EMANUEL AND THE FEAR
Listen
CD
Label - Paper Garden Records
Released: March 9, 2010

I've been playing in this band for 2 years. That same amount of time this record has been being worked on. The songs on our EP are actually from these same "sessions", and we STILL ended up with a 19 track/60 minute+ album. It was a learning experience, in recording an 11 piece band. We did everything from me tracking drums to a click, me tracking drums to a piano demo, me tracking drums last to the full orchestrations. You name it.

Simple Eyes
Song For A Girl

FREE DOWNLOAD

EMANUEL AND THE FEAR
The Perfect Me
Free Download Single
Label - Rcrdlbl.com
Released: December 14, 2009

We somehow managed to win 3 hours in a recording studio in Brooklyn, while our entire album had been tracked at that point we tried to figure out a way to utilize this gift from the heavens. Our trumpet player/theramin guru Chris Coletti had worked up an arrangement of the Deerhoof song "The Perfect Me" that we had played out once or twice, so we decided to lay it down. It was quite eye opening that we were able to get 11 people in the studio and track a song from top to bottom in three hours. Made us almost realize that we were dumb for doing the full length the way we had been (don't ask). Free download. Free. Not a cent. Enjoy.

PRIVATE INCOME
The Front Room
CD
Label - Rae Rae Records
Released: December 11, 2009

I On U
Good Buddies

I share a rehearsal space in Brooklyn with this band and played with them for a bit- at the time they were called Zero Spanish - just long enough to end up playing on this CD which was recorded total guerilla style in our rehearsal space. I wasn't even sure if we were going to use the recordings or not, and the drum tracks were done pretty much in an afternoon. All of that isn't important, what is important is that this is a strange little band, Fender Rhodes out the wazoo, slightly off-kilter and a little dark. I don't understand what the hell Kelly Rae is singing about, and the songs are all the better for it. Kelly is a big Who fan, and as a result expects a lot of drums, all the time. Sometimes I felt I was going over the top with fills, she told me, "there is no top." That's fine with me.

AUSTRIAN DEATH MACHINE
Double Brutal
CD
Label - Metal Blade Records
Released: September 29, 2009

Iron Fist
Killing Is My Business...And Business Is Good!

Two discs of completely stupid "Governator" inspired metal. I play on the bulk of disc 2 which is a bunch of covers by the likes of Agnostic Front, Judas Priest, Metallica, Megadeth and Motorhead. From the same drum sessions as the ZAO Awake? session and the ADM Christmas single I played on. There's still more that didn't make this one... maybe they will see the light of day at some point. Anybody that takes this seriously enough to bitch and moan about it is the type of person you probably don't want to hang out with anyway.

FREE DOWNLOAD

EMANUEL AND THE FEAR
Live At Joe's Pub
Free Net Download
Label - NYC Taper
Released: September 11, 2009

Dear Friend (Live)
Free Life (Live)

The kind folks over at NYC Taper came to our show and did a combination "board recording" with some ambient micing. As always with this kind of stuff, you're at the mercy of the signal being sent from the board and what your mics pick up. With an 11 member band, this can be a small to major disaster. It's okay, not the best, not the worst. Gives you a good idea that we CAN pull it off live, without giving the full impact away. It is what it is. Aside from that, it's FREE... so I guess you get what you pay for. There's a reason the full length has been in production for almost 2 years. This stuff isn't easy to mix.

ZAO
Awake?
CD
Label - Ferret Records
Released: May 5, 2009

1,000,000 Outsretched Arms Of Nothing
The Quiet Passenger Pt. 2

A slightly more subdued/melodic side of ZAO. Not nearly as abrasive as The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here, and that's fine with me. Variety is the spice of life, baby! Four different studios used in the production of this one and lots of email file trading on our end. Gotta love technolgy. I ate SO much Mexican food during this session, when in Rome.... (or at least in San Diego.)

Limited-numbered pressing of 8000 with 6 interchangeable covers painted by brilliant artist Gabe Felice.

