Members of "The Commercials" are now in "Safari So Good". Check them out at:
www.myspace.com/safarisogood
The Commercials were a band from Harrisburg, Pa. The band started in Dec. 1996 by Mike James and Tony Bavaria, who were both previously in a local band called "Unight". When "Unight" broke up they were looking to start a new band, and they met Tom "Gunz" McGrath who started playing guitar, and Jason Sunderland who played Drums.
Jason eventually left the band, and was replaced by Chris Broscious who played drums on the first full length CD "First Time For Everything" released originally on "Rent A Pig Records" and then re-released on "Chowda Records".
When Mike left for college he was replaced by Andy Teague on bass, who eventually took over lead vocal duties for the band. Many different drummers came and went from "The Commercials" which included "Tommy T", "Pudge", and "Dan Jones" who all played on different "Commercials" releases. In all the commercials had 11 drummers, 4 bass players (Andy quit for a short time in 1999), and three guitar players (an additional third guitar player named Wes played in the band for a short time)
"The Commercials" released two more full length CD's "Twenty Years Tonight" (Jumpstart/Kickstart Audio), and "It's Not What You Say, It's How You Say It" (Blackout Records), as well as numerous split CD's, songs on compilations, a demo tape, and a split 7 inch with the band "River City High".
Some of the more notable bands "The Commercials" played with or did tours with include, Me Without You, Bayside, The Starting Line, At The Drive In, The Ataris, Knapsack, Saves The Day, as well as playing the 2003, 2004, 2005 Warp Tours, Furnace Fest, Macrock, and countless other shows.
"The Commercials" also had their video "It Never Ends" played on MTV, MTV2, and Fuse. They also were one of the finalists in the first Takeover Records "Sign My Band Contest".
The Commercials broke up in January 2006, and Tom and Tony started a new band called "Safari So Good". The Commercials re-united in 2007 to release a new CD of previously unreleased material called "The Summer Jams LP", as well as to play a show which featured Dan, Pudge, and Tommy T on drums.
www.myspace.com/safarisogood
