p r e v i o u s . b a n d s
ARRAKIS
04 jun 88 - 28 dec 89 / vocals, bass, keyboard
After piddling around in various projects through my early years as a 'musician', i
joined up with Arrakis in 1988. I had seen their ad up at a record store i used to
frequent, and at the time i was ready to get a little more serious with things. While
they were still a little rough around the edges, i was even rougher, and it seemed a
good fit.
Over the next year and a half, the band just kept getting better, and while we were
doing a large amount of cover tunes, we were also doing our share of originals. And i
was quite taken with much of our material, particularly that which was written by the
guitarist. While i doubt i'll ever be the songwriter he was, i learned a lot about
writing while working with him, and my writing improved tenfold. Even today i consider
much of our music to be the best i've been involved with.
In June of 89 we parted ways with the vocalist, and the guitarist and i took it upon
ourselves to take over those chores. It was my first real opportunity to sing, and
while i had a long way to go, i quickly realized i enjoyed singing just as much as
playing bass.
Unfortunately, for all i learned while working with him, the guitarist and i had problems
in getting along, and after a while i suppose it got to where we couldn't really stand
the sight of each other. Which ended one of the finest chapters of my musical journey.
And while the drummer and i have stayed in touch off and on ever since, i haven't seen
or spoken to the guitarist since early 1990. I don't even know if he still exists.
MILLENNIUM
14 oct 90 - 25 sep 91 / bass, keyboard, backing vocals
After the breakup of Arrakis, i briefly began and ended with 2 different bands. With
only 2 gigs between them, there wasn't much happening until i joined Millennium in late
1990. At one point in time i had thought it would be fun to join a prog-metal type band
along the lines of, say, Crimson Glory, and Millennium was right there. I couldn't turn
down the opportunity to try this.
35 days after joining the band, i did my first gig with them, opening up for a national
act i'd never heard of called Nevade Beach at The Brewery in Raleigh, NC. From there
until the band broke up 11 months later, we performed regularly, and we also recorded a
darned nice album that i don't think was ever released.
In September of 1991, however, i got a sudden call saying the band was 'merging' with
another Raleigh band called Third Degree, and neither i nor the vocalist were needed.
The vocalist went on to bigger and better things with Infinity Minus One and then Rocco's
Collar, while i became very busy with Dear Dead Delila. The Millennium/Third Degree
offshoot, meanwhile, did nothing.
DEAR DEAD DELILA
web site
28 aug 90 - 17 apr 93 / vocals, bass, occasional guitar and drums
In mid-1990, while i was working with a lost band called Masquerade, a friend of mine
was working with another guy on a project called Dear Dead Delila and they needed a bass
player to help out. He asked if i would, so i joined up. Aspirations were low; it was
really just a side project to have fun with.
Over the next few months i left Masquerade and joined Millennium, but i was still with
Delila on the side. Eventually we did some recording and some gigs, but Millennium was
always my focus... until the day they informed me that my services were no longer needed
in that band. Naturally i was ready to look for a new project where i could dive in
head-first.
Around the same time, another mutual friend who had been playing bass with Kurupsure
found himself bandless and in the same boat as me. So, after some discussion, the rest
of Delila decided they wanted to give it a go. We brought in the ex-Kurupsure bassist,
and i switched to lead vocals, which had also been my role in the failed Masquerade
project. We recorded some new material and started playing regularly.
Alas, things didn't work out with the bassist, so i went back to playing as well. We
still had plenty of momentum going, though, and Delila went on to become my most
successful band up to that point. We continued recording and playing regularly, and
even made it on to some college charts as distant as Alberta.
Unfortunately, though, we hit a brick wall after a gig in Greenville, NC when our
guitarists had some differences and one dropped out. We brought in a patch to get us
through the next few gigs while we auditioned for a replacement, but when we settled on
one, the chemistry wasn't there, so, after a last gig in April of 1993, we called it
quits.
