S.G.O. was a band formed from the ashes of several different bands. In 1994, bassist/guitarist Jon Gerler and drummer Nicola Godfrey were in search of a vocalist. While attending college at NC State University, Jon met singer/songwriter Chris Wimberely, who'd enjoyed a modest degree of local success in his previous band, Lazarus Rattle. The three got together and began jamming, and an immediate chemistry was formed.
However, the power trio realized that a one-guitar assault wouldn't be enough, so Chris brought guitarist Daniel Phelps on board, whom Chris had previously worked with in Sundance Maelstrom. The foursome began writing material and had six songs by the end of 1994. Jon would eventually take over on bass so Chris could concentrate on his vocals and lyrics. This shift in instrumentation would result in one of the band's singature performance staples - Phelps and Gerler would learn one another's parts and frequently switch instruments on-stage.
In early 1995, Nicola decided to leave the band to pursue a career in sculpture in New York City, so Jon brought drummer Jason Clevenger on as her replacement. Gerler and Clevenger had previously worked together in the doom/thrash metal band Static Character. Adopting the name "iscream" (taken from a greeting card), and with ten songs under their hats, the foursome decided to record their debut CD with Osceola Studios in Raleigh. It was here that they would meet producer Tom Mohbat.
The recording sessions included some of the group's signature tunes, "Rain," "Martians," and their crowd-pleaser "Valley" (penned by Gerler, which he would later re-mix under the auspices of Dj FM ). Prior to completion of the album, the group decided to change their name to S.G.O. and began performing locally throughout the area, opening for such acts as The Outhouse Poets and Nothingface . The group also performed at the 1996 NCSU School of Design Graduation Celebration.
Unfortunately, this would be the group's final performance. Various circumstances sent the members on their separate ways, but Gerler and Wimberley oversaw the final mixdown of iscream's "Closure" LP. The members are still friends, and very active musically - Chris Wimberley is the lead singer for The Stranger Spirits , and Gerler (under his Dj FM moniker) formed The FM Initiative , a live techno/dance act, with Clevenger on drums.
