing Vocals
Steve Falco - Guitars, Backing Vocals
Marc Smith - Bass
Sylvia Torres - Vocals, Keyboards
After "Innuendo" disbanded I decided to start playing with a few of my best friends. Luckily, these friends were also great
musicians. This band was most closely identified as having a progressive metal sound (similar to that of Queensryche, and
Dream Theater). Each member of this band had a say in the song writing process. This led to many complicated pieces featuring
blazing solos, odd times, and fantastic vocals (written by Marc). Unfortunately, this band disbanded shortly after our club
debut. Sylvia went on to join "Mean Streak" who are most famous for having two band members married to "Dream Theaters John
Petrucci, and Mike Portnoy. Marc and Steve have recently reformed and started a new band called "Soulfist".
1994
58K
Charlie Korch - Acoustic & Electronic Drums
Chris Rudo - Bass
John Gleeson - Vocals
Joey Herr - Guitar
Steve Cunniff - Keys
I was more of a side man in this project, but it was none the less a great experience. This band had a good following,
and talented musicians, but I was occupied with another project (Cry Mercy) at the time, and this band was too talented to
use a temporary drummer for too long. This band was an original hard rock group, and played the New Jersey club and shore
scene. This band has since unfortunately broken up. My friend Chris Rudo moved to Dallas, TX for a while and played with some
great Texas Blues bands. He since has moved back to New Jersey and has become a professional airline pilot.
1994
Cry Mercy
Charlie Korch - Drums, Backing Vocals
Joe Brack - Lead Vocals, Guitar
Mike Schall - Bass
T.J. Lewis - Guitar
Dan Tramin - Keyboards, Backing Vocals
This band was originally called the Joe Brack band, but changed their name to "Cry Mercy" shortly after I joined. The lineup
was completely in place with the exception of a bass player when I arrived. Mike Schall entered the picture shortly thereafter.
We started to mutate from a commercial pop band to a commercial hard rock band. No matter what kind of music we were playing,
the band always sounded great due to Joes great song writing, Mikes pocket playing, and Dan and T.Js tremendous skills on
their respective instruments. This band was extremely fun to play with since all the members were great guys. Sadly, I had
to leave the band when I moved to Atlanta.
Singer/Songwriter Joe Brack has gone on to become a successful solo artist. Click here to check out his page
1999
sleeping god.
