Murderock/The Sonic Dead/4th Street Rippers
Murderock was a Horror Metal band based in Reno Nevada which I joined in 2018 for their Demonia Album. I also recorded some tunes with "The Sonic Dead" and was a guitarist in Candy Apples & The Razorblades and The 4th Street Rippers as well (all the same members). It seems with the Sonic Dead they wrote me out of history and removed me from their mixes, so I guess it's time to let this one go. Let's just say the split was amaciable until the retcon - that's about it.

Mad-Mike
This was a post-Zombie Jihad solo project I did for awhile just for fun in my home studio. I actually made three albums worth of music though I never really bothered to promote it much. In a way it was a continuation of the whole "M.J." thing. I just needed a musical outlet at the time, the times were not much unlike right now.

Smokin' 66'/Deliciously Infectious
Now here's where I have to get careful as our drummer Gary Dade has been releasing some of the lost music on Soundcloud, and here's some of it posted up here on the vault. SMokin' 66' formed in 2008 as a funk-hard-rock experimental band with some great pop chops. In 2008 our lead singer Shannon was out of the band and we eventually changed our name to Deliciously Infectious, running briefly with Ginine Mizersky from Chasing Oz for awhile before running as a 3 piece in our final days. The band wound down in 2011.

Lithium
Lithium was a metal band created by Hawk Davis and some pals of his in 1998. In 2000 he came to me and Zachary Johnson of my old band Vehement for a lead singer and temporary lead guitarist. Instead the permenance got reverse and I ended up being Lithium's lead guitarist for 3 years. Eventually the usual things that break up young, idealistic, and wild bands (drugs, women, drama) tore the band apart in 2003, and we have split. Hawk later re-released all these tunes on a CD called "The Road to Now" on his Red Dragon Multimedia label.

M.J.
M.J. was a "Fantasy Band" I created as a 12 year old in 1995, and continued to make demos for up until 2013 when I turned 30 and got married and took my wife's last name - changing the last letter. I initially created it to see if I could "bump" some musically talented people out of the woodwork in Opelika to form a band back in high school. Unfortunatley, my generation is not that interested in Grunge or New Wave at the time, as we were moving to Nu-Metal and Boy Bands. I revived it again after Lithium folded in 2003 and carried on until the end.

Murderock (Halloween Live, Alturas, 2019 - Part 4)
When Murderock split up at the start of the Pandemic (which really started 2 months earlier in November while Toilet Trump was ordering more Cheeseburgers to feed his scrotum of a face), I was expecting if there were new shows we would get back together. Their last show was in 2020, and I was not invited to it for some reason. Maybe it was because my day-job career was growing, or maybe it was some other reason. I remmeber about 2 months beforehand, my wife was messaged by their manager via Instagram about some legal shit I should "stay away to protect myself from". I'm not sure what it was (Cawthon? Fulci? King?) or why since - for some dumb reason - people don't come to me with shit, they go through my wife. This along with a lot of mention of certian people talked behind my back about how I seemed "dumb" because I never talked that much - was really the final knife in the stomach of me playing in other people's projects. They have since reformed sans me under a different (and even worse) name - which has freed me to look to the future, and leave all this crap here as my past.

Murderock (Halloween Live, Alturas, 2019 - Part 3)
One thing I'm always told is Fender Mustangs look "silly" on me because of my size. But somehow, I find the Jag-Stang does not have the same effect, and the body is not as wide - probably because the body is TALL like a bass. Go figure.

Murderock (Halloween Live, Alturas, 2019 - Part 2)
This, IMHO, was one of the best shows I performed with them, and was looking forward to the next year. Unfortunatley, COVID-19 happened, and then the band split temporarily. This show was one of maybe two where I did an actual guitar solo at it.

Murderock (Halloween Live, Alturas, 2019 - Part 1)
This was truly my last show with Murderock, and one of the shows where I had the FNaF inspired mask. Basically, my mom - of all pepole - got on social media and called the "Hal 2000" mask "racist" saying it looked like I was wearing "Blackface" on stage, something that never crossed my mind until she mentioned it. The next part of the problem was I kept having to re-wrap the wires so I did not end up playing without eyesight. So the new mask had wider eye holes, a actuated jaw that I could move with my own jaw, and it gave me an excuse to act like a creepy animatronic during soundcheck. I built the mask myself for $10.00.

Candy Apples & The Razorblades (Live, Reno Punk Flea-Market, 2019)
Reno runs a "Punk Rock Flea Market" every year, this was the only year (so far) that I've played. This was at the old "Generator" location, and was shot early on a snowy morning so not everyone was up and had their coffee yet. Definatley an avenue I'd still consider with a new project that's my own design.

