Haji's Kitchen was formed in 1992 or 1993. (There were incarnations before this, but I'll start with the first one that actually played live). It was Eddie Head & Brett Stine on guitar, Derek Blakley on bass, and Clint Barlow (now with both Vanilla Ice and his new band The Cast ) on drums.
We now needed a name... and here's the story:
It was yet another case of a band taking a name due to a lack of superior alternatives. Eddie has an affinity for Indian food (ed. note: BLECH!). Suffice to say it has a rather pronounced odor. Especially when brought into the rehearsal room as leftovers for Sunday Morning Rehearsal (also known as "Metal at 12"). Clint walked into the room, where Eddie was consuming his lunch, and said "Damn.. it smells like Haji's Kitchen in here". Thus... a band name was born. I'm mostly sorry it's not a better story, truth be told.
We played a few gigs purely instrumentally, (performing such hits as "The First Progressive Song", "The 7 String Song", "Satan Music" and "The Shuffle Tune"), before borrowing Eddie Ellis from Tommy Lamey to sing on a few tracks. Shortly thereafter, he was dismissed from TL, and we picked him up full time. In '94, we parted ways with Clint, and seeing how well raiding Tommy Lamey worked the first time, liberated Rob Stankiewicz from them as well (actually I think it was "Crimeny" instead of TL at that time).
This was the 5 piece lineup that got signed to Shrapnel Records, and released the S/T debut in '95.
For a while, life was good. We attended NAMM, procured various endorsements, gigged, shredded other bands to death and recieved no royalty or publishing checks whatsoever.
I can't remember when, but somewhere along the way Brett decided rock & shred guitar were gay, and left the band to learn jazz piano. It was an amicable parting of ways, with Brett first taking it upon himself to procure a replacement for us in the form of his older brother Scott (also from Tommy Lamey/Crimeny).
I think it was around this time that we started receiving complaints that nobody could track down our cd. This was because the initial U.S. pressing of 5,000 units had sold out, and head Shrapnel guy Mike Varney, (in his *infinite* wisdom), refused to print more discs. This was a completely unforseen and extemely frustrating event, which resulted in our requesting that Shrapnel *not* pick up the optional 2nd or 3rd discs provided for in our contract. Shrapnel graciously granted our request, and we were on our own.
If you're looking for this first disc, eBay is unfortunately your only option. (or just request it in alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.heavy-metal.... lol!)
Next up was another lineup change. We started having reliability problems and creative differences with Eddie Ellis, and after he left us playing a gig purely instrumentally in Lubbock, he was given "The Boot". Anyone having any updates on Eddie Ellis, should let us know. We haven't heard from/about him in years.
After a short trial, Vince Mullins was hired on vocals to replace Ellis.
I think the next great event in Haji history, was the theft of almost all our gear from our rehearsal room. Guitar & bass rigs, cymbals & drum hardware, PA gear, (thankfully no guitars or basses), all vanished. I think this was the last straw for Scott, who left the band shortly thereafter. We did our own investigation, found who did it and gave the culprits to the Carrollton police on a silver platter, but they were still unable to prosecute. (F'in incompetents... our tax dollars takin 5 for a donut break)
As we weren't shredding near as much anymore, we decided to skip hiring a replacement guitarist and just stay a 4 piece. (That's Eddie, Derek, Rob & Vince if you've lost track)
This was the lineup that recorded & released 2001's "Sucker Punch" on local independent "M Records" (Available at www.Amazon.com & www.cduniverse.com).
With the material on that disc and subsequent writing efforts, we came close to signing deals with a few different major labels, but nothing ever quite panned out for us.
We did manage to get 2 songs ("Lost" and "Day After Day") on the "Broly" Dragonball Z dvd.
In '04, mainly due to his inability/unwillingness to gig out of town, we gave Vinnie "The Boot".
So... we were without a singer, and the band remains so to this day; mostly because of the time constraints of "Real Life" obligations, but partially due to the fact that Devin Townsend won't return our calls... lol! Unfortunately, I don't forsee the situation changing... we're all just too busy with other things.
So... "Where Are They Now" you ask? What's so damned important that these losers don't have time for more Haji? Answers below...
Eddie Ellis? We have no news. Last sighted in San Fransicso I think.
Vincent Mullins ? Last we heard, happily married with 2 kids in east Texas.
Brett Stine? Happily married with a baby girl... his wife Meredith is on MySpace HERE if you want to get a message to him.
Scott Stine? Also living the happily married family life. He's director of music at his church, and still shreds from time to time. He's got his own site at www.scottstine.com
Clint Barlow ? Happily engaged, touring the world, and generally living the Rock Star life.
Eddie Head ? Managing the disgustingly talented Cheyenne Kimball as well as future rock stars Keeping Lions , and not playing nearly enough guitar. (feel free to jump over to his profile and liberally berate him)
Rob Stankiewicz ? Married, with cats. Playing drums for Somsara , running amazing light shows for those precious few local Dallas bands who can afford his splendiferous services, working on his van and drinking lots of Grolsch.
Me? Derek Blakley ? Playing bass for Somsara , engaging in futile hobbies like learning to speak Russian, sampling many many brands of premium imported Vodka and attending as many Dallas Stars games as possible.
There ya have it... got questions? Throw 'em in the comments section. Otherwise, updates as events warrant! -- D.