EMANUEL AND THE FEAR
Emanuel and the Fear
CD
Label - Paper Garden Records
Released: January 9, 2009

We're All Alright Tonight
Comfortable Prison

11 piece mini-orchestra - 12 people if you count producer Jamin who helped make this the weird/wonderful release that it is. I initially had jumped on board to help them out with a one-off show, then I got asked to play more. Next thing I know I'm retracking drums on a bunch of songs that already had the orchestration recorded. This stuff is great, I've ALWAYS wanted to be a part of something like this.

We had planned on doing a full length album but as you can imagine, the mixing for a project like this is a little ridiculous. So in the meantime here is a 5 song EP that has intelligent string/horn arranging, harmonies, electronics, slide guitar, and some general weirdness (while still being catchy as hell).

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AUSTRIAN DEATH MACHINE
A Very Brutal Christmas
CD
Label - Metal Blade Records
Released: November 25, 2008

Jingle Bells

I flew out to California to record drums for a ZAO record with Tim Lambesis (As I Lay Dying) and Daniel Castleman, we had booked 4 days in Big Fish Studios in Encinitas to do the drums and after finishing in a day or two were left with some already paid for studio time. Tim has this band, Austrian Death Machine, that is pretty ridiculous. It's a metal band "fronted" by "Arnold Schwarzenegger" with all of the songs relating back to Arnold movies. He was tossing around the idea of doing a Christmas single (to pay tribute to the Arnold "classic" Jingle All The Way) so he made a scratch demo and I laid down some drums. We then did a cover of Judas Priest's "Hell Bent For Leather." We had so much fun we decided to keep going. When all was said and done I think I put down drums for around 14 cover songs. So between the Zao album and this I ended up laying down stuff for around 26 songs in 4 days. I don't mess around.

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AGAINST THE STREAM COLLECTIVE
ATS Vol. I- Halloween Compilation
CD
Label - Against The Stream Collective
Released: October 30, 2008

Appearing on one track as Solo Artist

OUT OF PRINT

A compilation of 15 "Halloween" or "Spooky" themed somgs by 13 artists for this DIY label out of Chicago. I didn't know what to title mine (going along with my runnng theme of having a really hard time coming up with titles for things I write) . I asked by wife what the most terrifying thing was she could think of. Her answer was "eye violence". So there we go. As you're listening to this imagine the scene in Omen II when Joan Hart is having her eyes eaten out of her head by crows and then proceeds to get hit by an 18-wheeler while stumbling around blindly.

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CREATION
Hymns To Haunt The Gates Of Heaven
Net-Release
Label - None
Released: August, 2008

Led To Die
Phlegathon

I have a policy to NOT include things in the discography (regardless of whether i played on them) until they actually get released in a public format. Much like the below compilation, this is an "internet" release. I guess I gotta get with the times so here it is. Some friends of mine from CT had some studio time booked, and no drummer, so I stepped in and learned these songs, rehearsed with them once and did the whole thing in an afternoon in NJ (Biohazard's studio to be exact). This is the reason I'm not in the From Autumn To Ashes "Pioneers" video. So I'm glad it finally got "released" There's one thing I tend to say I "cant do" and that's more straight ahead, death metal drumming, Straight 16ths on the kicks for longer than about 8 bars and I'm usually out of commission. But here we are. It didn't hurt that they brought a 6 pack of this (banned in most states now) energy drink called Cocaine. One can is equal to 2 and a half red bulls, I drank 3. I seriously thought I was going to have a heartattack, but it got the job done. The very next day I left for a 10 week tour. Whew.

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JON 7 AND ASSOCIATES
Mangle Me
Net-Release
Label - Timetheory
Released: August, 2008

Appearing on one track as a Remixer

From the label - "Mangle Me began as a little tune generated from fractal MIDI, and was posted on a few forums to see who would be interested in mangling it. The real intention was to meet new folks and get to know them a little through their production styles. A few people did turn up with their 'mangles', and the results were collated into this release. Maybe there will be more mangles, maybe not, but the project was fun, and served as a small meet-and-greet." I am responsible for one remix.

