cuppa joe was formed in 1991 at Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey) by Doug Larkin, Bob "Diz" Diszler and Steve Spatucci. Doug and Diz, friends since childhood, had been playing music together for years when they made the decision to form a band. Doug had written a number of songs since the breakup of his previous band, The Soil. Former Soil guitarist Steve Playo suggested his housemate, Steve Spatucci, as a candidate for the newly formed band's drummer position. After several rehearsals, the band formally came together as cuppa joe.
 
cuppa joe played its first show at Café Lion, the outdoor evening cafeteria at Trenton State, on a warm spring night in 1991. In the following year they recorded 8 songs with John Bailey at S.S. Sound Studios and released them as the "Demonstrations" cassette. The band began playing shows at The Rat (Trenton State's on-campus bar), Tir Na Nog, Stevie T's, and Club 14 in Trenton, and various other venues around New Jersey, New York City and the Philadelphia region.
 
After graduating from college, Doug, Steve and Diz landed a small deal with New Jersey-based label Dromedary records. Their first Dromedary release was the song "Meanings" on the "...Nothing Smells Quite Like Elizabeth" compilation CD in 1992.
 
The band returned to S.S. Sound Studios in 1993 and recorded additional songs which were first issued on 1993's "Busy Work E.P." and then on their first full-length CD, "Nurture", in 1994 - both Dromedary Records releases.
 
In the fall of 1993, Diz left the band to pursue a career in public service. Doug's younger brother Rick stepped in to fill the vacated bass position. For the next two years, cuppa joe played shows at The Fast Lane in Asbury Park, The Bond Street Cafe and Under Acme in New York City, The Chestnut Cabaret in Philadelphia, Stevie T's, Tir Na Nog, and The Rat in Trenton, Love Sexy and Live Tonight! in Hoboken, Stockton State College, and other bars and clubs, book stores, self-created firehouse shows, and in-home performances in support of "Nurture". The band also did radio interviews and in-studio performances on WHTG in Long Branch, NJ, WMWM in Salem, MA, and WPRB in Princeton, NJ during this period.
 
During this time, Doug amassed a series of solo four-track recordings. Four of these songs were released in 1994 under Doug's solo project name, "Passenger". Doug and Steve started a label, Inkling Records, through which they released the Passenger 7" E.P.
 
Doug made a decision in 1995 to join the Peace Corps. Before being sent to Kenya for a two-year tour, the band recorded 16 new songs, and performed a few local shows around central New Jersey. After Doug had left the country, the band released those songs as "Casualties of Explorations and Growth", a full-length cassette album. cuppa joe then went on hiatus. During this period, Drive-In Records, a small label from Grand Rapids, Michigan, contacted the band. Drive-In selected two songs from "Casualties", releasing them as the "Archichipellago/Love Peace Anarchy Infinity" 7" vinyl single in 1995.
 
While Doug was in Kenya, he began writing songs inspired by his Peace Corps experiences. He recorded 16 songs on a boombox in his one-room African home, singing and playing acoustic guitar. These low-fi recordings were sent to Steve in America, who added percussion and backing vocal tracks. The cross-continental effort was self-released on cassette as "The Short Rains" in early 1997.
 
Doug returned from his Peace Corps duty later in 1997, writing another batch of new songs. Doug's brother Rick was now off at college, so Doug and Steve found Craig Frame, whose band Uncle Seymour had played with cuppa joe at Trenton State, and asked Craig to join what would be the last phase of the band. With Craig, cuppa joe played two shows - one at Bryn Mawr University in Pennsylvania (with Australian band The Lucksmiths), and their final performance at The Rat at Trenton State, in 1998.
 
They also recorded four new songs at this point - two songs written by Doug, and two written and featuring lead vocals/guitar by Craig. Doug and his wife re-joined The Peace Corps in 1998 and left for duty in Papua, New Guinea. Before leaving, Doug and Steve collected these news songs, as well as a few live tracks, unreleased demos and studio-recorded songs, as their final self-released CD, "Following Lights Into the Forest", in early 1999.
 
Doug moved to Madison, Wisconsin in 2005 to teach chemistry and get his Master's Degree. Before leaving, he and Steve recorded a cover of the Split Enz song "Message to My Girl" - their first recording together since 1998. They have begun posting their past songs in a growing online archive, which can be launched by clicking here .
 
discography:
 
 
cuppa joe | 1991 | self-released
 
Actually, "self-released" may even be an overstatement. This first demo tape was recorded on a four-track in Diz's basement with the primary purpose of getting shows in the Trenton area. Most of the songs survived to future releases, though, curiously, the early favorite "Canadian Dime" was never to be seen again. Conspiracy theorists are still working on that one. trivia: Doug's earlier recording of "Bookmark" - his first ever four-track demo - was later released on the Passenger E.P.
 
 
 
Demonstrations | 1992 | self-released
 
An 8-song cassette that was the band's first "proper" release, sold at shows and distributed to friends. Recorded by John Bailey at S.S. Sound Studios in Trenton, where the band would record all subsequent studio releases. This cassette was sent to Dromedary Records, leading to their future cuppa joe releases. trivia: This is the only cuppa joe release not to feature cover art by Steve.
 
