"Started in '97 - ended in '99. You got a garage or an amp, we'd play anytime." Bottomdawg first started (technically) in 1996 when Rupert Estanislao and Rob Ivey, friends and musical confidantes from high school, started a small Vallejo band with Ben and Eugene, pinoy Rancho-Vallejo residents, called Bottomdawg. The band played an alternative-type of music, and had a handful of songs. The group played one show (a birthday party for guitarist Eugene), including a song called Unseen (which would later have its sequel, Unseen Pt. II). After this show, and only a couple of months together, Bottomdawg called it quits, with Eugene going to school fulltime to start a career in the medical field. Around this time, Rob and Rupert were introduced to Steve Cohrs, a cousin of a friend. Steve was the most capable guitarist that Rob and Rupert had ever met in Vallejo, having come from a hard-rock/heavy metal background, and at 17, Steve already had half a decade of guitar playing experience. Rob and Rupert would go hang out at Steve's basement room and listen to music, and do the fun things that teenagers tend to do. One day, Steve busted out his Les Paul, and showed Rupert and Rob a neat little punk riff he had come up with. This riff essentially started Bottomdawg, round 2, and would later become the song "I'll Figure It Out". In high school, Rob played in a punk-rock cover band called Cottonmouth, who covered early Rancid, AFI and Op Ivy songs for fun. The drummer from this band was Joe Coughlin, who Rob knew since the 7th grade. Joe was recruited to play drums for Bottomdawg, and the band started writing original songs - minor-chord driving punk-ska, influenced by Op Ivy, Less Than Jake, and old Rancid/AFI. Originally, there were never any plans to become a "real" band - the group was just having fun getting together, and creating music. When the band had about 7 songs, a friend named Adriana called Rob and said that she knew a band that was playing a show in Vacaville in a few weeks, and they needed another band to open the show. That band was Happy Accident, a Vallejo pop-punk band, and the Vacaville show at Cheers Pub on August 14th, 1997, would mark the first of many times that Bottomdawg would play with Happy Accident. After seeing Bottomdawg's set, Adam Ratliffe of Happy Accident offered to record Bottomdawg's demo. Less than a week later, Steve, Rupert, Joe, and Rob were in Adam's basement "studio", laying down the tracks for their demo, "Normal Position". Bottomdawg played several shows in the Bay Area, and gained a following amongst the kids in Vallejo. Eventually, the band was ready to go to a studio and record their first (and ultimately only) release. Rob suggested the Art of Ears studio, helmed by Andy Ernst, in Hayward, CA. Andy had recorded a lot of the records that Rob listened to as a teen, including Green Day's first two albums, the first Rancid 7", and AFI's first several albums. At this time, Joe was no longer in Bottomdawg, and with little time left before the reserved studio date, Rob decided to record the drum tracks for the 7", titled "Bound By Circumstance". Six songs were recorded: One More Day, Unseen Pt. II, Parking Lot Drama, Bound by Circumstance, Ravage, and I'll Figure it Out. A 7" was released on Tightwad Records. Now, Bottomdawg had a record out, shows lined up to play, and no drummer. Rob knew of a local drummer named Mike Whitt, but did not know him personally. A mutual friend knew him well, however, and Mike was contacted about joining Bottomdawg as the new drummer. Mike accepted, and the band immediately began to practice with him. Around this time, Steve and Rob worked as QA Testers for Maxis in Walnut Creek. Owned by Electronic Arts, Maxis put out such video game titles as SimCity, and The Sims. In development at the time, was a dirt bike racing game called MotoRacer 2. The game needed a soundtrack - a popular band had been contracted to do the music, but pulled out when they could not agree to monetary terms. Steve and Rob offered up the services of Bottomdawg, and the other band Rob played drums for, The Have-Nots (now the V-Town Have-Nots). The two bands offered to do the soundtrack in exchange for Playstations, Nintendo 64's, and several copies of the game once released. The band went into the studio, and recorded two more songs on EA's dime: The Difference and New Shoes. After playing several more shows, and selling records around the world thanks to the MotoRacer 2 exposure (i.e. Canada, Yugoslavia, Australia, Belfast, Brazil, Bulgaria, and the continental United States), the band grew apart when Rob got married and had his first child. While never officially "breaking up", Bottomdawg played their last show in 1999.
Bottomdawg's First Show - Part 1
Bottomdawg's First Show - Part 2
Bottomdawg's First Show - Part 3
Bottomdawg's First Show - Part 4
Lindee's, Concord CA - 12/97 - Part 1
Lindee's, Concord CA - 12/97 - Part 2
Lindee's, Concord CA - 12/97 - Part 3