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PURCHASE FROM RATSKIN

Various Artists
(TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA) 13,000.00 MilliSeconds
CD
Label - Ratskin Records
Released: July 8, 2008

Appearing on one track as solo artist

A collection of around 215 artists from all over the map (both location and genre-wise) each doing a thirteen second song. Released by Ratskin Records out of San Francisco, CA. Head over to www.ratskin.org to order a copy. I contributed one titled A Principal Vertex. Also on the comp are people like To Live And Shave In L.A., Matmos, Thrones, Venetian Snares and about 200 or so others. Good times.

FROM AUTUMN TO ASHES
Live At Looney Tunes
CD
Label - Vagrant Records
Released: June 17, 2008

Royal Crown Vs. Blue Duchess
Everything I Need

"Wow, did we really NOT want to do this record initially. We wanted to do a benefit show for Looney Tunes Records in Long Island as they had recently suffered a fire and anything you can do to help an independent record store was good in our book. But the thought of recording a "live album" in an atmosphere that really isn't even suited to playing a SHOW was a big turn-off. Needless to say, you couldn't move on stage, I had guitar amps right in my ear, but still couldn't hear a damn thing. The audience was lined back through the cd racks and couldn't really move or probably see much. We had to stop after every couple of songs to allow the guy recording it to reset the hard-drive. Not exactly "rock and roll". When all was said and done we got the tracks and examined them only to find one of the guitars lines had crapped out. Because of this the recording was un-usable but part of the deal with the show was people pre-ordered a CD which they were promised at the performance. We were in Europe when we found all of this out and almost ditched it. Thanks to Brian McTernan and his recording expertise we were able to not only salvage it but to make it sound damn good (for what it is).

While sitting at home with my broken foot I managed to put together a song sequence and arrange the recordings in a way that made the show flow a little better than it did in real life. Again, it turned out better than it should have.

So, instead of being a limited edition CD only available in NY it turned into a national release. One thing we COULDN'T save was my vocal mic. But, who am I to nitpick... I never really wanted to do any vocals with FATA anyway so... it's all fine by me."

CONELRAD
Sluts & Slobs
7-inch
Label - Oh No Vertigo!
Released: Sept 30, 2006

Fear And Abandonment

"In typical Conelrad fashion there was more than a year between the tracking of these songs and the release. These songs were recorded live in one day (with vocals being done as an overdub) and mixed the next day. Literally the next week I got the call to join ZAO and the label that was going to release the 7-inch backed out because we wouldn't be touring in the near future. This is why the record itself says it was released by "VERSION CITY" out of Brooklyn, NY. Eventually our long time friend Ben Smartnick decided to put it out. Somewhere along the line nobody thought to change the label info on the sleeve or the record.

After getting together the next year to do a release show for it Adam and I vowed to keep Conelrad alive and kicking in whatever capacity we were able. The song "Mr. Right" is actually penned not by Adam or I but by the wonderful Steve Moore of the band Zombi, who has been a major player in mine and Adam's musical development. Also included is a cover by the band NOMEANSNO.

The record is titled after the failed 1970's smut mag that featured Ms. Annie Sprinkle in a "vomiting spread". It is often referred to as the biggest failure of a magazine ever to be released. This is kind of how Conelrad felt about our place in the music world. "

ZAO
The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here
CD/DVD
Label - Ferret Records
Release Date: June 13, 2006

"One of the most relaxed recording experiences I've ever been involved in. We had 12 days booked at the studio and finished a day ahead of time (not without taking two breaks to watch the Steelers in the Playoffs).We tracked the record with Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago and so everthing was done live to tape except for some guitar overdubs here and there and the vocals. Basic tracking was done in two and a half days. Over dubs and vocals took another two days. The rest of the time was mixing.

The album was released in two different formats. The first was the stand-alone disc. The other was a limited edition with expanded cover art and a "Making Of" DVD. There is also the Japanese pressing floating around with our cover of Black Flag's "Black Coffee" on it, or so I've heard, I've never actually seen a copy. We did 2 tours on this record and then the band went on a touring freeze prompting me to move to NYC and start anew."

