"waaaaaah! we’re NOT playing the Eagle Rock Music Fest- waaaah!"
Current mood: disappointed

the year before last we invaded the 8th annual eagle rock music fest with our mobile-unit.  shit!  thought we wouldn't?!  that's right in our backyard!  we put in a lot of time around here, and if nobody there had noticed by then, we were gonna show em how we do it!  and we did.  it's a lot of fun doing the mobile-unit.  there's a suprise element that is a lot of the fun of doing it.  the crowd liked it and it was mission accomplished.

last year we were actually officially invited to play as part of the 9th annual eagle rock music fest.  we had a very good time and were appreciative of being invited.  there were tons of people there.  the crowd was great and it was a highlight for us in all the years we've been doing this thang.  it's a good feeling to be recognized in your own community.

back in june we were contacted by the organizers of the ERMF with an invitation to play the 10th annual eagle rock music festival.  of course, we said "fuck yeah!".  so, we've been looking forward to this coming october 4th.  this one seemed like a special one- it being our 10th year going and 5 months after rising from the ashes again.  we've been telling everyone about it.  we were excited to do it.

so a couple months pass and we haven't heard anything and i was curious as to how the line-up is gonna pan out.  the guys asked me, "...are you sure we're on the bill?".  i told em that i spoke to the main dude personally and he told me we're on, so we're on.  but that question did linger in my head.  i though maybe our contact info was lost or someshit, so i shot em a line and hit em up again.  we got a response asking if we wouldn't mind just doing our mobile-unit on the street.  i replied by asking them if that meant that we didn't have a spot on a "stage".  we got no response.  the writing was on the wall.  i waited a week and a half or so and finally called brian today. 

unfortunately, we we're not on the line-up.  brian told me that "people liked the mobile-unit better" and he needs room for "new bands".  he said not many bands that played last year are playing this year cause he wants to keep it fresh.  he said if we want we can play on the street.  i guess in front of a tree or trashcan or someshit.  he said he liked the "renegade edge" of the mobile-unit.  i explained that the mobile-unit is a portable form of our band meant to promote what we do on stage as a live band and that the "renegade edge" is taken away when we're asked to come down and be a sideshow to the stages and sidestages.  needless to say we are disappointed.

i know what you may be thinking, "waaaaaaaah!!! we're not playing the eagle rock music fest- waaaaaah!!", and maybe you're not ridiculously far off.  but to have our balls stroked and be told one thing, and getting seemingly pushed aside as an after thought is in so many words, "sucky" and "bullshit".  i would have rather been told to begin with that we're not invited.  we don't need any lip service.  what we do need is NOT to be bullshitted.

so, we will NOT be at the eagle rock music fest this year, not even in mobile-unit form.  last year i blew-off a family reunion in fresno to play the last one when we're were invited to be an actual part of the event and they stuck to their invitation.  but it was worth it back then cause it meant something for our band to be recognized and included after the years we put in in dues.  it was one of the high points in our history playing in front of a crowd hundreds of people in one spot and we're grateful for it.  once again, this year my family's reunion falls on the same day as the ERMF.  go figure.  i would have blown off this family reunion too, but not for a mobile-unit performance.  we can do that anytime.  and we will.  if i didn't have this family reunion thing going on maybe we would have marched in mobile-unit form.  or maybe not.  you know when some one asks you, "do that funny voice you do" and it gives you the douche chills?  that's what this kind of feels like.  to be asked to be "renegades" takes the fun out of it and i think dimishes the guerrila nature of our mobile-unit.  we didn't intend to be a sub side gimmick at the eagle rock music fest this year. 

we had a different idea of being a part of the eagle rock music festival this year.  not because we imagined it in our heads, but because they told us one thing and changed their minds or forgot or whatever.  look, i know it's hard to organize a big event like this and i'm giving the benifit of the doubt to the organizers that they didn't intentionally snub us.  i guess sometimes we fall through the cracks.  nonetheless, it's still dissapointing and fuck that. 

waaaaaaaaaaah!  put in the book of "would have been nice".

ok, enough bitching- in the meantime and on, we have some great shows coming up!  we're in our 10th year now and have a lot in store for you to come!  please check our shows listings as we're filling up our schedule now.  see yous at the next show!

-vince

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2:33 AM - 14 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

OUR FIRST SHOW 10 YEARS AGO
Current mood: nostalgic

on august 7th 1998, our band played our first show at AL 'S BAR in downtown l.a.  it was a benefit show for an organization called 'para los ninos'.  i was looking forward to it.  i didn't know what to expect with this new band.  i was still kind of on the fence about it.  i had no idea of what was to come nor did i realize how fuckin awesome of an experience this would turn out to be.  we got on stage that night and played our first set.

our first band, THE DYSLEXICS, had broken up about a year and a half or so prior and i was fortunate enough to be playing drums in THE NICOTEENS and continued to do so after our band fell apart.  it was a heart breaker when our first band broke up.  when we started up our first band it was obvious that we had a lot to learn. we didn't know shit about shit!  we barely even knew how to pick up our instruments. i had joined the band on a lie that i knew how to play drums.  in fact- i didn't, but i figured 'how hard can it be?'  we were a group of buddies in high school who wanted so bad to be like our punk rock idols.  this is the only way we could be "cool" i guess.  believe me, people hated our guts in high school.  it was patrick on vocals, jimmy on bass, jason on guitar, and me on drums.

