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March 31, 2009 |
learning it from on dasher
Charley Eastman is one of the most interesting figures in the Mystic music scene: as one of the two main songwriters in Lotus, the titanic hard rock group, (which also featured Paul Twing sharing songwriting and vocal duties, with Nick Toscano and Tom Lateweic's massive rhythm section) Charley helped create a most unique band that stood on the mountaintop for years while touring nationally.
He left Lotus at the height of their popularity, to follow his muse which led him to start indie rock outfit Mona Gritch - with Doug Hodges on drums, and Roger Peffley tackling bass while leaving his own drum kit behind. Their legacy will be explored more here at the MMA in the future, but when Hodges decided to relocate to NYC, Eastman scrapped the whole Mona Gritch concept and rebuilt the idea as on dasher, which saw Peffley head back behind the drums and former Latex Voodoo guitarist Greg Svetz joining on bass. (Interestingly, Eastman was unknowingly instrumental to the beginning of Delta of Venus, who bought his sequencer keyboard at their start, and relied heavily upon it).
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March 11, 2009 |
"IPG Isn't Really a Band Anymore"  The Incessant Pop Group was like a meteor, blazing across the night sky before evaporating just as quickly, leaving an indelible line for the audience.
The group consisted of two multi-instrumentalists, James Burke and Luke Hunter, coupled with the voice of Julia Farrar. They created their infectious electro-rock using the most primitive tools, making modern music within the context of minimal technology. This blend was at both engaging and tuneful, making their shows move with a motion and energy rarely seen from more seasoned groups. |
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March 06, 2009 |
Trapezium: "The Rumble of the Amplifiers"
By 1996, the Mystic music scene was in the full throes of the Splinter Years. The first and second waves of bands, such as Alexander Field, Lotus, Skimbleshanks, and 17 Relics, had passed, and several new acts ushered in a new era. The 16-track Trapezium compilation LP offers us a fascinating snapshot of this chaotic time period, which resulted in some of the most mature and complex songs ever recorded by the Mystic scene up to that point.
Lotus soldiered on as a three piece when Charley Eastman left the band to start mona gritch, and later onDasher. The big three of Skimbleshanks all had new groups: CJ Stankewich leading Magpie from Seattle, Rich Martin teamed with Brooks Townsend and Doug Hodges in the ultra-exciting Grand Passion, and Mat Tarbox added bass guitar to his repertoire with Dawn Estabrooks and Rich Freitas in Delta of Venus.
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February 17, 2009 |
Luke Hunter Releases the Dizzying Heights When Mr. Hunter was just a young fourteen year-old regular at the Mystic Disc, he and good friend Jaime Burke approached djshecky about recording a demo of their first band, the Incessant Pop Group, at shecky’s Centraal Studios.
The group released two EP’s to wild success, but as the third EP was being recorded, a unique technological outbreak occurred in the electrical feed during their last show at The Space in Hamden, CT. For some still unknown reason, the IPG sequencers were wiped clean, so they decided to huck the hulking mess into the Mystic River during a blind post-gig rage. This action effectively ended the band, which is where Luke found the inspiration to record a debut solo recording.
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February 12, 2009 |
Lost Portersville Music Recovered! During the summer of 1999, at the cusp of a new century, Portersville began tracking their unreleased EP "Portersville" in Middletown, CT with Michael Arafeh. This "lost" recording has intrigued fans and non-fans alike with an elusive nature akin to Dylan's "Great White Wonder" project with The Band, coupled with the obscure remains that is Skip Spence's "Oar" LP - an architectural relic.
During travels around the former Soviet Republics of Moldova and Armenia, erstwhile WCNI DJ Chachi came across a group of pirate radio operators, who had paid great sums of money to secure the lost tapes of Connecticut pop ensemble "Portersville" before their release. The idea was to buy in early on a possible 17 Relics reunion in hopes that the new band could actually get the job done.
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