Various Artists
Black On Black Flag - A Tribute to Black Flag
CD
Label - Reignition Records
Release Date: March 13, 2006

Appearing on a track with ZAO

"This was like pulling teeth. We got asked to contribute a track to the re-release of this long out of print Black Flag tribute. The only problem was, I was the only real Black Flag fan in the band. So, I chose Black Coffee because 1) It is from the largely (and unfairly) overlooked later period and 2) because I drink a LOT of damn coffee. We basically went in and tracked and mixed it in one day and shipped it off to the label. Later down the road the Japanese label that released The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here threw it on the end of that album as a bonus track for the Japanese fans. Good ol' international relations!

ZAO
The Lesser Lights Of Heaven
DVD
Label - Ferret Records
Release Date: November 15, 2005

"Zao's manager Ryan J. Downey decided to help the band explain it's chaotic existence by compiling live footage and putting together a feature length documentary. When I joined the band they were in the process of finishing it up and decided to film a show on my first tour with the band. Something happened with the audio and they had to used the overdriven sound from the cameras on stage. So basically we have a pro-shot footage/bootleg audio version of a Zao show. Fortunatley for the fans there is a treasure trove of other live footage (including a whole other set from prior to my joining) and the TWO AND A HALF HOUR documentary (which I make one or two brief appearances in). For Zao die-hards."

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Various Artists
Unicorn Mountain Volume 1
Book/CD
Label - Unicorn Mountian
Release Date: 2005

Appearing on a track with CONELRAD

"This is a perfect example of what I miss about Pittsburgh. There is a definate sense of community in the music and art scenes and this compilation/book is the perfect example of that. The general idea was to get a bunch of bands to record a track (all recorded by the same person, for free) in one of the local art galleries (which donated it's space for the cause) and a bunch of artists and writers to make a companion book. The thing is beautiful and I'm glad we got to be a part of it. Much like most of Conelrad's compilation appearances, this (entitled Taepodong II) is one of my favorite songs that we did. It's about nuclear armageddon at the hands of North Korea (and in case you are wondering... we're for it).

Various Artists
The Long Run Of Small Steps
Cassette
Label - Hardtravelin
Release Date: 2005

Appearing on a track with CONELRAD

"This is a limited edition (300 I believe) cassette only compilation put out by Pittsburgh's Hardtravelin' record label. The cassettes were red and came in a hand screened cardboard box with a mini-booklet inside. Conelrad's contribution is a cover of "More Of The Same" by legendary Pittsburgh punk band Half Life. We had initially recorded it during the Bezoar session to be used on a Half Life tribute 7 inch, but we missed a deadline and the track just sat on the shelf collecting dust. So we gave it to the Hardtravelin' guys. The weird vocal sound on the track was achieved by me coverng my mouth with the crook of my arm and me yelling into it. I wanted to sound like I was being smothered. This track also debuted the use of the "Old Smokey". This is a tiny 9 volt battery powered amplifier that looks like a pack of cigarettes (American Spirits to be exact). From this point on, every time I was in Epigram 154 studios in Pittsburgh, I found a place to use this amp on a recording (it's on some of the Sluts and Slobs stuff and also on the Zao "Black Flag" cover)."

CONELRAD / STEVE MOORE
The Torus Shock Trio Sessions
CD (Limited number of 50)
Label - Lost Tundra
OUT OF PRINT! But digital downloads are available in the STORE.
Release Date: September 30, 2004

"A Final Dissolution took SO long to get finished that we just blew off steam one night with Steve Moore. We took a case of beer to the space, hung a couple of mics from the ceiling into the four track and let about 40 minutes of "free-violence" take place. Everything you hear is everything that happened that night, in the order that it happened with nothing edited out. We did another one about a month later (which hasn't been released yet) and a radio broadcast which added an analog synth and a Danzig cover to the mix. All of the CD covers were hand screened by Pittsburgh poster artist Mike Budai and were assembled by yours truly and hand numbered."

