Let me take you back in time to the early days of echo station. Picture this: Early February, 2001. Our third gig ever was at a place called The Odyssey in Ithaca, NY. We were opening for our pals in the now defunct hip hop/rock band y5o. The web site for the Odyssey showed a large stage, with professional PA and a large floor that seemed like it could accommodate about 500 people. With the chance to play such a nice room, mixed in with this being our first road show in front of a college crowd, we were quiet excited. We made the 4 hour trek to Ithaca and upon arriving found out that we were not playing in that nice room ... we were playing in a small corner of the lounge portion of the club. The "stage" was barely big enough to hold the drums. The room itself had a bar in the back and a bunch of couches where college students were lounging, sipping cocktails, reading and making small talk. Needless to say we were infuriated. We let the anger fester for a bit, got drunk and proceeded to play one of the loudest, craziest, most rocking shows. That quiet room quickly turned into a raving pack of wildly dancing college students. That night, we were rock and roll in its purest form. We destroyed that place. Even though I'm sure we were no where near as tight musically as we are now, our intensity that night more then made up for anything we might have lacked musically.
Moral of the story, we played with supernatural intensity when we were pissed off. It made for a great show.
Fast forward to December 23rd, 2006, echo station's official "Let's Go Steady, Debbie EP" release party at Piano's. We were all quite pumped up just like we had been 5 years earlier. We had played all over NYC, upstate NY and CT but with the exception of that Ithaca show, we had never played angry. We have had plenty of awesome shows, full of true rock and roll aggression, but nothing like that night at the Odyssey. That was all about to change.....
We all got to Piano's early, unloaded, had a few cocktails and watched Love Panther (who were really fucking awesome) and Beat Radio do their thing. After Beat Radio started breaking down their set, we began loading ours. That's when I heard Joe say .... "Where the fuck is Steve's pedal board?" I thought he was making a joke. At the CMJ show, we had lost Steve's pedal bored and almost had a mental breakdown before we played. About 40 minutes before that show, we realized that it had to be in the limo. Our driver went and double checked and found it. He got it back to us about 15 minutes before the show. Just in time to save the day. There was no limo driver this time, and Joe was making no joke. Shortly after Joe said that, I saw Steve with the look that I know all to well ... "Pissed Off Steve look." Someone had walked off with his pedal board.
For non-musicians, a guitar players sound is what distinguishes him from every other player. Effects pedals (such as distortion, reverb, delay, etc) are an important part of any bands sound and are often important to the makeup of a song. Steve was now without "his" sound. Even though Steve had "the look," he stayed remarkably calm. Not only had he lost his sound, but he also had lost close to a $1000.00 in gear. Most people would throw a shit fit and walk out of a gig. Steve, along with the 3 of us who felt sorry for our brother and anger towards the cocksmoking fuck who stole his gear, regrouped, let the anger fester and turned it into something else. Love Panther was kind enough to let Steve borrow a distortion pedal. We then plugged in and did what we did in Ithaca 5 years earlier ... We played an angry, loud, aggressive and totally fucking awesome show. This show had more energy then Ithaca and since we were a band 5 years older, we were much, MUCH tighter.
It was one of, if not our best show ever. The room was packed and the crowd was way into the show. We played so hard and so intense that I nearly collapsed from exhaustion after our encore. The encore came as a surprise to everyone, including us. We played "Breed" by Nirvana. It was only our 2nd time ever playing it, the first being one day earlier in rehearsal. I think everyone was blown away. Overall, with the exception of the pedal board being stolen, the night was a great success from every standpoint. We handed out allot of EP's, gave away free copies of Marc Spitz's "Too Much Too Late," Free t-shirts and played a killer show. We can not thank Jason Gordon from ProductshopNYC and Jasper from Piano's enough for putting that show together. You guys fucking rule. We also have to thank Marc Spitz who has been so supportive and went out of his way to help in any way he could.
So 2006 has ended on a very big positive note for echo station. Can't say it started out that way. Let's have a look at echo station's year in review:
January 2006: e/s plays what is highly touted as their "last" show at Piano's in NYC. Things in the band have gotten stale and most of the excitement and drive that had fueled the band for so long seems all but gone.
February 2006: Joe Bag's e-mails everyone out of the blue and says he has contacted Nikki at Don Hills about booking a show. Nikki offers up a Friday at a prime time slot.
