The QUiTTERS are the greatest band in the world. Ask
anybody. They invented Rock & Roll. Ask them, they'll
tell you. Finally after almost 5 years, two CD's,
three (s)hit singles, a box set, videos, various bootlegs ,
and a few line-ups, the QUiTTERS have their very own web page.
La-De-Da.
One thing that can be said about this Rochester, New York
quartet is that they love rock and roll and more than
that, they love to break the rules of rock and roll.
The QUiTTERS aren't trying to 'make it', the QUiTTERS have
already made it. influenced by 60's garage rock, 70's power pop
and 80's TV commercials, the QUiTTERS play like no one
else.
The QUiTTERS formed in the summer of 1994 shortly
after the demise of DOG'S LiFE, the Snyder brothers'
previous band. The rhythm section of Filardo and
Parkins was 'borrowed' from DUKE GALAXY AND THE PiPELiNERS
courtesy of the Duke himself.
Although none of Dog's Life's fans liked the QUiTTERS
at first because it was too 'Ramones-ish'i.e; too loud
and too sloppy, eventually they came around to the
garagey-power-poppy, shiny, candy-like music that
the QUiTTERS make. Hey, at least their name meant
something. Anyhow, The QUiTTERS played and played
and played all over the city of Rochester until
they eventually landed a deal with Trashcan Records,
Rochester's premier rock and roll label owned by
Duke
Galaxy. The band entered the studio with top-notch
producer ARPAD, and emerged with their first
4-song 7" EP record, 'MEET THE QUiTTERS'.
Along with future hit songs like 'Everyday' and 'Unsolved Mystery', the record also
included 'Our Turf', the last song performed by
Dog's Life. This helped the foursome gain legendary
status. During these sessions, the band also recorded
2 songs for the vinyl-only Trashcan compilation,
'On The Verge Of Breaking Even'- 'Mean' and
'Bicycle'.
After the successful 'Meet The Quitters' tour of
Rochester, NY, the group took no time off and
followed up with 'Greatest Band in The World',
another 4-song 7" released on Trashcan Records that
would hail such anthems as 'i Wanna Live in A Cave'
and 'Lazy'. Also recorded at these sessions would be
the band's 3rd and final release for Trashcan, 'The
Quitters invented Rock And Roll', featuring such hits as 'Wasn't Born In Love', 'A Bad Day', and the only Keith Parkins-lead vocal recording, 'Motherf*cker'! The band left
3 songs off for other releases: 'Umbrella' and 'Out Of My House', which ended up on their debut CD in 1999,
and 'Ain't Got Much Left', a song for the Carbon
Records compilation CD 'Things We're Made Of'.
In
between all of this recording, the Quitters made
appearances at Friends & Players Pub, the Bug Jar
and Richmond's to wild and frenzied boys and girls
wetting themselves at the mere presence of the group.
What made the shows so fantastic in the early days
was the chemistry between all four members. The band
could play any style of music and could cover any
song they wanted. This was evident when for a few
shows, KEiTH 'Keith' Parkins couldn't make it and
Dave, Dan & Rob reworked a set of 60's garage covers
and booked themselves as 'The QUiTTERTON Trio'.
Legend has it that the future MOViEES were in the
audience that night in 1996 and. . . .
Anyway, life went on as usual for the QUiTTERS until in late 1996 Dave Snyder left the band to undergo sleep therapy. He remained under special care, sleeping for 4 months. Apparently this cures baldness or something. So enter JAY KAST, brother of Kevin Kast, son of Mr. & Mrs. Kast and all-around funny guy. He played guitar and sang back-ups while Dan moved over to the lead vocal duties. Almost no one noticed except the band members themselves who took to calling Jay 'Dave' just for fun. This line-up lasted until early 1997, when Dave emerged from his sleep full of hair and energy. The group, along with Arpad, then proceeded to record the 30-odd songs that would become their debut CD. It was recorded in their practice spot the same weekend that he Thunder Gods recorded 'See You in Hell Kid'.
The subsequent album, 'THE QUiTTERS ARE KiNG' would not see the light of day for over 2 years. This was due to several reasons: in June of 1997, Dave left the country for an undetermined amount of time and was again replaced by Jay Kast. Several small labels promised to release the disc but never came through. The band realized they'd have to fund the project themselves so they set about gigging as much as they could. 'The New Quitters' were a full-on garage-rock assault. They also discovered they could drink booze like no one's business. Ask the band members today and they'll tell you they can't remember ANY of the 'lost weekend' year-long Quitters binge. In early 1998, Dan and Rob came up with the idea for 'GARAGE-POP' - a series of shows featuring local rock and roll bands. The idea started after a very successful show by the Hi-Risers and the Moviees.