Candy Apples & the Razorblades (Live, Altura's, 2019)
Alturas had this cool basement area where bands would play. The soundman HATED my Bugera amplifier so he did not mic it htat night - no problem - I just cranked er' up to 7 and let it rip and it sounded like I was miced through the P.A. and nobody was the wiser. I think I earned some respect that night in showing I pick proper volume instead of just blaring over everyone else - and thusly, it got mic'd the next time I was on stage.

Candy Apples & The Razorblades (Live, 2018)
Another one from the bar that shalt remain nameless.

Candy Apples & The Razorblades - Where Eagle's Dare (Live, 2018)
Candy Apples & the Razorblades was a spawn off The Sonic Dead - as a Danzig cover band where everyone dressed in red and black, and the lead singer "Candy Apples" was actually a dude in drag singing Danzig/Misfits/Samhain covers. For this band, my #1 guitar became the Hondo Paul Dean II and it got used a lot.

Murderock - I Drink Your Blood (live, 2018)
Opening track from Demonia. This was the first show the "Murder Master II" Jagmaster showed up (yes, it's the same guitar I recently rebuilt and painted green). I actually liked that one better than the other one in a lot of ways.

Murderock - Cemetary Man (live, 2018)
Another fun story from this gig. So this was still during the era when I was wearing a mask put together by Freddie Ferox, which was spraypainted flat black and had blood drips from the eyes. I put LED lights and a 9-volt in it, sort of my thing ya' know - electronics and all that jazz. At this show, I was playing, literally BLIND! I could not see ANYTHING - because the tape around the wires for the LED's had come unraveled, blocking my vision. Thank god I was on #1 that night.

Murderock - Murderock'n'Roll (live, 2018)
This was the final cut on the album, played live. I remember this gig, for some reaosn I can't remember the club's name, but it was a cool club down the street from the Silver and Gold that had a somewhat Gothic flare to it. I think we played there once or twice, and then they dissappeared or were getting remodeled.

The 4th Street Rippers - Johnny B. Goode (Live, Zombie Prom, 2018)
This was my chance to show off on guitar of course.

The 4th Street Rippers - Rock Around the Clock (Live, Zombie Prom, 2018)
50's Music is not really my thing, but I had some fun hamming it up on a Fender Jaguar souped up like a LS Swapped 58' Caddilac Coupe Deville.

The 4th Street Rippers - WooHoo (Live, Zombie Prom, 2018)
Anyone whose seen a Quentin Tarintino movie might recognize this one.

The 4th Street Rippers - Do You Wanna' Dance (Live, Zombie Prom, 2018)
We played a show at a bar I will no longer mention because of constant fighting on Facebook over rumors of White Supremacism and Anti-Semetism that came out over the pandemic. I refuse to participate and would rather distance myself from that shit. That said, this was a fun gig playing 50's songs with a quasi-halloween-esque theme.

The Sweaty Vedders - Sex Type Thing (STP Cover) (live, The Anchor Pub, 2018)
One of our last shows, when we really started to take off. At this point, I was already knowing I was about to move, but told nobody, because I had mixed feelings. On one hand, I felt a certain member of the band wanted me gone VERY badly, but on the other hand, I liked playing with these guys, they were the least drama I'd had in a long time in a group since Smokin' 66'.

The Sweaty Vedders (live, The Lime, Redmond WA, 2018)
The Sweaty Vedders formed in 2017 with me, Ryan Lago, and Darby. The lineup changed in 2018 to me, Ryan on Drums, Scott Schwab on bass, and he came "package deal" with a guy named Erik Scott - that's the lineup here. Funny story about this show. We were not actually on the bill apparently, though Erik apparently did talk to management and get us on it. So we had to FIGHT to play this show almost, and ALL my my wife's work buddies and friends were there to see us. I was actually, quite angry at this show, and just about quit the band that night over it.

Zombie Jihad - Welcome to the Machine (Pink Floyd Cover) - (Live, 2015)
One of our most esteemed covers. I'm sitting down because I broke my ankle during a "Hangliding Helicopter Incident" or somesuch b.s. There's actually some more video fo this period, including a full rehearsal I have yet to post.

Zombie Jihad (Hard Rock Cafe, Seattle, 2018)
We played the Seattle Hard Rock Cafe. I recall a member did something that jeopardized us ever playing there again, which was one of my reasons for leaving this band was that you get as high a profile a show and fuck it up whining about video, and it just does not ring professional for me. While this is a public facing website, I can say what I want here - it's my webspace.

Zombie Jihad (Live, Hempfest, Seattle, 2014)
I know I complain about stoners, but yeah, at one time I DID advocate for legalization, then it happened. That said, there's a lot of crazy stories from this show that I don't think I should tell until a long time afterward, lol. BTW, that's the 71' Musicmaster using Computer Hard Drive magnets on a single coil pickup.