Even then it wasn't a quick death, as the drummer and i got together with both of our
usual guitarists over the next few months for some separate recording projects. There
were no more live performances, though, and the original band's last breath came in mid-1994.
BROUHA
web site (archived)
26 may 01 - 06 dec 01 / vocals, bass, keyboard
After Dear Dead Delila finally gave up the ghost, i realized my other musical dream and went into
retail as a record store manager. For about 3-1/2 years i set aside any aspirations of playing live
music and concentrated my efforts on home recording projects. Soon after going into another line of
employment, though, i decided to have another go at the band thing. I poked around with a couple
minor projects before getting a call from an old friend whose band was looking for a bass player.
With nothing substancial happening, i joined up with Brouha, where i handled bass, the occasional
keyboard bit, and about half of the vocals.
We actually got out and did a fair amount, and it wasn't a bad return to playing. While we didn't
stay at it long enough to build much of a following, we had some good music, played a few pretty
good gigs, and recorded a decent-enough 5-song CD. As things were starting to come around, though,
i got the opportunity to join an old friend and bandmate in Mr. Blackwell, and i took it.
The rest of Brouha went their separate ways soon afterward.
MR. BLACKWELL / TRIBE
current band's web site;
will replace with archived Randakk-era site maybe
06 dec 01 - 24 oct 03 / bass, keyboard, backing vocals
(plus website design & occasional fill-ins afterwards)
While i was still with Brouha, i ran across Mr. Blackwell drummer Marc Anthony's e-mail
address and dropped him a line. He and i had been in a couple bands together back when
we were in high school, before i joined Arrakis. I hadn't spoken to him in years, so i
thought i'd check in. He responded by asking if i'd be interested in joining the band.
Well, now, let me think...
Over the next two years we played dozens of gigs, recorded a new CD, and just had a
blast. Not only was it a great band experience, but it also gave Marc and i the chance
to get our friendship back in gear - you can never have too many friends.
Upon completion of the CD, however, i came to the realization there were other pursuits
i wanted to tackle. With the guys ready to dive in head-first with a new CD, a new name,
and a new attitude, i felt the fairest thing i could do was let the band continue
without me. I talked things out with them, finished out the shows on the schedule, and
gracefully bowed out. Talk about a difficult thing to do - i'm not going to lie and say
my eyes weren't a bit misty the night i backed out! Everything was on good terms,
though, and i even stepped back in briefly when they found themselves with bassist
problems the following year.
After breaking up, three of the original members have now reformed Mr. Blackwell and they're
out and about and all that shit.
AVERIS
web site (archived)
04 dec 04 - 20 nov 05 / vocals, keyboard
After leaving Mr. Blackwell, i jumped into a classic rock cover band with one of my former-Brouha
bandmates. It turned out to be quite possibly the least-satisfying band of which i've ever been a
part... but then the fact i truly hate most classic rock should have been a hint there to start
with. From there i briefly worked with another former-Brouha mate in a band called Swivl. That
didn't last long, and i ended up joining the progressive metal band Averis in December of 2004.
All in all, Averis was an enjoyable band, and i think we had some extremely good material. We did
a fair number of shows, some of which got a great response and some a not-so-great one. It was a
very nice return to doing the frontman thing, something i hadn't done in quite a while.
As i was coming up on a year with the band, however, i went through the old soul-searching routine
again and came to the conclusion that i just wasn't accomplishing what i wanted to accomplish with
the band. There were ideas in my head that didn't fit in with what Averis was doing, and i really
wanted to concentrate on those (as such). So, in the
hour-long trek from Kat's house (in our single and apart days) to the rehearsal room on the 20th of
November, i decided it was definitely time to back out. The circumstances were similar to what had
happened with Tribe, with the focus turning to the studio, and i felt it best to back out then rather
than go through the motions in the studio only to back out later. I wished the guys luck, and departed.
The band did soon, as well.