Band Biography
Before Catch 22, there was Gimp. Tomas Kalnoky and Chris Greer (of Catch 22 fame) were in a punk band called Gimp, and when Tomas got bored with playing "just punk", he decided to expand Gimp's sound by adding some new members. He asked Kevin Gunther to join as trumpet player when they met in Camelot Records one day. Ryan Eldred and Jamie Egan joined on saxophone and trombone, respectively, and in the fall of 1996, Catch 22 was born.
After selling 2,000 copies of their debut, "Rules of the Game," they went off in search of a record label. In 1997 they were signed to Victory Records, by lucky chance. Kevin says: "We sent our demo out to every small, independant label we could find." As luck would have it, one of those labels was a death-metal label by the name of Toybox Records, headed by Sean Bonner, an employee of Victory. Bonner was listening to the demo at Victory one day, when label owner Tony Brummel heard it through the wall. "Sean was playing our demo and Tony heard it by chance, apparently he liked it, because the next day he contacted us."
The band recorded "Keasbey Nights" and began touring. Tomas, sick of touring, left the band and went to college instead. While the departure of their lead singer, songwriter and guitarist would kill an ordinary band, Catch 22 persevered.
Pat Calpin filled the guitar slot; Pat Kays took his place on bass; and Jeff Davidson joined as Catch 22's new vocalist.
In October of 1999, Catch 22 released the four-song EP "Washed Up," proving that they could still rock without Tomas.
Since then, they've experienced a few more personnel changes: trombonist Jamie Egan left Catch 22. The band's new album features Mike Soprano on trombone, but their new, permanent trombone player is Ian McKenzie, of the late, great Edna's Goldfish.
This fall, Catch 22 will be embarking on a gigantic tour, with more than half a dozen record release parties to celebrate the completion of their highly-anticipated second full-length release, "Alone in a Crowd". And why? Because they are that damn good.

This biography was made up by me, from a bunch of different sources. If anything's wrong or if you have any additional information, fill out the form at the bottom of the page. I'm not down with providing incorrect info, so help me maintain my journalistic integrity... or something like that.... Thanks!

Catch 22 is and/or was:

Pat Calpin-Guitar Birthday: September 30 Pat lives in Highland Park, New Jersey, and has a brother named Josh and a sister named Kathleen. He does carpentry on million dollar houses with his brother and father when he's not touring, and he's been playing guitar since he was 12 years old. Additional Pat Info:

Jeff Davidson-Vocals Birthday: October 11 Jeff is also is a band called The Routine (formerly known as the Derringers). He names The Toasters' Rob "Bucket" Hingley as one of his biggest influences. Jeff and his best friend used to live next to Bucket, who owns Moon Records. Bucket would give them free CDs and introduce them to bands. He has a younger brother named Greg, and he used to have a lucky necklace until it broke. (Thanks to Kat for that info). His favorite French word is "fromage" (thanks to Naomi for the info). Jeff is a big fan of reggae, especially Bob Marley. He smokes, and... um... he's really good-looking. Additional Jeff Info:

Ryan Eldred-Saxophone Birthday: December 12 Ryan names MU330 as one of his biggest influences. This chick I know designed a website for him, I Love Ryan Eldred. Ryan's a super nice, funny guy, and he knows who Mick Foley is. He has a younger sister named Vanessa, who played violin on the new CD. (Thanks to Kat for the info.) He loooves French girls (according to Naomi). Oh yeah, and according to Kevin & Tomas, Ryan has the biggest penis in the band. Additional Ryan Info:

Chris Greer-Drums Birthday: August 22 Chris was a member of Gimp, with Tomas. Kevin said that Chris and Pat were the only members of the band who are single. He's also the only member of the band from Long Island (thanks for Kat for that info), and he has a brother named Brian (that tidbit courtesy of Kristin). Additional Chris Info:

Kevin Gunther-Trumpet Birthday: October 12 Kevin's a big fan of wrestling... I know he likes the WWF. That makes him even cooler in my book. He's the band member who does most of the interviews, so I know a whole bunch about him. Some of his favorite bands are Less Than Jake, Wu-Tang Clan, Midtowners, Saves the Day, Dr. Dre, Green Day, and Face to Face. He likes "Star Wars," and his favorite TV shows are "Conan O'Brien" and "The Practice." He's played trumpet since he was in sixth grade, and was in his high school's jazz band. He has twin brothers, who (according to Kat) love Catch 22 and crowd surfing. Additional Kevin Info:

Pat "Mingus" Kays-Bass Birthday: September 20 or 21, 1980 Pat's the youngest member of the band (he's 20 now). He plays a 4-string fretless bass (thanks to Kyle for the info). He used to be in a band called Losing Ground, and he's the only other member of Catch 22 (that I know of, anyway) whom a girl dedicated a site to (which you can check out here). He likes Aerosmith (thanks to Naomi for the info). He plays an Ibanez soundgear sr400bkfl fretless model with S.I.T. strings, and he used to play the piano when he was younger (thanks to Laurent for the info). Additional Pat K Info:

Ian McKenzie-Trombone Birthday: August 3, 1978 Ian used to be in Edna's Goldfish, and when the band broke up, he did the only natural thing and joined Catch 22, since EG & C22 are such good friends. That's pretty cool, huh? According to Ellen, Ian loves to play pool and is pretty good at it, too! Additional Ian Info:

Tomas Kalnoky (former member)-Vocals, Guitar Obviously, Tomas isn't in the band anymore, but just in case you didn't know he wrote pretty much everything on "Keasbey Nights." He grew up in the town of Keasbey, NJ. He said that his favorite record is the "Stand By Me" soundtrack, and he loves Joseph Heller's book "Catch 22." (Hmmmm....) Additional Tomas Info:

Josh Ansley (former member)-Bass Josh is no longer in the band. Other than that, I know very little about him. Help me out by filling out the form. Additional Josh Info:

Jamie Egan (former member)-Trombone Jamie's not in the band anymore, but when he was, he brought the average age WAY up. He's in his 30's. He arranged the strings on "Alone in a Crowd." Jamie works at North Brunswick Township high school (NBTHS) in North Brunswick, NJ as their band director. (Thanks to Lauren for that info!) Additional Jamie Info:

Mike Soprano (sometimes a member)-Trombone Mike's a really cute Italian guy who sometimes fills in on trombone. As a matter of fact, he's the trombone player on "Alone in a Crowd," and he played trombone for Catch 22 the first time that I ever saw them. He grew up in Clifton, NJ. He played trombone in the High School Marching Band, class of '97. He was in a break off of the High School jazz band called Tarsus. When the jazz band lost funding they went and did their own thing. Mike has a younger brother named Matt. (Thanks to Alanna for that info. Click here to visit her ska/punk site, Reckessly Rude.) Additional Mike Info:

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