Spyder

Street Art from Warsaw, Poland. August 2006.------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------Joshua Tree NP, California. November 2006.------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------SPYDER is a solo artist based in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. He has played in various Rock bands around Pennsylvania/Ohio/West Virginia for 25 years. SPYDER started playing guitar at the age of 16. Within 2 years he was playing in his 1st band OUTKAST. OUTKAST was primarily a band put together for a performance class in junior college. This band lasted for 1 year. While in the band OUTKAST, singer/guitarist Paul Gibson introduced 2 musical influences.....1) The Acoustic Guitar and 2) Neil Young that greatly influenced SPYDER.After graduating junior college, SPYDER made the party scene around Pittsburgh and fell in with a large and varied crowd of musicians. Many bands were formed for one night or one week. Jamming and partying was the focus of this social scene. From this caldron of sex, drugs and Rock and Roll, SPYDER'S 1st serious Rock Band was formed. Originally called SCANDAL, the name was quickly changed to ROYAL SCAM. ROYAL SCAM was like many young and hungry bands. They played anywhere, anytime for little or no money. The band opened for "THE GREG ALLMAN BAND" at the Pittsburgh showcase club Graffiti. The happiest gigs were when the band was granted free beer for the evening! ROYAL SCAM developed a strong following locally and went on to play some of the medium sized clubs in and around Pittsburgh. ROYAL SCAM lasted for 2 1/2 years.The peak moment of this band was the 2 infamous kegger parties put on to promote the band. The 1st show was the legendary "Pool Party". The local Municipal outside pool was rented. 3 bands, 22 kegs of beer and one drowning rescue later, the cops shut everything down. The 2nd party was the "NEW YEARS EVE FIASCO". This New Years Eve party went even further than the Pool Party!! 3 bands and 26 kegs of beer. This party went haywire when the local biker bar let out 3 o'clock in the morning. The band ROYAL SCAM was still playing strong, when the bikers and their woman decided to join the fun!! 7 different police forces (Including the State and County police) were called in to clear the place and break up the fights!! The band was not allowed to leave until 11 o'clock the next day.Many musicians worked their way through this band. Singers and drummers seemed to come and go like the wind! The band split up because of the usual fighting between band members!! During this time many valuable club contacts were made. This set the stage for the next step up the Pittsburgh musical ladder.While SPYDER was in between bands, he landed a solo record contract with AZRA records out of Los Angeles California. From this contract a 7 Inch Picture Disk entitled "SPYDER" was released. The Picture Disk contained the songs "MONEY" and "NO REASON FOR WAR". ("NO REASON FOR WAR" is co-written by MOUKSA a recording artist now living in the country of Hungary) The record did not sell and SPYDER'S contract was dropped.A year passed since the break up of ROYAL SCAM. The band members of ROYAL SCAM stayed in contact and occasionally jammed together. Somewhere along the line it was agreed upon to reform the band. The new line up included a keyboard player for the 1st time. The name of the new band was CODE BLUE. Since CODE BLUE was almost the same band as ROYAL SCAM, the club owners and fans immediately accepted CODE BLUE as an established Rock Band. CODE BLUE right out of the blocks started playing the bigger clubs around Pittsburgh and into Ohio and West Virginia. CODE BLUE recorded and released a 5 song EP titled "CODE BLUE" on the independent label ROOFL RECORDS. The EP received air play around Pittsburgh for a while and sold briskly. Things never really progressed from there. After 3 1/2 years CODE BLUE broke up.Once again while SPYDER was between bands he released a solo project. This time it was a cassette single. The name of this cassette single once again was "SPYDER". The single contained the songs "ONE MORE TIME" and "REALITEA'S CALLING". The latter song and title springing from a RAINBOW GATHERING held in Pennsylvania. One of the kitchen's at the Rainbow gathering served a brew called Realitea...... Full of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide This single was issued on ROOFL RECORDS. The song "ONE MORE TIME" received local airplay, but went no further.Within the next year, SPYDER put together his last band. The musicians came from some of the hottest bands in Pittsburgh at the time. Not one of the new band members had ever played with SPYDER before. The energy was kicking and the timing was perfect! The new band was called EVOLUTION. EVOLUTION played to packed houses every night right from the beginning. All of the members had followings from previous bands, and that made for instant success. Within 2 months, EVOLUTION was playing the biggest clubs in Pittsburgh and started thinking about New York and beyond! Plans were made, money was saved and the race was on. A full album was recorded and ready for the CD pressing plant. Gigs were lined up in New York city at the Kat Club and CBGB's. Then it all fell apart. The album never made it to pressing. Typical band infighting and lack of commitment. The only EVOLUTION legacy, is one song made it onto a Pittsburgh compilation CD called "GET TO THE POINT VOL II". 