UPTOWN RHYTHM AND BRASS
From Under The Covers
CD
Label - Smitty's Music
Release Date: August, 2004

"One of my forays into the 'wedding/country club' music world. I played with these cats for about two years or so, and one of the main reasons I did it was because of their song choices (lots of Blood Sweat and Tears, Chicago, Chase, etc -- basically all of that old 70's jazz rock stuff). Also, 5-FUCKING-PIECE-HORN-SECTION. Nothing like actually playing '25 or 6 to 4' with the actual horn section doing it too. You don't get to do that everyday. But, it was fun. We did a little session where we laid down some of our more "standard" songs to get more private functions and gigs. Some of these CDS are probably floating around Western PA and I'm pretty sure the band is still playing. A lot of my friends gave me a hard time for doing this at the time but the thing is... when I joined the band about 2 weeks before the first gig I played (when their drummer bailed) I already knew every song in the 3 hour set. I just grew up around this kind of music and used to play it when I was learning. Why am I explaining myself???"

CONELRAD
A Final Dissolution
CD
Label - New Addition Media
Release Date: September 17, 2004

"Never have I been involved in a recording process that was so damaged. We did the basic tracks fairly quickly (in about 2 days). Then our engineer Jason Jouver asked me to fill in with his band (Creta Bourzia) on a two and a half week southeastern US tour. When we got back we had issues getting back into the studio to do vocals. Once that was finally done, the studio shut down. It took a while and some sly moves but we eventually got the tracks back off of the harddrive and mixed them in Jason's bedroom. After all of that, it finally came out (one year to the day of when we started recording it). Regardless, it's the perfect example of what we were doing at the time. After this we tended to go a little bit more raw with stuff... which I prefer for the band. But, this is us finding our feet as a two piece."

CONELRAD
Bezoar
7-inch
Label - Hope and Hardtravelin'
Release Date - April 2, 2004

"The first official Conelrad release but actually recorded AFTER the "A Final Dissolution" sessions. We wanted something to come out in the interim of waiting for the full length to be done so we did two "simple" songs, an instrumental and Paranoid Chant (which is a Minutemen cover) in about 3 days and had our friends Joey and Q at Hope and Hardtravelin' press up some copies and get them out there. This ended up being my favorite stuff that we did and the three originals usually got played at every show we did from that point on. The title is a term used for a congeled mass of hair and food that forms in the stomachs of cattle. Some cultures believe it has medicinal purposes. You could ask me until the cows come home what that has to do with the record or the cover art, and I wouldn't be able to tell you."

Various Artists
Advvanced Calculus: Live on 88.3 WRCT
CD
Label - These Bricks Are Mine
Release Date: 2004

Appearing on a track with CONELRAD

"Another great example of not only the size and variety of the Pittsburgh music scene at the time but also of the forward thinking of the station to have the bands play and not only broadcast it in prime time listening hours, but also to do a damn good job recording it. Conelrad did probably 2 or 3 of these broadcasts and always had a good time."

Various Artists
The West Coast Of The East Coast: A Project to Benefit the Multi-Tool
CD/Zine
Label - Hope and Hardtravelin' Records
Release Date: 2004

Appearing on a track with CONELRAD

"This was a compilation that was put out as a benefit for the Multi-Tool project which was a bike workshop in Pittsburgh. The idea was that people would donate bikes and bike parts, and then you could go down and use their tools/parts to fix up your bike, or you could build a bike a donate it to the project, which they would then sell at a super cheap price that all proceeds went back into the project. My favorite Conelrad song hands down. The best conelrad songs always ended up on comps and on the 7 inches that nobody buys. Oh well."

Various Artists
Pure Trash
CD/Zine
Label - Pure Trash
Release Date: 2003
Appearing on a track with THE OPD

"This was a zine put out by some people in Pittsburgh that the opd was friends with. All copies of the zine came with a cd enclosed. This particular track (like most of the opd recordings) was actually a recorded rehersal that was later overdubbed on top of. Chad Stanko is the master of 4-track recording.

