the Catnips

NEW WEBSITE!!!: http://www.brrecords.com/thecatnips.htm !!! ----- SO, here it goes!: the Catnips were a "Phome Rock" band ('Phome Rock' being, of course, our own invention) from Santa Rosa, California - nestled firmly in Sonoma County (and named "the dark and moody Catnips" by local newspaper the Press Democrat, circa 1995) - (other bands that later joined the Phome Rock Movement (tee-hee!) were Me & Mark (pretty much our 'sister-band', our best buds!), Generation whY, Oxygen Cocktail, the drone., and more!). we played many a show between '94-'97, and released 3 cassette tapes. the very first Catnips release (and my first release out of any project!), was Jan. 1995's "the Orange Collection". this cassette was recorded by Big Dog/Little Dog, which was a small cassette label locally here at the time, run and produced by 2 guys from the Jr. Anti-Sex League! they recorded us live in our crappy shed, then i (VERY nervously) laid down the vocals over the music we had recorded. my very first sorta "studio" experience! "Blue Thelma" was not only the name of band member Joe's big blue truck, it was also the name of our 2nd release, which was recorded at Grizzly Studios back when it was inside a house. the recording and production of the cassette were done by "Pariah Records" (2 guys from Gen whY), and it was released in mid-1995. in 1996 we got a different drummer due to personal issues among the band and Joe Fess, and Jamie Harrison was on the scene! we played, practiced, and wrote a slew of new songs, which eventually became our 3rd and final release, "Classic Phaser". this time around the recording was paid for by members of the Catnips and it, too, was recorded at Grizzly Studios (in that same old garage of his house....). sadly, due to inner band turmoil over which new songs should actually be put on the new tape, this cassette was put "on the shelves". the Catnips broke up for the first time in 1996, but not before playing a disastrious last "loud" show with the Makers at Club 96 and a lameass acoustic performance at Higher Grounds, which was our last show. we went our seperate ways, and i (Cory) moved to Denver, Colorado. i returned about 1/2 a year later, and for some reason we decided to reform the Catnips with me, Joe, Mike, and Joe Fess back on drums. we had good fun jamming and writing new songs, but the only live appearance this last version of the band had was as the Band at a Wedding, which actually went over rather well! then we broke up for the last time so Mike and i could focus on our new band, the drone., as it seemed the remaining members of the 'nips weren't too excited anymore. luckily, we made friends (and sometimes real life-long friends) throughout the Catnips' life, and i absolutely love the memories of the times that we thought we hated while they were happening. i guess that's just age speaking, but still.....we were the smoke break for many a Phoenix show, though we did headline the Phoenix once and played a million shows at Cafe This (RIP), which we packed a few times. altogether we played shows at Higher Grounds, the Phoenix Theatre, Club 96, Cafe This, Mudds, Piner High School (twice!), a pal's garage for his girl's b-day, the Lincoln Arts Center (where our first show was held - the entrance fee was a live orange - the fruit - and boy did we end up with a shipment!!! it had something to do with my girlfriend at the time, so no questions.....!), New George's in San Rafael (the town i was born in!!!), and many more........we had a kinda "following" of sorts, and i hope we had lots of fun looking really annoyed during our sloppy performances! i'm sure we did, just didn't know it yet. damn were we uptight!!! today i (cory thrall) have a solo music career as well as a few other projects (see www.felinemafia.com ), and i'm sure Jamie is keeping himself musically busy as always (he was always a great guy and a super-cool talent!).....i don't know what the rest of the band is doing nowadays.....last i heard Joe was living in Corte Madera (sp?), and Mike is between projects though i did just see him playing live with his dad's band (Animal Farm) a little while ago, and that kicked ass!!! so, GO MIKE!!! damn i wish we had all kept in touch.....but there's that 'age' thing again, things change, then they change again, then they spin around a bit before landing you far away from where you thought you were. oh, and, um.....we once changed our name to "Exhibit: A" for about, oh, three seconds during one acoustic show - thanks gerry for reminding me of that! heheh.....yep! that was dumb...........i miss this band, my friends that were always around back then, and the feeling of being part of a musical scene that was as great as the one here in Sonoma County circa way-early 90's to late 90's. it was a blast, there were some amazingly awesome shows, and yeah yeah yeah!I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)