Zombie Jihad (Live, Seattle, 2014 ~ MY FIRST SHOW W/ THEM)
This was at a venue whose name escapes me in Seattle, and I only played there once. What I find hilarious is now one of the members keeps asking them to take this one down.

Zombie Jihad - Home from School (Music Video, 2014)
This song was written about Kurt Cobain - which is why they wanted so much screentime of me on greenscreen with the Jaguar and Jag-Stang (Cobain played those guitars), and did "mirror image" on it so I looked like I was a lefty.

Zombie Jihad - Diabolique (Music Video, 2014)
This was the first track I ever recorded with the Bass VI. There was also a cover of "Rock Lobster" by the B-52's in the works but we never completed it.

Zombie Jihad - Dirty Secrets (Music Video, 2014)
I remember recording the music for this and it was one of the most stressful sessions of the whole album, may whole Elliot Easton/Touch N' Go moment. In part because I was balancing work at microsoft, personal issues, and the band all at the same time, so finding time to do everything was incredibly hard at that time.

Zombie Jihad - Truth Bitch (Music Video, 2014)
This was the first music video I ever actually did with a band. I always liked this song because of the funky twist in it. This was usually the song we opened our sets with.

Zombie Jihad - Nothing to Lose (Music Video, 2014)
Nothing To Lose was probably the one song on "You Will See Demons" I had the least involvement with. I think there is a rhythm track of my Jazzmaster on there, but not much else added. I remember recording this and it was "chaotic" to say the least.

Open Jam Night (clips, Live, Hayley's Bar, Everett WA, 2011)
For a year I played open Jam nights at Flight's Pub and Hayley's, mostly to get out of the house and have some good clean fun playing music. I kind of miss doing that, but have not been able to find an equivalent where I live currently.

Deliciously' Infectious (Live: Down By the River, 2010)
One of Deliciously' Infectious' last shows. This was with Chasing Oz singer Ginine Mizyrski on lead vocals that night. The Journey became "Tyler". This was also the Jazzmaster's first live show (the butterscotch one I built).

Deliciously' Infectious (Clips, Live, Seattle (Funhouse), 2010)
Just me playing guitar shot by my wife (we were dating at the time), during one of our shows at the Funhouse. I remember being particularly angry that night because the girls around the band were being drunk, noisy, and dramatic as fuck - so I went a little nuts on guitar, and me and my wife ran off to McDonalds next door for a short bit before our set to get away from it all.

Deliciously Infectious (Live, Hayley's Bar, Halloween 2010)
This was one of the last shows with D.I. at Hayley's. Me and my now-wife put fake blood on a guitar for the show and I wore a gold skeletor mask. Hayley's was a nice venue with a big stage that I would later play a lot of Open-Jam nights at in 2010-2011 while on a kinda' rock'n'roll form of "Medical Leave".

Deliciously Infectious (Live, Mirkwood & Shire Cafe, ARlington,WA, 2010)
The Mirkwood and Shire would grow to be a *cursed* venue for me puersonally. The first time we played here, there was a huge fight where I damn near wanted to kill Todd Perkins with my bare hands, I had seven people including Gary holding me back from ripping that f***'s jaw off. To top it off, every time I was here with a band, there was some petty bullshit drama of some kind. Me and my wife used to call it the "Alamo" - a shame because I really liked this venue and they had good food. It's just we always ended up with shitheads around when here. I would play here later with Zombie Jihad at least two more times, just as stupid and dramatic whether it was bandmate's wives stirring up shit, or bandmates starting crap.

Smokin' 66 (record Release Party - 02/2009 - The Central Saloon - Seattle~ PART 4)

Smokin' 66 (record Release Party - 02/2009 - The Central Saloon - Seattle~ PART 3)

Smokin' 66 (record Release Party - 02/2009 - The Central Saloon - Seattle~ PART 2)
Some friends recorded this show on a camcorder, we were selling early copies of the CD at the door. IIRC, we used to PACK the Central on any given night. Every night we played there save for MAYBE one show, we had a line out the door, and the place packed. I used to love playing there - even if I was jumping over raised planks to cover holes in the stage. A true Seattle O.G. Grunge Rock venue at it's finest!

Smokin' 66 (record Release Party - 02/2009 - The Central Saloon - Seattle~ PART 1)
We played the Central Saloon - sadly, this was Smokin' 66's last (or near last) show together before hunting for a singer for a year, and rebranding as "Deliciously Infectious" with a revolving door of singers before becoming a power trio.