BEN HACKETT
Ben Hackett (ep)
Label - none
Release Date: 2003
Appears on one track as guest drummer

"For a little bit the owner of this studio (Dave's World Studio's in Ambridge, PA) was calling me up to do drums on various recording sessios. This is one that got released. Sort of a singer/songwriter/ToriAmos kind of vibe. This hands down was the hardest gig I've ever had. They did the piano and vocals first (with no click track) and THEN decided to add drums. Needless to say, there was all sorts of weird stuff going on, extra beats on measures, tempo shifts. I tried my best to make sense of it. In the end, one track that I played on got used."

ZOMBI
Twilight Sentinel
CD
Label - Nightmare City
Released: 2003
Appearing on a track as guest percussionist

"I helped out with percussion on the hidden bonus track on this self-released Zombi EP. The CD itself is out of print but was later reissued along with their first EP as The Zombi Anthology a few years later."

Various Artists
Circuts of Steel
CD
Label - SSS Records
Release Date: 2003
Appearing as "source material" on a track by TORUS

"This CD was a 2 disc compilation of various Pittsburgh electronic artists. As far as I know, Adam (Conelrad) MacGregor took some drum audio of me playing in the Conelrad rehersal space and used it as the source material for this piece. I had no idea until about a year later. But yeah, technically, I'm the basis for this piece."

THE OPD
The Opd Guide To Dating At Work
CD
Label: Slickville Records
Release Date: 2002

A 3 song EP that showcases the 4-piece line-up of the band that was playing out at the time. Recorded in rehersals (much like most of the opd recordings of that time frame) on a 4-track and later overdubbed with vocals and guitar overdubs. Long out of print.

IUP WIND ENSEMBLE/JACK STAMP
Internal Combustion
CD
Label: Klavier
Release Date: 2001

Another CD I didn't know existed until recently. Every year the Wind Ensemble where I went to college would record a batch of pieces and we would get copies of them, but I guess they compiled some of the best into this disc. I'm on 5 of these pieces and I couldn't even begin to tell you WHAT intstruments I played on them. This era is shrouded in mystery and Mad Dog 20/20.

THE OPD
Repressed Memories - The First Ten Years of The OPD
CD
Label: Slickville Records
Release Date: 2001
Appearing on 3 songs

A collection of various recordings (both released and un-released) by Chad Stanko's "the opd" project. Two of the songs I appear on were new recordings made for the release. The third song dates from a session I did with Chad from the early 90's.

BROOKSFOUNDJAKE
Waiting For San Diego
CD
Release Date: 2001
Appearing on Drums/Percussion on a track. Also on Glockenspiel on several others.

"After I got out of college I was so burnt out on music that I went through a bit of a dry spell. Thanks to these guys for giving me the call to play on a couple gigs with them and on this session. The sessions were kind of funny since they were recording stealth mode at a studio after hours (I remember leaving an orchestral gig in Johnstown, PA and driving to Indiana, PA at 2 in the morning and doing the drums for one of the songs as the sun came up). The glockenspiel parts were recorded in a rehersal room in the basement of the music building at Indiana University of PA. None of us were students at the time, so it was a guerrilla mission to take over the room, get the glockenspiel out of the percussion room, get all of the recording gear in a 8 x 8 room, and lay it down before someone kicked us out."

THE O-ZONE PERCUSSION GROUP
Whiplash
CD
Label: Klavier
Release Date: 2001
Appears on one track on Vibraphone/Marimba

"Wow. I had no idea this existed until the other day (almost 7 years after the fact). This is a "re-issue" of a CD by the O-Zone percussion group -- which was the name of the percussion ensemble at the college I went to-- that was led by Gary Olmstead. This particular re-issue contains a track that I perform on Bruce Yurko's Concerto for Percussion and Wind Ensemble that Mr. Yurko basically wrote for our percussion section. I can be heard leading the charge in the "demented clock" section of the piece. I'm actualy playing a really rare 4 octave Vibraphone on the piece. So rare in fact that the Boston Pops used to rent it from our school."

