CHECK OUT THE "UNREAL" VIDEO!!!Unreal Video
One of the most versatile bands to never hit the big time. Mere Mortals has left a legacy of dozens of songs that capture the imagination and make people wonder..."How far could this band have gone"?
Mere Mortals, in the early days of 1991, consisted of Eddie Appnel, Patrick Flynn, Mark Kiesinger, Austin "Buz" O'Malley and Billy Lieback. Most of the band members were veterans of the local club scene, dishing out cover songs and entertaining audiences who were simply going out to clubs to hear their favorite songs played in a familiar way... it was the normal thing for folks to do on a normal weekend in North East Pennsylvania.
Eddie Appnel, married and away from the "club scene" since 1985, had been writing songs and recording them at home on a four-track recorder.. attempting to emulate his musical heroes... The Beatles mostly, many others later on..
It was thru the contact of Buz O'Malley that the band was contrived... a NEW idea locally... "why not try to create our own music and see if it can fly?"
After many extremely exciting rehearsal sessions... Mere Mortals came to be.
The first album "In Search Of Simple Things" was recorded and released in 1993. A music video for the song Cold(Still Life) was filmed on three wintery nights in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Mere Mortals had found an appreciative fan base, and recieved a ton of great publicity... something different for the region..
After the release of "In Search Of Simple Things", Mere Mortals enjoyed a successful run as one of Northeast Pa.'s only ALL ORIGINAL acts. The departure of drummer Billy Lieback brought a succession of other excellent percussionists such as Jason Wilbur of Candidates For Extinction, Tony Wilson, and a young , talented unknown named John Lee. The Mortals worked through this difficult time, recording several singles such as Sacred Silence, On My Dinosaur, and an early version of the soon to be popular Mountainslide.
Austin " Buz" O'Malley, one of the founding band members, decided to expand on his growing musical interests with native American flutes and a more esoteric, ambient style of music, and left the band.
Mark Kiesinger,a very competent bass player, was in demand with various local acts and continued to be a viable part of the local scene, as well as collaberating with his fellow Mortals.
In the interim, Pat , Eddie, and Mark continued to write songs and hoped to once again see Mere Mortals as the great LIVE band that it once was.
It didn't take very long until Billy Lieback was once again enlisted to add his familiar talents to the " New" version of Mere Mortals.
This latest conception of the group as a four piece guitar band lead to several live radio broadcasts on WVIA, many jam-packed local shows, a TON of new, catchy songs, opening slots for groups such as Eddie Money, Joe Walsh, the Badlees... and ultimately, in 1996....the self-produced album GRIN.
With the release of the 1996 GRIN album, Mere Mortals had secured its place as one of the premier original rock bands in Northeast Pa. With an ever eclectic style of rock, funk, reggae, blues and catchy guitar- infused songs, the band was drawing the attention of several major and independent record labels. CD sales were at an all time high. The fan base was growing larger by the minute, the press was extremely flattering, the crowds were getting bigger and bigger and it looked like Mere Mortals was destined for greater things than being simply another "local" band.
As with any success story, tensions began to mount within the group. In 1998, drummer Billy Lieback decided it was time for him to pursue other musical endeavors.
Once again drummerless, Pat, Mark and Eddie continued writing songs... it became almost therapeutic at this point. The search for another solid drummer went on for several months. After an endless stream of auditions, the trio luckily attracted the attention of Marko Marcinko, a well-established percussionist, pianist hipster who had been recently been performing and arranging for Maynard Ferguson, as well as performing and producing recordings for a wide variety of jazz , big band and pop projects.
Little did the trio know, Marko's many musical talents, along with his acute knowledge of the music industry. would take the group to places yet unknown to this little band from Pittston, Pa.
The band immediatley set forth on gigging and recording what was to become the Mondegreen Dream CD, released in 1999. Along the way, the band managed to keep up a steady stream of shows locally as well as other parts of the state and country.
Producer/Singer/Songwriter Jerry Hludzik of Dakota fame came on board to produce Mondegreen Dream. This was by far the most polished, well-planned Mere Mortals recording to date. The song Unreal was immortalized, or rather, "mere-mortalized" in a video filmed and directed by Sam Daley and starring Francine Pisano in Pittston, Pa. over three days in May of 1998.
Once Mondegreen Dream was released, Mere Mortals picked up the pace and began expanding its area of operations. Strong local radio play and much local support in the clubs spawned many road shows including Philadelphia, New York City's famous Bitter End and The Elbow Room... several return trips to these clubs proved the band's universal appeal. Following extensive radio play, the band flew to North Carolina to headline the Cape Fear Riverfest. An appearance at the EAT'M music festival in Las Vegas, playing at the MGM Grand, resulted in several shows in Los Angeles, culminating in a never- to- be- forgotten headline spot at the infamous Whisky. The band was in demand... Another appearance in Cocoa Beach, Florida, garnered much radio play and extended the fan base yet again.
"We are Mere Mortals, and so are you."
