Quazimodo & The Hunch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Quazimodo & The Hunch was a prominent ska force in the Severna Park and Arnold area of Maryland for 2004 through the summer of 2005.
Contents |
[edit] Band Bio
Since its humble beginnings in April of 2004, Quazimodo & The Hunch or QMATH was one of the driving forces of ska in the Arnold and Severna Park, Maryland area. It all started when founding member Leif Whitman ran into Dave Zelonka and Mikey O’Boyle at a show at Woods. Mikey and Dave were already trying to start a band and Dave had already met Leif at Leif's former band The Spazbots' show at the old Broadneck Youth Center. They got to talking that night and Leif decided to join up on trumpet. For a while they were called The Soccer Moms.
Leif quickly recruited his friend Steve Kincer on sax, and Andrew Graber, the guitarist for local hits The New Fellas was recruited on drums. After a few practices and several songs being written, Leif had a falling out and Scott Jones was asked to play. He plays bass clarinet, adding a unique sound indeed to the ska band. The day Scott met Dave, Mikey and Graber was the date of their first show. Steve being in Southern Maryland at the time, and Scott having gone to his first practice that day, he merely watched. Soon after this there were some more practices, and it was decided that more horns were needed. After a week or so of begging on Scott and Steve’s part, Diana Johnson and Sergei Orlov, both excellent trumpet players, joined up. After a couple practices Sergei stopped coming, and that summer’s line-up was sealed. Over the summer of 2004 the band played several shows, including one on Mikey’s back porch and one at Scott, Steve and Diana’s high school, Broadneck, for the marching band during band camp. It was at this point however that Graber had to go off to college, and QMATH was left without a drummer. Right before he left, they recorded their 4 song demo, Beyond The Bell Tower in his basement.
Fortunately for QMATH luck was on their side and after only a week or so of checking around, Billy Wear decided to come to a practice, finalizing their line-up. In the fall of 2004 and the winter of 2004/2005 QMATH played 9 shows in the area, selling and giving away their demo through December. During this time they build up quite a dedicated fan base, ranging from already personal friends to kids that came from other parts of the county. The majority of these shows were played at the Manhattan Beach Clubhouse, a small building in Severna Park that was rented out some Friday nights by friend of the band Laura McKay. Playing with such local notables as The Channas, Champions By Default and crowd favorite Alpha Krong not only enabled the band to get fans, but brought on some inter-band friendships. In the spring and summer of 2005, Quazimodo & The Hunch played 6 more shows, with their last show on August 19th at the Manhattan Beach Clubhouse attracting an estimated 150 people! Early in the summer the band recorded two songs in Dave’s basement, hoping to start on another CD. However, they got an incredible deal and were able to work with a master of recording for a minimal fee. The weeks before this last show QMATH recorded their first ‘studio’ release; an 8-track CD entitled “Have A Ball”, containing their most popular songs. For the last show the band printed labels and covers for 50 CDs, all of which were sold leaving none for the band members themselves. After this show, Diana, Scott and Dave went off to college, Steve went to the local community college and Billy and Mikey are currently seniors in high school. Billy, Mikey and Steve have started a new band entitled Thermador and the Professionals, recruiting local marching band kids to fill out the horn section.
After a semester away, QMATH decided to treat its fan base to 2 more shows. On December 27, 2005 they performed their first reunion show, opening at The Ottobar to a crowd of about 20 people. This was a very exciting show for the members of QMATH for they were opening for both Charly Horse (Carrol County Deth Ska!) and The Know How. After this, on January 6, 2006 QMATH played its last show ever at the venerable Manhattan Beach Clubhouse to a crowd that not only filled the whole place, but must have numbered well over 50.
As of now, QMATH is in retirement and there are no plans for anything else concerning the band. However; Mike and Dave will be doing an acoustic tour this coming summer (2007) with Steve accompanying them. If you're in the MD/NJ/PA area, be sure to check them out at their myspace. The name they are performing under is You, Me and Steve!
[edit] Band Members
- Diana Johnson — Trumpet
- Scott Jones — Bass Clarinet
- Steve Kincer — Sax (tenor, bari, alto)
- Mikey O'Boyle — Guitar and Vocals
- Billy Wear — Drums
- Dave Zelonka — Bass and Vocals
[edit] Member History
- Leif Whitman - trumpet: Left a few weeks after starting the band
- Andrew Graber - drums: Left to go to college
[edit] Discography
Studio Albums
- Beyond The Bell Tower (CD) (2004)
- B-Sides (MP3) (2004-2005)
- Dave's Basement Sessions (MP3) (2005)
- Have A Ball (CD) (2005)
Live Albums:
- Manhattan Beach Clubhouse - October 29, 2004 (MP3) ((2004))
- Manhattan Beach Clubhouse - April 29, 2005 (MP3) ((2005))
- Severna Park High School - May 26, 2005 (MP3) ((2005))
[edit] More Information
On January 25, 2007 ex-bass clarinetist Scott Jones released every recording of QMATH that he had on his computer. These include the tracks that weren't good enough to go on Beyond The Bell Tower, B-sides, Dave's Basement Sessions and 3 live shows. The studio recordings are available at http://quazimodo.hunch.googlepages.com/home and the live shows can be downloaded from http://qmathlive.googlepages.com/home.
