COIN-SLOT

No band site would be complete without some brief background and comments from individual members. Hey, we’re creative types—we live for this stuff! And we wouldn’t want to leave anything to the imagination. So, we begin with a rather cerebral background note . . .Coin-Slot is the brainchild and latest musical incarnation of founder Johndavid “JD” Kerr. With the intention of finding like-minded and committed musicians, JD auditioned some of STL’s finest in the summer and fall of 2007 at Utopia Studios by advertising on STL Music.com and other musician classified Web pages. The range and depth of talent displayed during these STL-based auditions was impressive and hard decisions had to be made, but it was not until he found the current lineup that he knew this leg of the journey was complete and that another round of auditions was unnecessary--finally. But, there were previous incarnations animating the Coin-slot venture, one of which was Peaceable Kingdom, finding various forms in Columbia, MO and Dallas, TX. JD founded the prog-alt Dallas-based band Peaceable Kingdom when he was in law school. By most measures PK did well in the local market, with two notable distinctions. PK stirred some A&R interest (Tommy Gun records and Interscope records) after heavily playing the Deep Ellum and SMU college circuits. And, he met some of the management of the LA-based band Tool, whose management team was Zoo Entertainment at the time. Family and career commitments brought him back to Missouri. But, the passion to create and perform original music was merely side showed—momentarily.Upon return to St. Louis, JD linked up with some lifelong friends in starting up another incarnation of PK and reconnected with this creative font—creating new compositions, listening to the creative ideas of area bands, and auditioning local talent, some of who played in several well-known local bands. But, it was not until he formulated the groundwork for Coin-Slot that things really began to gel. The formula was simple: finding musicians committed to bringing his original compositions to life through collaboration and a like-minded passion for prog-alt rock and live performances.After exhaustive rehearsals in spring 2008, Coin-Slot is now ready to make the transition from pre-production to that all-important stage of production and is ready to deliver its sonic landscape, which is a blended mix of prog-alt arrangements, technical guitar exploration, sonorous and growling vocals with reachable yet probing lyrical themes, six-string bass grooves and lines, and a jazz-rock percussion tour de force. Coin-Slot’s newest chapter is beginning and the phoenix incarnate is rising from the ashes. The individual stories of Coin-Slot’s armed guard are as follows:Kemal (Drums) -Under Construction. -- Kemal John (Bass, touch guitar) - "At age 6, I picked up my sister's Gibson dreadnought acoustic guitar and asked "what's this?" She taught me a couple of chords and sent me on my way having learned how to play "O Where O Where Has My Little Dog Gone". A similar experience happened to me in 1982, when I picked up my brother's P-bass and asked "How do you play this?" He gave me his LP of Rush's "Fly By Night" and said "you figure it out". I got in my first band at age 16 called "Frostbite", which consisted of 4 kids playing 80s hair band covers like Poison, Warrant, Motley Crue, and Ratt. I spent time in high school orchestra, playing string bass and upright bass, which gave me the fundamentals I would carry with me in later years. While in college I was given an opportunity to play in a jazz-fusion group called Future Reference, where I gained my appreciation for odd-time complex music.Flash-forward to 1995. I met guitarist David Wilson and with him founded an experimental prototype band called Wheatstone Bridge. Wheatstone Bridge lasted til 1998, when we took an extended hiatus. In 2002 I rejoined Wheatstone Bridge and the band began playing and writing in earnest. It was our extreme good fortune to share the stage with prog greats such as Timothy Pure, Dysrhythmia, Ahleuchatistas, Cobweb Strange, Z-Axis, and several others. We ran regionally for 3 years before calling it quits in 2005.I consider every sound on the planet to be an influence. Stylistically speaking, the players that have had an impact on my playing would include Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, Charles Mingus, Jaco Pastorius, John Pattitucci, Les Claypool, Tony Levin, and Trey Gunn. With those inflluences and those bands in mind, I auditioned for and received the bass position in Coin-Slot. I believe Coin-Slot to be the project that has a singular, unique sound, and feel that Coin-Slot has a bright and uncharted future. I'm simply glad to be at least NEAR the helm." -- John Taylor.Kevin (Vocals) -"As the front man for Coin-Slot, I have a lot to say but have limited myself. To explain a little about my past and how I got the singer slot with CS. Like everyone else in Coin-slot, I also come from a musical family. In fact, my grandma is a pianist, my dad is a bassist..singer, and my youngest brother is a musician of many talents. My first singing role was in the fourth grade where I sang, "This Land is Our Land." Let me speed up the story, however, closer to a point in time when my singing influences started coming out in creative outlets.I remember going to practices and gigs with my dad. I always thought it was cool, but I never thought of it as a "me" thing. Instead, I would carry a tape recorder around and make little radio shows, put on plays at family gatherings, or