3 1/2 years crashed and burned...... Time to move on!!To the present: Several coincidences happened in the fall of 1998. Several bands broke up at the same time. SPYDER'S former drummer (Dana Bish) and current bass player (Brian Heywood) had time on their hands. SPYDER had been thinking of recording a full solo CD and had the songs written. An old band mate (Garry Simmons) had a kick ass studio and was willing to record the CD for a killer price. Brian knew a keyboard player (Jay Steffler) who was willing to throw in. Rehearsal began and the stage was set! Basic tracks were laid within 2 months in the spring of 1999. Many song parts were written as the recording was underway.Other musicians came on board to help out. Another former SPYDER band mate who played Guitar and sang back up (Rick Montgomery), SPYDER'S friend from many jam sessions and who rocked out on the congas (Meach), a co-worker of Brian's that had kickin backing vocals (Chris Murphy), another connection of Brian's and we got a killer Piano Player (Thom Johnson). Lots more production work and teaching and learning of parts continued over the summer and fall of 1999. Recording was held up many times due to vacations and work schedules. The process of recording a solo album can be brutal, and it was!! Still, 2 more musicians were needed before the mixing could even be started!! SPYDER finally convinced a former band mate (Don Sgambati) to lay tracks for one song that needed his special touch!! The last piece of the puzzle was the hardest to find. A Steel drum part was required for the song "SAIL AWAY". At last, after calling musician after musician and following one lead after another, a wonderful Steel Drum player was found (Jonnet Solomon). The last track was laid and mixing began. and continued.....and continued.....and continued..... Art work for the Cd began. and continued....and continued....and continued....... Remixes.....more remixes..... Art work corrections and brainstorming.....more corrections.... more artwork More AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH This shit takes forever. Finally a completed Cd and Artwork!! Wahoo.................... Now you have the solo CD by SPYDER titled "THE DARK AND THE LIGHT". Guess what???? Now its work on the Website!! More work on the website and more and more..............Someday it will all be done I hope!Fast forward to Spring 2002. SPYDER joins the Pittsburgh based rock band Superstar Jones. Superstar Jones plays all around the Pittsburgh area and as far as Deep Creek Maryland. The live show is a favorite with fans. But as summer comes to a close, Superstar Jones wants to concentrate on cover tunes, SPYDER wants to do originals. Time to part way. SPYDER plays his last show with Superstar Jones on Saturday Sept 6, 2002.Fall 2002 finds SPYDER is in the middle of recording his next solo CD. There is much buzz about SPYDER's upcoming release. Release date is slated for spring 2003. Current working title is "Cigarette Ashes".Through the winter of 2002/2003 the work goes on.... New songs are being written. Tracks are being recorded. Once again the recording is done at Garry Simmons studio. The core musicians from the last CD agree to contribute their talents to the new CD also! Dana Bish Drum tracks, Brian Heywood Bass tracks, Don Sgambati Keyboard tracks and Chris murphy doing harmonies. Two new musicians hop on board. Rodney "M.J." Jefferson on Sax and Alex Demos for shredder guitar lead.The die is cast. The process is grueling!! Spring 2003 arrives and work continues. One song is trashed and another one is done spur of the moment. Mixing, mixing and more mixing. Then track order.... That is a bitch!Finaly June 2003..... The new Spyder CD "Cigarette Ashes" has arrived!! All the work, Sweat and Headaches are worth it!April 2006:After writing songs through the winter, it is time to get back into the studio. April 2006 finds Spyder recording a new ACCOUSITC CD. This will be a much sparcer arragement than the past CDs from Spyder.There is currently no working title. 7 songs have been recorded. The 2nd half of the Album will have to be finished in the fall of 2006.As Spyder will be backpacking his way (With occasional gigs) through Eastern Europe from May till October 2006..To see daily travelogues and photos of this trip go to www.trekshare.com/members/spyder_rock ............................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ ..............March 27, 2007. Morgantown West Virginia. USA. "Mourning Cloak" Butterfly