 
 
Pondhoagie Cassette (Passenger) | 1992 | Inkling Records
 
Released under Doug's solo project name, Passenger, these four-track recordings had an experimental flavor to them. A few of the songs - "French Toast", "Trade", and "Tense Present" - later made their way into the studio for full-band recordings. trivia: Unlike most cassette sleeves, the j-card for the Pondhoagie Cassette folded out vertically, revealing more of the arm from the front cover illustration.
 
 
 
...Nothing Smells Quite Like Elizabeth (compilation) | 1993 | Dromedary Records
 
The first release from Dromedary Records was this album featuring all New Jersey area bands. cuppa joe's song "Meanings" was selected for this collection. trivia: If you're not from New Jersey, you may not be aware that Elizabeth is a city in the northern part of the state, notable for its smokestacks and prominent industrial smell.
 
 
 
Busy Work E.P. | 1993 | Dromedary Records
 
3-song red-vinyl 7" E.P. featuring "Bottlerocket" on the A side, and "French Toast" and Surface area on the B. The artwork was printed in black and white, with each of the 500 covers then hand-colored by the band, with crayons and markers, in a pizza-fueled frenzy within the Domedary Records office. trivia: The original suggestion for the E.P.'s title was "Botany", which was changed just prior to release. "Revenge of the Jedi", anyone?
 
 
 
Passenger E.P. | 1994 | Inkling Records
 
Doug and Steve originally started Inkling Records to release Doug's Passenger material. The centerpiece of this 4-song vinyl E.P. is "Stalked by Claude", which documents (and incorporates several disturbing answering machine messages of) Doug's pursuit by a strange Haitian man who could not deal with his advances toward Doug's friendship being spurned. trivia: The only non-Passenger project released by Inkling was a 7" by The Semibeings, another Trenton band.
 
 
 
Nurture | 1994 | Dromedary Records
 
cuppa joe's first full-length CD collected songs from three separate recording sessions at S.S. Sound Studios. The album received moderate radio airplay (mostly for "Bottlerocket") and fairly decent worldwide distribution. The band played a bevy of shows after its release, with Doug's younger brother Rick stepping in for the now-departed Diz, who left the band for a full-time job after recording Nurture. trivia: The hidden 14th track, "Second Violin", is a traditional Irish folk song, and is therefore, technically, a cover tune.
 
 
 
Casualties of Exploration and Growth | 1995 | self-released
 
A collection of 16 songs that the band recorded in one big burst before Doug entered the Peace Corps and was sent to Kenya. Featured the first outside-the-band musicians adding guest violin and trombone services. Doug played mandolin. Diz came back for additional vocals. Steve played maracas. It was anarchy! This album was preceeded by a Passenger cassette of the same name and featuring about half of the same songs in four-track/demo form. Doug generously donated the title to this full-band album - most likely because the Passenger version was only heard by a dozen or so people. trivia: The shaking percussion used throughout "Trade" was a bottle of iced tea played by Steve, mimicking the same technique used on Doug's original demo for that song.
 
 
 
The Short Rains | 1997 | self-released
 
Doug joined the Peace Corps in 1995, placing the band on a two-year hiatus. In his one-room hut in Kenya, he wrote 16 original tunes and recorded them directly onto a boombox. That tape was sent to Steve, who added found-object percussion (Tupperware, a coffee tin, cardboard boxes) and backing vocals at S.S. Sound Studios to complete each song. Low-fi cross-continental recording at its finest. trivia: The "hakuna al-fahka" comment spoken over the Kenyan radio intro to "Options" was engineer John Bailey's extemporaneous mockery.
 
 
 
Archipellago/Love Peace Anarchy Infinity | 1997 | Drive-In Records
 
The excellent Michigan-based label Drive-In Records picked two songs from the Casualties album for this 7" vinyl single. trivia: The back cover classroom photo was taken in the school in which Doug was then teaching Chemistry, and where Rick, at the time, was a student.
 
 
 
Following Lights Into the Forest | 1999 | self-released
 
Barely released in 1999 at the dawn of the burn-your-own-CD era, Doug and Steve put together 24 tracks for this friends-and-family collection. Four new tracks were recorded (two, "Falling" and "Manifesto", written and featuring lead vocals/guitars by new post-Peace Corps member Craig Frame), and favorite demos and studio tracks from previous releases and a few live covers were gathered for this, the band's final album. trivia: Doug's wife Melissa played cello on "The Learned Astronomer".
 
 
 
Compilation Shmompilation | 1999 | Plastic Duck Recordings
 
A cassette compilation that featured the cuppa joe song "Back to the Evergreens" from The Short Rains.
 
 
 
Everything Went Pop! | 2001 | Meller Welle
 
This German compilation featured the Casualties of Exploration and Growth tune "P.D.A.".
 
a few photos:
 