The feeling of the night was one of a 'scene' happening and why not exploit it? The QUiTTERS could be the host of a series of these shows that would showcase Rochester rock and roll bands 4 times a year and that would be an event no one would want to miss! Hey! Let's start our own label and put out records by our friends and the shows can finance them! Hail Hail Rock And Roll!
'GARAGE-POP' was born on March 27th, 1998 and was the first in a series of shows that were put on 4 times a year, with the last one being a big huge mess! The shows fund the label, called 'GARAGE-POP RECORDS', and the first CD to be released was 'THE QUiTTERS ARE KiNG!', 
the debut release by who else? THE QUiTTERS! The CD still took until July of 1999 to be released and in the meantime, Dave FINALLY came back into the band for good, this time as just the lead singer, adding extra entertainment value to the live performances and forcing Dan to become a better guitarist since he was now th only one. We said a farewell to Jay Kast on July 4th, 1998 and he went on to play in THE RUNS, SNAGGLETOOTH and EDDiE NEBULA & THE PLAGUE.
During the time Dave came back and the time the CD was released, the QUiTTERS wrote an entire album's worth of MORE material and once again entered Arpad's studio in early 1999 to capture it on tape to create 'THE QUiTTERS' SECOND ALBUM'. This CD nearly topped the charts in Germany in the summer of 2000, except that the Germans never actually heard it. But if they had, it would've because Dave and Dan's last name is 'Snyder'. 
While the Germans ignored the bands' new release, The QUiTTERS began an extensive, 12 month tour of Rochester, NY.
'The Quitters Second Album' boasts such infamous "hits" as i GOT YOU BABE, LET'S GET REAL, SiSTER, and NO SiLLY. Audiences packed tour venues to sing along with The Quitters' newest slew of greatest hits - which was good for Dave, since he usually forgets all his lyrics (a side effect of 'sleep therapy'). The new CD also sparked a controversey when the first track, MONKEE SUiT, led A**y Ba***k of the Ch**te****ld Ki**s to threaten Rob Filardo with bodily harm. Rob lied, though, and said that the song wasn't about A**y and that he didn't write the lyrics. Rob's not just a great drummer - he's an expert at getting people to believe lies - And while The QUiTTERS didn't drag their ass to France and Spain, the new CD enjoyed a few months on the air in both countries.
This era was a turning point for The Quitters, who had all dried out by now and began to put on some killer shows. With the bottle behind them, they got tighter and better and more aggressive onstage - and "KEITH" finally realized that he didn't have an amp.
Once again, the band entered Arpad's to record possibly their best work ever. The new CD, "1982", is a testament to the QUiTTERS' ability to continue to write great music while ever changing their style, approach, and sound.
Again, the new project would not be released for quite some time, and impatient fans would begin to circulate bootleg copies of rough mixes - given out by Rob Filardo himself to squelch their whining. Eventually,college radio stations began to play such unfinished gems as "MAKE iT TO OLD", "WHO DO YOU LOVE?", and a cover of the HiGH RiSERS' version of an old SALAMANDERS' hit, "WiLD ROMANCE".
THEN . . .
Some say he quit, while others say he was fired through e(vil)mail. Here's the rumor we like best-
One fateful Sunday morning "KEiTH" bumped his head. Actually, it was a pretty hard hit which left him convinced that he was Rob Filardo. While taking on as many musical projects as possible, "KEiTH" forgot that he was in The QUiTTERS. The band waited and waited and waited for him to regain his memory, but it would be in vain. So, the surviving members pulled in STEVE "KiNKAiD" - former guitarist/singer/star of power-pop legends The KiNKAiDS - to take over as the bassifier.
Steve had never actually played bass before (although we're pretty sure he'd seen one), but he was a long time friend of the Snyder brothers, sat in on guitar once for a QUiTTERS show, and had his very own bass amp. The match seemed obvious. Besides, how hard could it be? Four strings - ten fingers. A piece of cake.
After a show or two with Steve on bass, "KEiTH" partially regained his memory - though just enough to realize that he'd been replaced. He was suprisingly angry, but soon forgot all about it again. "KEiTH" is missed . . . Let's just leave it at that.
Meanwhile, The QUiTTERS' intended third CD release seemed forgotten. "1982" sat on the shelf next to Brian Wilson's "SMiLE", as the band began to forge ahead with a whole new set of future hits. Having a new member in the band seemed to give them a fresh, new outlook - they were energized and eager to write new songs. To keep this forward momentum going, The QUiTTERS kicked around the idea of putting out an entirely new CD based around the new material, and then releasing "1982" sometime afterwards. They were shocked to discover that the BEATLES had stolen and used their idea in 1969/70. Some people just can't be original.
To make matters even worse, doesn't Brian Wilson go ahead and release "SMiLE", leaving "1982" all alone. This project would have to be finished
To be continued . . .
