| Matt Ominski: | Ryan Dyson: | |
|---|---|---|
| Bass/Vocals | Greg Eisenach: | Drums/Percussion/Keyboards/Vocals |
| Guitars/Vocals |
The rather strange sounding name of our band is actually a contraction of our three last names: DYSON, OMINSKI, and EISENACH; which the three of us came up with while juniors in high school-- as just a collective reference to us all before we ever thought of having a band together. Our first experience on stage together was in 1986 at a lip sync contest in which we portrayed the band Rush; doing a custom mixed medley of Tom Sawyer and A Passage to Bangkok. At that time, the only one who really had much experience actually playing his instrument was our bass player!
Shortly after that, the challenge was issued for the rest of us to buy the instruments we had borrowed for the show and to try our hands at becoming actual rock musicians instead of just lip sync artists. Thus, SOLDIER BLACK, our first band was born! At that stage, we were all attitude! Since the big trends in the rock world at the time were glam rock and thrash metal there was always this tug of war within the band about what type of band we should be. The eclectic, albeit brief, outcome of this struggle was a band with an image which was a cross between early Kiss, Judas Priest, and Poison. That band started with just the three of us, but it went through three lead guitar players before the name was changed to
Now, this was when we really stared gaining momentum-- jamming 5 to 6 nights a week for 4 to 8 hours a session! Our cover tune repetoire alone grew to over three hours in length in the space of a few months! Naturally, we became a favorite feature of house parties, pool parties, New Year's Eve and other holiday celebrations, and even a "teen dance" (woo who!) in the greater Portland, OR/Vancouver, WA area.
By early 1988 though, we had decided to embark upon our first recording project and cut a four song demo (oo-oo-oo!). It featured a typical 80's metal sound with dark, brooding lyrics and was better received by the fans we already had than the critics of the finicky fanzines which reviewed it. Nope, no record deal on that one!
Anyway, by this point in time, the VYPER experience had become quite a soap opera-- replete with the excesses of drugs, meddling girlfriends and "groupie types" who tried to "run the show" so to speak, along with the oh so typical acrimonious quarrels and mini feuds over "musical differences"and such; which bands are reputed as being notorious for.
So, the decision was made, by the three of us anyway, to begin working on a "side project" while we tried to work through our differences in VYPER. This "side project" soon developed into the main project and so was born FRESH ROADKILL, which was soon shortened to just plain old
This despite the fact that there were at least a half dozen bands of that particular name dispersed across the country-- although, at the time, we were unaware of this.
This band marked our deepest journey into the fast and heavy world of thrash metal, and we loved it! The local scene in Portland was just budding (no pun intended-- really!) with a good dozen or more thrash bands and so, we rarely had to leave town to gig.
In the winter of 1989, ROADKILL-- No Rush Like Terror was recorded and released a couple months later. Hundreds of copies were sold to friends, associates, and actual fans in the timeframe following its release. If you missed it, or no longer have it, it is now available for free download at mp3.com so check it out!
Portland's Starry Night Club (now the Roseland Theatre) became our mainstay gigging location which featured us at least once a month for a good year or so (including the first annual Thrash Fest which also became known as the infamous "chicken show" to those who know!!!). This recording was also supported with gigs as far north as Seattle, WA and as far south as Eugene, OR; which was not too bad for a self-managed and self-promoting outfit.
ROADKILL lasted over three years but suffered many lineup changes with the three of us together in it for less than a year and with Ryan being the sole original member during its final year of existence. So, the demise of this past band marked a hiatus in our creative collaboration.
Yet, within a few years Greg and Ryan began to jam informally but fairly regularly. As the three of us have been friends since high school, it was not long before Matt caught wind of the jamming and approached the other two of us with a proposal for a writing/recording collaboration and thus the search for a collective name began and ended with that old high school rat pack title:
Now that you've waded through some of our history, perhaps you'd like to read about