March 2006: e/s plays Don Hills. Musically, it is a great show. The band feels better about themselves because it is abundantly clear that the drive and love to play is still there. Nikki from Don Hills makes the night even better by offering e/s a slot for their FHM/Southern Comfort show in May. Free So Co and hot chicks on the cover of magazines... fuck yeah we'll play!
April 2006: Steve, being the cultural connoisseur he is, tells us about an awesome book he's reading called "Too Much Too Late." He says there is a contest based on the book. This contest will be judged by the author, several writers from Spin, Ultragrrl and James Iha (formally of Smashing Pumpkins ... one of our all time favorite bands). Winner gets 1000 promotional copies of the CD and a chance to play CMJ. Steve writes a song based on the fictional one from the book. This song is called "Let's Go Steady, Debbie." The song gets us excited immediately just like Claire and Heartbreaker did when they were first brought to the table.
May 2006: e/s plays Don Hill's FHM/Southern Comfort show. We play Let's Go Steady, Debbie live for the first time. The crowd instantly loves it further cementing what we already know ... the song could be our breakout hit. During Memorial Day weekend, we record the song with Josh Carrerio. The recording sounds awesome and we become hopeful that we will win this contest. May is not all good news. Joe informs the band that he will be moving away in July for at least a year, returning only to visit once in awhile and play CMJ.
June 2006: We submit the CD and our press kit to the contest. Several weeks later we get the call ... We had won convincingly. e/s is officially back from the dead.
July 2006: We begin marking time as we await further info on the contest. With CMJ 4 months away, we know we must spend as much time as possible preparing. We play our last show with Joe until CMJ at a local place in Elmsford. To celebrate, we break out old classic e/s songs like Leia, Sunday Morning and Vietnam as well as some fun covers. It is not a great show musically as the sadness and resentment towards Joe leaving us sets in. Joe leaves several days later.
August 2006: Our little article in The Westmore News almost kills Beadlepalooza. The Beadles', being the mad genius's they are pull together last minute and reschedule at a new date and location. The turnout is not the same and neither are we. We are lackluster at best, but still have a good time. We miss Joe and things just aren't the same without him.
September 2006: Quiet month. Details on the show and the general announcement of us winning are made.
October 2006: Joe comes home early and surprises Jen Eye at her 30th birthday bash. e/s is reunited after not being together for 4 months. A two week grueling rehearsal schedule starts as we prepare for CMJ. Things feel like they have never changed. From the first note at the first rehearsal we are as tight as ever. e/s has become a machine by now, despite the roller coaster ride of the year.
November 2006: We play ProductshopNYC's CMJ after party. We are the first band kicking off the show. Even though the turnout at such an early time is not good, we blow those who are there away. Jason Gordon of ProductshopNYC loves the show and Marc Spitz reciprocates, telling us that "This is not it for you guys." Our CD is not ready for that night like it was supposed to be, but otherwise the night was a huge success.
December 2006: We receive our CD's and decide that we should have an EP release party at our favorite NYC club, Piano's. Jasper hooks up the prime time slot and Jason Gordon of Productshop along with Jasper and Marc Spits helps put the show together and promote it. During the month Andy mails out press kits to two city venues that we have been dying to play since day 1 ... Mercury Lounge and The Knitting Factory. Knitting Factory e-mails and express's interest. As e/s tries to arrange a gig there for February 2007, we play the EP release party on December 23rd. The EP release is a great success. Piano's is packed and the EP is received well. The members of e/s leave NYC that night for the last time in 2006, knowing that 2007 is looking brighter then ever. The members return home to celebrate the holidays with their families. Joe leaves again a few days later with a heavy heart knowing his place is here with his brothers. We are sad to see him leave again but know he'll be back. He knows as we do ... 2006 was a glimpse into the future of this band. We were meant to do this, at least for awhile and hope to God that he allows us to see it all the way through.
Exciting yes? It was a great year. One that I will remember always. We started off drifting apart and now I feel closer to these 3 other guys then I ever have. I have one blood related sister, but when people ask, I tell them that I have 3 younger brothers as well. I love them as I do my own sister. The holidays are a time to be thankful. The members of e/s are thankful for many reasons. We have loving families, wives/Fiancé, good health, homes. We also have the fortune of being on this great ride called echo station together.
Happy Holidays to all and have a happy and healthy new year. We'll see you all in 2007. We can not fucking wait!
-Mike
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