Smokin' 66 (Big Daddie's - Woodinville WA - 11/2008)
This is another archived show, no video footage exists, but I had this on a CD that I have kicking around, so I ripped it for a Throwback thursday awhile ago. I believe this was my 1966 Fender Mustang's first show with the band, and I really had it cranked so much people in the front row were like "good god that's f***ing loud, but it sounds awesome"! How I still have any hearing, let alone enough not to have tinnitus or hearing aids is anyone's guess.

Smokin' 66 - Running Down the Road - (Live, Hayley's Bar, Everett WA, 2008)
This was like our deeper cut because it slowly dissappeared from our sets toward the end of the Smokin' 66' era. It was another one that Todd or his bro came up with.

Smokin' 66 - I Try & I Try - (Live, Hayley's Bar, Everett WA, 2008)
I originally wrote this song as "Fact and Opinion" (you can find it in the M.J. playlist above) about the small-minded asshats on OSG who were giving me crap over my choice of music vs. my choice of guitar. Shannon rewrote it about a non-reciprocal relationship, then I wrote it back into a more generalized version after the band turned into Deliciously Infectious.

Smokin' 66 - Hip Disco Junkie - (Live, Hayley's Bar, Everett WA, 2008)
This was a fun one to play live because of that whole crazy breakdown section in the middle where I could go nuts on guitar. It was also one of the few songs I used a Phaser on (or a Flanger) IIC. I think I got my Behringer Phaser just a week before we wrote this.

Smokin' 66 - Overdose - (Live, Hayley's Bar, Everett WA, 2008)
This is actually about being a Music Enthusiast with a double-entendre - sort of like Billy Squier's "The Stroke" is. This is one of the very rare few Smokin' 66' tunes that used an alternate tuning (tuned down 1 step). Live Id' reproduce it using the 1 step down setting on my Digitech Whammy wH-4.

Smokin' 66 - Heya' Baby - (Live, Hayley's Bar, Everett WA, 2008)
We wrote this in 5 minutes just a month before this show. We were a song-makin' machine.

Smokin' 66 - Listen - (Live, Hayley's Bar, Everett WA, 2008)
Listen was a Dub/Reggae tune we did. This was really my first foray into that style of guitar work on a more serious, exclusive level

Smokin' 66 - Looking Out My Window - (Live, Hayley's Bar, Everett WA, 2008)
Looking out my Window was a song written by our bassist's brother, and it was basically an "anti-war" song of sorts initially.

Smokin' 66 (1st Show @ The Jet in Lynnwood WA w/Be My Grave - 09/08)
Smokin' 66' came together in a matter of 2 months, next thing we're playing The Jet bar and grill in Lynnwood with Be My Grave. This was our first show. This was also the Fender Jaguar's first show out live. Smokin' 66' will always be the lineup of Myself (Lead Guitar), Todd Perkins (Bass), Shannon Danks (Lead Vocals), and Gary Dade (Drums)

Lithium - Demo 2001 (CD RIP)
This is the full second FX Studios Demo when the studio grew and moved down the street from the apartment I shared with Hawk's sister Kat (platonic). This is the full session minus the cover (N.I.B. by Black Sabbath - which Hawk played the opening Bass solo on). This one has Empyre, Crystal, and Babylon on it. This was our biggest lineup with Me, Hawk, Brian, a guy named David Tollerud on guitar (yes, 3 guitarists, like Iron Maiden), and a guy named Wayne on drums who myseriously dissappeared all of a sudden.

Lithium - Crystal (99.1 The FOXX, Montgomery AL, Local's Only Hour, 2001)
We recorded this in a LITERAL chicken coop in Mike Squires backyard known as "FX Studios" - he really grew it from there. It was b/w a cover of "Creeping Death" by Metallica with me on vocals (terrible). We got this song played on the actual radio station, and got requested OUTSIDE of the Local's Only hours believe it or not (it came one while I was hitching a ride with a chick from high school to the Guitar Shoppe). At that point the band was me (Lead Guitar), Hawk Davis (Rhythm Guitar, Vox), Brian Suneson (bass), and Tony Castaldo (Drums)

Eruption/You Really Got Me (Van-Halen Covers, 1999 Opelika High School Guitar Concert)
My set from the 1999 OHS Guitar Concert if you don't want to wade through all the other stuff to find me.

1999 OHS Guitar Concert (Full Concert)
I performed in the Opelika High School annual guitar concert every May of my last 3 school years of high school (I missed in 9th grade due to a scheduling conflict, probably deliberate from the school staff's side - lol). Anyway, this is the first one, I play on three tracks - "Imagine" by John Lennon, with Wade Allen, and then I did 2 Van-Halen Covers (well, technically a cover of "Eruption" into The Kink's "You Really Got Me") with Roderick Ware, Jessie White, and "J.D.".