CATCHPENNY
Dajom
CD
Label - Next Records
Release Date: 1999

"Catchpenny used to play with Crank Radio all the time. I always liked the fact that they played really dark weird kind of stuff in the vein of early Shudder To Think. When their drummer was kicked out and they had a bunch of gigs coming up they asked me to step in. History has now proven this is the ongoing trend in my career: Crash course in the bands material with a gig a week off and end up staying in the band. I like the 2nd half of the cd where things are a little weirder and darker. A review in Heartattack I think at the time said that the first half of the record sounded like the Friends theme. I can't argue with that. This record is also important because it hooked me back up with childhood friend Rick McNerny who later went on to record almost all of the Conelrad material in addition to some OPD stuff and Zao material. I still have a few of these lying around if anyone wants them. "

CRANK RADIO
IKYS
Cassette
Label - Bobo Has A Friend
Release Date: 1997

"Third Crank Radio cassette, third bass player. We were like The Melvins of our city. This release is pretty rare and as a result we had no problem recycling riffs later down the road for Conelrad."

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Instability Is Inherent (60 Minutes Of Noise)
Cassette
Label - None
Release Date: 1996

"A compilation of 60 noise artists from around the world doing a one minute song. I used the name Christus Apollo. I couldn't tell you who put this out, why I did the track or how I found out about it, but there it is."

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Stairs To The Closet
CD
Label - AFM Records, INC.
Release Date: 1996
Appears on one track with Crank Radio

"It is usually my policy to never shit talk people I have worked with in any kind of professional music situation, but these guys take the cake. We get asked to participate in a compilation that is going to showcase this studio/record label in Pittsburgh. Great. Hey, we'll even give them an exclusive song! So we go down there, lay down the track everything sounds good. Here's the discussion that follows:
Us: "So when can we come down to mix it"
Them: "We don't allow the bands to sit in on the mixing"
Us: "Really? That kind of stinks.
Them: "Don't worry, we'll let you approve anything we do, and then we'll give you the multi-track master for a small price"
Us: "Okay, We can live with that"
FOUR MONTHS LATER
Them: "Your mix is done, it's been sent to the press"
Us: "Can we hear it?"
Them: "You can hear it when the CD comes out"
Us: "Fine. Can we have our tape?"
Them "We erased it"
These guys were crooks. On top of the fact that they did all sorts of ridiculous "tricks" like adding terrible digital harmonies to vocals and drenching the whole thing in ridicolous reverb. I tried talking 2 different bands I was friends with out of going to this studio and both had bad times. The 2nd band actually had the label/studio shut down and run off to LA with their money and master tapes. Lessons learned."

CRANK RADIO
Country
Cassette
Label - Bobo Has A Friend
Release Date: 1995

"For some reason everyone in the Greensburg, PA music scene grabbed onto this thing. We pretty much sold a copy to everyone around at the time. How do I know this? We sold 300 copies in the town and there were probably only that many people coming to shows. Years later when I joined Zao, our bass player, Marty, would play the the songs all the time at soundcheck. It was weird, I didn't get it at the time and I didn't get it then. Much like most things I'm involved with I just thought it was terrible when we were done. And yes, I still think that."

CRANK RADIO
Atonal, Asymmetrical...We Must Burn!
Cassette
Label - Bobo Has A Friend
Release Date: 1994

"Recorded on a rented cassette 6-Track and probably the ONLY time I'll record with triggers on the drums. This was only done because we didn't have the channels available to "mix" the drums. Cover art is by my brother Adam. He was really upset that it wasn't included in the discography... so here you go buddy."

NAPOLOEN IN RAGS
Toast
Cassette
Label - Trajic Walrus
Release Date: 1992

"The second NIR release. This one has it all: Tribal drums, flutes, female vocals, acoustic numbers, trippy soundscapes and a more reasonable song structure. Notable for being one of the first recordings with myself and Adam MacGregor (who would turn into a long time musical foil) Also appearing on flute is future author Kelly Braffett. Weird."