ILLUMINATING DRINK: Live Shows

Friday, 21 December 2007

Live Shows

Yes they played loads of great gigs down the years but sometime through no fault of their own they played some bad ones too

Mark Mikel" We've had lots of horrible moments at gigs (breakdowns and such) but here's some actual shows that stick out in my mind.I can't remember the name of this club but they heard nothing but great things about us and hired us for a week-long stint.The place had an electrical problem (I can't remember the name of the club- maybe the other bugs might remember- if they'd ever post). There was a horrible buzzing sound coming through every piece of equipment on the stage.We couldn't get our gear to sound right as everything was being drowned out by this buzz sound. The owner of the club said it was not their electric problem- he said it was our equipment. I argued with him with perfect logic that totally went over his head. I said, "You mean to tell me that ALL our equipment just amazingly went BAD at the same time with the exact same problem?" He said, "Yes- no other band has ever had a problem here."We went back and forth and made each other very angry. To make matters worse, he wanted us to play VERY quietly- as this was a huge venue that reverberated like a garage (if it was empty- and it WAS). We went ahead and played but we sounded so wimpy, buzzy and horrible that every person that walked in walked out again.We played two horrible nights before we were fired.

There was another show (Where was this one guys?) on St Patrick's day- maybe about 7 or 8 years ago. We were playing a really great show in a huge tent and everybody loved us. But we have this funny relationship with our Toledo-area audiences. They don't like to stand too close to us. Except when we had a hit on the radio- then they clamoured to the stage.So at this show, the audience is captivated and really supportive from about 20 feet back from the stage- except for one crazy guy who was standing right in front of us yelling things at us. I couldn't ever hear what he was saying but he was completely annoying. This went on for about 6 or 7 songs. I was getting ready to kick him in the face but somebody came up and got him to back off.I know that I've pissed off the other bugs by berating the audience when we get treated like we're nothing.

I've gotten us fired plenty of times.
Everybody expects me to behave "professionally" but I don't know what that is and I don't really ever want to know. I know that almost every "professional" in the business we have to deal with treats us like shit. And I don't think I've ever came close to behaving as badly as these people.When you are an unsuccessful musician, people think they own you. They think you want to be heard so bad that you will do anything and agree to anything so you can have your moment to play rock star. I always like to show them that isn't so.Our worst shows always begin with someone telling us to turn down. That's when I begin to start shoving it up their ass and Chalmers is always right there with me. We know they made the mistake by hiring a rock band when they wanted a little background music and Dan and I like to make them pay for their mistakes.It's either that or sound like shit. I always choose the not sounding like shit. Chalmers is a loud drummer- like Keith Moon and John Bonham. How many successful gigs would those guys have had holding back?

The silliest gig would be all five of us walking out at Ned Skeldon's ball field and performing "The Star Spangled Banner" before a Mudhens game."

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Welcome to the multicoloured world of The Pillbugs

Official Bio. The origin of The Pillbugs can be traced back to January of 1991. That's when Mark Kelley first called Mark Mikel up and asked him to form a new band. Kelley brought in drummer Dan Chalmers and Mikel brought in vocalist Dave Murnen and a guitarist who would eventually be replaced 4 times until they found the perfect fit with Scott Tabner (a mutual friend of Kelley and Mikel's).
They became The Mark Mikel Hallucination and started performing shows around Toledo. In 1996 after a respectable amount of local recognition and radio airplay, Mikel wanted to create a new identity for the group. "They deserved to be seen as equals and not just my backing band," Mikel said, "I came up with the idea of The Pillbugs and that we'd go WAY deeper into psychedelia. We released our first album on CD in 1998 on our own label (Omniphonic). I believe it was the first debut release to contain a double CD's worth of new and never-before-released music. Until someone proves me wrong - that's what I believe. The point is we wanted to make something people had to notice." This first release took off very slowly but eventually (with the help of the internet) became a somewhat sought after CD.
The second Pillbugs CD "The 3-Dimensional In-Popcycle Dream" (originally another double set) was completed in early 2001. With no real money to put behind it, it sat on the shelf until 2003 until later when they signed with indie label (Proverus). "Proverus had us strip down the album to 1 CD (a brilliant move actually) and then we inserted a 3D Viewmaster reel to make it really crazy," Mikel reveals.
That album was released during the summer of 2003. Proverus helped the group get a lot of notoriety (especially on the web) and also helped to book and manage gigs. 3D sold out of the first run in a matter of 2 months (most of them going to Japan). That was successful enough for Proverus to want a follow-up. The next summer they released their 3rd CD "Happy Birthday" though dark times were looming.
Mark Kelley had been diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer in 1999. By the time "Happy Birthday" was released in August of 2004, Kelley had lost his voice completely and could hardly stand on his own two legs.
Knowing their wasn't much time left, the 5 friends took to recording one last album together. "Buzz for Aldrin" sessions began in Sept. 2004, just as Mark Kelley took another down turn and was admitted to the hospital. Recording continued with The Pillbugs not knowing if Kelley would ever return.
He eventually did return and was able to contribute the bass guitar to most of the album from his wheelchair- with a permanent breathing machine surgically attached to his throat. Then the studio recording equipment broke down and it was in repair for over seven months. "By the time the guy got around to fixing it," adds Mikel, "Mark Kelley was past the point of being able to record with us. It took me a long time to get back into the groove and finish the album."
"But we eventually finished it though the recording sessions seemed jinxed from start to finish."
To provide the right grandeur for the release, The Pillbugs employed renowned California artist Mark Roland* to supply the CD art.
The new Pillbugs double disc set "Buzz for Aldrin" was released by Proverus on June 19, 2007.
The Pillbugs signed with Rainbow Quartz and their first CD with RQ, "Monclovia" was released on Oct. 30, 2007.
Everybody Wants A Way Out their second rainbow Quartz album was released Nov. 10th, 2008.
In March 2011 Mark formed two new combos, The Mark Mikel Band and Dark Ocean Colors with Scott Hunt, with two albums by the latter coming soon on Rainbow Quartz

*Mark Roland is indeed a very talented artist look here for a few more examples of his art
http://www.orycon.org/orycon26/markroland.html

update...and his new website is here
The Art Of Mark Roland
http://www.rolandscapes.com/

Friday, 21 December 2007

Live Shows

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Welcome to the multicoloured world of The Pillbugs

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