Wilso I'm sure you never heard of us down under...we were a regional band that , like many others almost but not quite got the big record deal........there's a story behind that that involves lying, stealing, drugs and seedy deals with bad management. We had the WEA group poised to give us, along with a Richmond band called Axeworthy who were even heavier than we were, a multi album deal. Our manager was given a LOT of money to bring demos of us in.
The demos were recorded in Jacksonville Fla. in a studio where the Skynrd boys and that whole contingency hung out and was produced by a memeber of a big band that everyone on these threads would know if I said their name, which I won't. I have been threatened by slander litigation in the past .
the recording sessions were a ******* joke, with various guys dropping by with liquor and acid and cocaine every two minutes, which was indulged in after every take while we stood around. For all my joking around and all the stories that float around in the rock sub culture about me being a wild man (I was) in the studio, rehearsals, and on stage, I was, and the rest of the band were cold pros, and so this bullshit in the studio was very frustrating. We were there to work.
Upshot was that at the end of these fruitless sessions both we and Axeworthy ended up with **** demos that sounded like they were recorded on a portable cassette player in someones garage, and our management company ended up in legal trouble because it seems like the money that wasn't spent on turning out a good demo was spent on cocaine. Also came out in the ensuing investigation that our manager, among other things was a chicken farmer. Last I heard he'd gone to prison and I hope someone is fvcking him while I'm typing this sentence.
The babies, that would be Cirkus and Axeworthy, got thrown out with the bathwater of course.
I was set to release our album we recorded live at Carowinds, when I was informed that we were still under management and would be sued if I did, so the master just sat for years. This last summer we finally did a vanity pressing of it that we have sold to old Cirkus fans and used as demos for the new band to radio stations, promoters etc. We are keeping a few of the tunes that still sound fresh and scrapping some that just sound to much like late 70's early 80's.
It is great to play out for people and see them still singing along with these tunes, and some of our old fans are now at the shows with their kids, who are also singing along and rocking it out.
We are playing small clubs and rebuilding a new fan base of younger people who don't consider our age at all, they're just digging the band. We have been offered "Reunion" gigs at bigger halls in major Southeastern cities and the money is tempting but we don't want to be classified a "reunion" band, so we are turning that money down and playing for a new audience. The old people still show up, but the younger kids are what will sustain this band a few years.
I have no illusions any longer about becoming a rock superstar, but I can keep the band playing a few years and with smart promotion and marketing make us some real money to salt away. I have a lot of friends that have gone on in this business poised to help us. I feel like we'll get one shot at a real label release, and that's all I want, a chance to run the ball down the court one more time.
I'm having fun too, by the way.
And that's the story on Cirkus. Be careful what you ask for, you night get it. :wink:
