Cindi Merklee

Cindi grew up in a house full of musicians. Her oldest brother (15 years her senior) had a recording studio in their attic that was host to some of the greatest local original talent to get lost in the crappy music scene of northern NJ in the 80's. Among these musical saviors were Chris Moffa and the Competition, the Ambivalent Brothers and Sleeve Coat (who sadly split up far too soon, but allegedly two of the three members went on to join Olivia Tremor Control, part of the Elephant 6 conglomerate which includes Neutral Milk Hotel). Another incredible local band that was on the periphery (having never recorded at the house, and Cindi being underage, she never got to see them) was Soul Attack. This Clash-flavored firebomb of a band was also fronted by the brutally honest and dangerously sharp-witted Chris Moffa.
Cindi's other brother (eleven years her senior) had formed a quirky pop band called Balloon Squad while she was still in grade school. Somewhere around the age of 12 she picked up brother Joe's Gibson EB-3 and that was it. A bass player was born. Or so she thought. Joe's advice to her at that formative moment was this: "If you're going to be a bass player, be a bass player. Don't be a frustrated guitarist." As a result, Cindi refused to pick up a guitar until she was 21, and that was only after seeing Uncle Tupelo at the Stone Pony.
But let's not jump ahead here.....when Cindi was 18 some personnel changes were made in Balloon Squad which resulted in Joe switching to guitar and becoming the primary songwriter and Cindi taking over bass duties. This lineup lasted four years or so. Many shows were played, two EPs were released independently on vinyl (of which Cindi still has boxes in her closet) and some favorable reviews were written. All in all it was very nice.
Soon enough though reality reared its ugly head. Both Joe and Hugo (drummer extraordinairre) had families and mortgages to worry about. Cindi went through an existential crisis and moved to Massachusetts, more or less dropping music completely. It wasn't until several years later, after her return to New Jersey, when a chance encounter with one of her local music heros resulted in Cindi getting the kick in the ass she needed to get back to doing what she had always loved. That kick in the ass came from none other than Daniel Smith of Shirk Circus.
Shirk was on hiatus (or dead, some would say) and Daniel recruited Cindi to play bass for his side project, jesusnixon. This was short lived but it was enough to get Cindi playing again. Just in time for her to head back to school. Bad, bad timing. Between work and school, little time was left to commit to a band. As a result, Cindi grabbed the first acoustic she could get her hands on (brother Joe's beautifully collaged Yamaha - didn't sound so great but it looked impressive) and started frequenting the open mic at The Underpass in Elmwood Park.
It was at this establishment that Cindi met some of the finest local musicians (coming full circle it would seem) including but not limited to Carrie Engdahl, Brian Fitzpatrick, Evan Toth and Mike June. Cindi is awfully grateful and proud to be in such fine company. She is currently bogged down in the reality of furthering her education but still manages to play out every so often and plans to record when time allows
Cindi also really digs this guy:
The artwork gracing this profile are original creations by one of the coolest chicks on the planet - Phoebe Marie .