act out scenes with friends in an attempt to make our own "ninja" movies. (Wait . . . I still do that.) Let's just say entertainment is in my blood—and at a young age.As I got older, I picked up a pen just to write poems, you know--to impress the opposite sex, mostly. About the same time, the acting thing hit pretty hard. I had a really strong drive to be the “next big thing”—a drive that carried over into high school. As any actor will tell you, you have to study the craft by “doing,” so I learned vocal projection, how to perform in front of a crowd, and how to sing in various genres—including musicals. Hey! musicals are fun--seriously.I actually remember the first time I tried to sing as an adult (besides with the radio). I was in my parents’ yard late at night with a handheld tape recorder. I was probably trying to come up with script or poem ideas. Thinking about the girl that had broken my heart . Then out of nowhere, I started to sing about it. Just singing with all my heart, whatever words came to mind at the time. I felt a huge release from all of the stress my body was under. That feeling was indescribable. Then, the moment passed. I don't remember listening to the tape, although I'm sure I did, three or four times knowing me. I'd like to hear that tape today. That could be a hit song.That was the beginning of the end. I cut my teeth doing karaoke, joined a couple of throw-away bands, and started a couple of them, too. Nothing big time, but I learned how to phrase and piece songs together. I also learned--with the help of naysayers and friendly encouragement--to sing in key and to improve upon my vocals. Speed the film up to 2007. I saw an add on a Web site advertising for a singer in an original prog band, met J.D., who vibrated on the same chord as me, and made the cut. The rest, my friends, is history.The universe is all based on vibration. When physicists smash atoms to see what is inside, there are little strings vibrating in harmony, and each different kind of atom vibrates at its own frequency. They say the entire universe is made of atoms, which, in turn, means everything is vibration, or musical tones. Maybe "god" is this tone, this universal tone that/who flows in and out of everything. Maybe when people play music they are only technically channeling the voice of god. That would be something. It may only take one song to change the world.I actually have nothing else to say. So I'll leave some advice, followed by wise words. Sing like nobody is watching, and always, speak up."-- Kevin A. Copeland"Alas for those that never sing, But die with all their music in them!"-- The Voiceless (1858) --JD (Guitar) - "Sitting in sunny Cancun with a blue caraco in hand, I will now muse over this humble project . . .Like most guitarists, I got the passion early and started playing guitar at age 12, mostly from listening to my dad play his D-50 Gibson acoustic to songs by The Beatles, The Kingston Trio, and Simon & Garfinkle. As a sidebar, dad’s ensemble The Minstrels was featured on the Ted Mack show back in the day and competitively received a recording contract from RCA. So, music runs in the family—a dominant theme to all of Coin-Slot’s member narratives.I began composing and writing originals on the guitar and piano at age 14 and graduated from dad’s Gibson to my first electric, a 1965 Sunburst Telecaster played through a 50-watt Peavey amp, both bought second-hand at a store in Kansas City, Missouri. My early influences included Styx, Rush, Yes, Genesis, Foreigner, and Black Sabbath. I started playing in bands in high school and played my first big gig when my band, Annex, played to a full high school auditorium when I was 17.My influences invariably expanded by exploring jazz fusion and technical arrangements through Pat Metheny, Al Di Meola, and Phil Keaggy. I kept a foothold—my true passion--in the prog camp with Alex Lifeson, Steve Howe, and Mike Rutherford, and further developed my technical chops by studying Steve Morse, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, and John Petrucci, among others. Like a lot of you (if you’ve read this far!), creating and producing something of which you can be very proud and share with others is a major passion of mine—and, really, of any musician or performer worth his or her salt. But, as these influences demonstrate, you have to study what others have done before launching into the vast unknown. And to get to that point, you have to do a lot of woodshedding. On this note, I’m currently transcribing Coin-Slot’s originals and working on new compositions all of the time.At this point in time, I am enthusiastic about Coin-Slot’s production phase (our “product launch”) and about getting to perform live in local and regional venues. There is a lot of creative talent in this town and region—as evidenced by the regular gigging schedule of many local acts and by some of the local acts that have gone national--and I am strongly committed to supporting the local music scene and the promotional efforts of everyone involved in continuing to make STL/IL a vibrant musical scene for fans and musicians alike. I am very proud of what we’ve been doing behind-the-scenes and look forward to contributing to STL/IL’s original music scene. This is a great time to be a part of this reemergence of original music. Check out the Web site, the demo, and support us by checking out a show. And to our wives, girlfriends, families, and friends--thank you for supporting us and for putting up with the insane rehearsal (and soon-to-be gigging) schedules. Peace." --Johndavid “JD” Kerr