IWANNAROCKNOW.COM just asked HORNS: How did HORNS form? To which i replied some nonsense that seemed to make sense to me at the time. I suppose it still does, but here's the alternate story:
It must have been around the year 2000 when i was hanging out at my friend Christian Smith's house in Norwalk, California. He had a small room we built in his garage filled with tons of crappy music equipment. We started jamming with one of his buddies that i'd met a few times previously, Jeff Watson. I think i was playing bass, Christ on guitar, and Watson on drums. after a while, i hopped on guitar. Jeff and i jammed and every time i'd try to 'trick' him with some weird cut, or timing, he was all over it. after that session, he says: You should come play with my band sHoeGazeR.
A few weeks later, Jeff and i are at the 6740 in Whittier's Historical Uptown Business District. I meet Oscar Rey, of sHoeGazeR, for the first time. He later tells people: This guy wouldn't even look at me. They give me their unreleased CD and tell me to learn the songs. I learned about six of them. I'd only just heard about sHoeGazeR through my buddies Andy and Isaac. About a week later we practiced. Two weeks later we had a show with BLACK STAR ACADEMY, Days End, and friends in the mountains.
sHoeGazeR has one more show. The Icarus Line took Jeff all over the world. Oscar asks me to play bass in his side project, disrespect for joy, with drummer Bernie.
Just prior to my joining sHoeGazeR, my old drummer Troy (friend-ship7 a.k.a BLOOD DRIVE, who would later play a show with HORNS) tells me to come play bass for these guys he's jamming with: Andy and Isaac.They were the guitarists in BLACK STAR ACADEMY. When i get there, they already have a bass player, so i just watched. The bassist left for some reason, and i hopped on bass. Since I'd been watching, I sort of new the song, and what i would play on bass. I think I got Andy's attention when i played that first chord on bass. That day, Andy and Isaac ask me to join their new side project: The Republic Of Lions.
I tell Andy and Isaac about jamming with sHoeGazeR, and that i'd never really heard of them. They show me some disrespect for joy (Oscar and Bernie only) video, and play me some sHoeGazeR cd's (or was it records?).
So later on Troy joins TOYS THAT KILL and goes all over the states. I'm playing with sHoeGazeR and disrespect while Jeff is off with The Icarus Line. BLACK STAR ACADEMY ends up changing their name to The Republic of Lions. They open up for us at a disrespect for joy show. That was our last show.
disrespect for joy disband. Andy, Isaac and I go to some studio in Santa Fe Springs just to jam. When i get there, there's a drum set already set up. I hop on just to mess around and we play the three Republic Songs i learned on bass.
I used to play drums at Christian's house back in high school. We started a band called burnout. We end up breaking up burnout to join our friend Eddie's band: Friend-ship7. I played in f-s7 off and on for a few years, even as BLOOD DRIVE, opening up at one of the first HORNS shows
Somewhere around 2001 Andy asks me to do a quick tour with this band called Ex-Fork that he's playing guitar in. For some reason, I was supposed to play drums, but i had no clue what i was doing. I end up playing guitar because i learned them all after listening to the record twice, yet, still couldn't figure out the drums. Even when Mike Felix came over to Christian's house to show me how to play them! During that tour, Andy and I kept playing the Republic songs, and working on new stuff. Later in 2001, i play roadie/merch bitch to The Icarus Line. Holy shit, the first show i go to we're hanging out with The Dillinger Escape Plan!
Oscar had shown me a lot of sHoeGazeR and disrespect for joy stuff on bass. I figured, why not ask him to play bass with Andy, Isaac and I! I show him one of my bass lines (later on, that song would be Evil Ending... by HORNS!) and we all jam. By the way, this would be the first and last time i show Oscar a bass line. we learn a few of Andy's songs. Since disrespect was no more, i suggest we learn some of those songs and play them! (we end up stealing A rising sea, Lazy in Comparison, and The Outskirts of Cattle Country). we go through various name ideas, including the 'then-dead' Republic of Lions. (Also: Your Kings Are Doomed!).
One day Oscar goes, oh yeah, we thought of a name. you're totally gonna hate it: HORNS!