One night we were sitting around trying to decide what to play - we're a guitar band, so we pretty much stick to guitar rock. One of the guys said "I'll play anything but Vangelis" - and a name was born. (He didn't actually say "Anything but Vangelis", but we thought "ABFV" didn't trip off the tongue as well, and besides, the logo would have been more complex).
Yeah - that's a bald-faced lie.
The fact is that anyone who's spent any time at all playing in a bar band knows - expects - that alcohol-fueled ... umm ... incidents will happen from time to time. We've certainly got one or two such stories we could tell. So we thought we would pay homage to one of the main energy sources behind every bar band.
(If you don't know what "ABV" means, Wiki does).
Any band that plays rock has to have a drummer. This is axiomatic - rocknroll requires drums. Imagine this scenario:
While walking down the sidewalk you bump into Iggy, a buddy whom you haven't seen in a while...
You: Hey Iggy! It's been a while. How have you been?
Iggy (excitedly): Hey man! I'm playing rocknroll in a band!
You (somewhat intrigued): Really? Cool! What's it called?
Iggy: Cärving Møøses.
You (more intrigued): Who else is in it?
Iggy: Well, Zeeg plays bass and Jürgen doubles on keyboards and ukelele.
You (still intrigued, but hey, that sounds kinda weird): Who's the drummer?
Iggy: We don't have a drummer.
You (intrigue has disappeared): (blink, blink)
A short pause....
You (smiling): Well bless your heart! [1]
Totally believable, right? Some people would contend that you can indeed play rocknroll without a drummer. Those people are wrong.
Jimmy is the foundation on which our sound is built. He's a kick-ass drummer who keeps impeccable time and makes sure we don't drown the groove by playing too fast, or kill the energy by playing too slow.
And he sings. Good drummers are hard enough to find, good drummers who can sing are practically an endangered species.
Without Jimmy we're just three dudes with too many guitars.
True fact: every guitar player in the known sentient universe has said, at least once, "sure, I can play bass". Another true fact: every time a guitarist says this, the known sentient universe smiles and replies "Bless your heart!" [1]
The bottom end of a bass provides the meat without which our sound would just be a skeleton rattling around, annoying anyone within earshot. And that meat can't be provided by just any SomeDude who can pluck a stringed instrument.
No - to get that meaty sound you need a True-Straight-Up-I-Don't-Need-No-Stinkin'-Pick-Real-Bassists-Finger-Pick man's man to get the job done. That man is Mark Madar.
Mark lays down a groove, pure and simple. And you can't rock without a groove.
And the man knows how to dress for the occasion.
Every band has That Guy.
Random band member (as practice ends): Good practice, guys. What time should we get to the gig?
That Guy: Gig starts at 8:00. Let's get there by 6:00.
Other random band member: Yeah, two hours should be plenty of time to setup and sound check.
(Time passes. Random band member gets to gig at 6:05, which is perfectly within the Acceptable Time Margin For Arriving At The Gig. As he pulls into the parking lot, he sees That Guy's hot rod already unloaded. He walks over, feels the hood - it's dead cold. He goes into the venue to find the lights and PA already set up. That Guy was ... early.)
Yep - every band has That Guy. And every band needs That Guy. The guy whose enthusiasm and energy can go a little overboard, but without whom things would run a lot less smoothly.
Bob is That Guy.
He's also a killer guitarist who flips from rhythm to lead and back without skipping a beat. He'll be scorching the fretboard one minute, then he'll fall back to steady rhythm the next - usually while singing lead.
He would also, if we let him, fill an entire set list wth nothing but Tom Petty tunes.
Gary believes - to the core of his inner being - two Great Overarching Truths. The First Truth is that every guitar tab on the internet was posted by some keyboardist named Jürgen who sometimes plays ukelele and always gets the tab wrong. The Second Truth is that rocknroll should be played from memory, without sheet music (paper or digital).
He is unshakable in these beliefs. Honestly - the guy can get a little annoying.
But those beliefs help drive an attention to detail that comes out in his playing. Like Bob, Gary doubles on rhythm and lead, and the versatilty provided by two capable lead guitarists gives ABV a little extra boost. Rumor has it he's been experimenting with keyboards as well.
Just don't mess with his gear.