so we played and eventually got better.  we managed to stick it out for about two and a half years and , believe it or not, we began to grow somewhat of a following.  but one day jimmy told us that he decided to join the army for college money, and he was leaving in a week.  he was the driving force of the band and when our friend left us, so did the dylexics with him.  we were bummed out. i ended up sticking with the nicoteens as their drummer (i had a good time with those guys).  meanwhile, during this time, i picked up a guitar and learned how to play actual chords.  i didn't have much experience at all on guitar and i could only pluck out single notes one string at a time.  i had come up with some song ideas while i was in the dyslexics but i didn't know how to make them into songs cause i knew nothing about guitar, guitarmanship, nor guitaring.  so i didn't really put up a fight at all when my song ideas were passed over.  i guess i knew my place.  jimmy had it under control and he made good songs.  but now, with the dylexics gone, and my buddy patrick side-lined and bummed out, it was time to teach myself guitar and get some songs together for our new band that we had been talking about starting up- post dylexics.

so, some time passed. i had some decent sounding songs, i could kind of pull-off guitar, patrick had some fuckin cool lyrics, and our next step was finding a drummer.  we thought of the most talented drummer we knew.  lucky for us, he was into it and just like that- ryan was our drummer.  ryan was played in a band called MADCAP.  this guy has to be one of the most talented drummers i have seen to this day.  we really lucked out having ryan on drums.  when he joined, i was confident that our new band was gonna sound good.  we started practicing and things were coming together well.  all we needed was a bass player and he came in the form of our friend mike who played in a band called GARGAMEL.  (the dyslexics, madcap, and gargamel used to play shows together back in the days of THE NATURAL FUDGE CAFE)  mike was a good solid bass player.  so we were set- vocals, guitar, bass, drums.  now all we needed was a name.

as things were panning out and it looked like we were at the point to start playing shows, patrick came up with an idea of dressing up like mormon missionaries and calling ourselves "the mormons".  i was immediately turned off to the idea.  i told patrick that i didn't want to be a gimmick costume band.  patrick reiterated that the visual would be cool and we should try it out.  i told him i had to think about it but, "...i don't know, man."  on the way to driving somewhere i saw a couple of mormon missionaries riding along down the street and i imagined the sight of these guys on stage with guitars in their hands playing 'the devil's music'.  the more i thought about it the more the idea grew on me.  i talked to patrick and we set up a dress rehearsal.  the next practice we tried it out and it looked and felt cool in a weird way.  after that practice i knew that we would be called "THE MORMONS".  patrick is a genius.  without this guy there would be no 'mormons'.  he's my best homeboy.

our first show at al's bar went really well.  it felt good to be in this new band.  the audience was very receptive and were very vocal about it.  we didn't really get many negative criticisms about the immage of mormons playing rock music.  it added some kind of surreal mystique.  that was the first time we heard what we've heard a thousand times- "are you guys really mormons?".  once people got over the initial visual, they hung in there and got into the music.  as time passed, the "gimmick" actually turned into something of a metaphor.  gimmick or not, this felt great!  that night began the best ride of our lives.

so, it's been 10 years since that first night.  i never thought we'd make it this far.  over the years we've had many great experiences and have overcome plenty of adversity.  there are 14 people within 9 different line-ups who have played or are currently playing in the mormons.  i love all these fuckers.  we all worked hard and accomplished many goals as a team.  i'm grateful for everyone we've had and have playing on this team.  we made something good and i'm proud of what we've made.  i don't recall ever having this much fun doing anything else.  it's hard to put into words the feeling i get when i look back at the time that has passed, the memories good and bad,  the camaraderie and brotherhood we've shared, the people we've had the good fortune to create with- within and outside of the band, the good friends who believe in us and have bended over backwards for us, our colleagues- talented artists that humble and inspire us with what they do, and our fans old and new who support and believe in us. without these people- we'd be nothing.

thank you for these 10 years.

more to come…

-vince

----------------------------

THE MORMONS [1998 - present (2008)]

-patrick (vocals)
-vince (guitar / [drums])
-ryan (drums / [guitar])
-mike (bass)
-john (guitar)
-richard (bass)
-louie (guitar)
-jimmy (bass)
-aaron (guitar)
-joey (drums)
-josh (guitar)
-johnny (drums)
-kelly (drums)
-pete (bass)

------------------------------

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8:28 PM - 8 Comments - 8 Kudos - Add Comment

**tomorrow night- T-BOWL TUESDAY, JUNE 3RD- we make our return @ mr. t’s bowl!!!**

that's right! after a 7 month absence we return with our first show since our last implosion. months ago, the future of the mormons was uncertain. in december, jimmy, our bass player of 6 years, left the band and our drummer kelly shortly followed. recently johnny, our previous drummer before kelly, contacted us wanting back in. after working out our differences, we once again have a kickass drummer! he replaced his replacement. a couple of months ago we set t-bowl tuesday june 3rd as our goal to return- no matter what. over those couple of months, we've been practicing and getting ready. as the date came closer, our situation with our open bass player position remained the same. as a back up, i enlisted our pal andy from 8-bit to jump in on bass if it looked like we weren't gonna have a bass player ready for june 3rd and he agreed to it. and as it turns out, andy will be filling in on bass tomorrow night. we are grateful to our pal for stepping up so we could meet our goal to play tomorrow night's show. we're going on our 10th year now (!!!) and we hope to be playing shows regularly again this summer, but as we're still looking for a permanent bass player, we're not sure when our next show will be, so i hope that yous all can make it out tomorrow night. 

here's the line-up in order...

-THE BEETERS
-KILLER DREAMER
-NINJA ACADEMY
-THE MORMONS

this is gonna be a great show from the start, so please make it a point to get out early so as not to miss out on any of these bands. aside from the fun of rocking-it-out once again (it's like hitting the rock after being clean for 7months- although i've never tried crack), we get to play our return show with, in my opinion, 3 of the best bands in l.a.!!!

**THE BEETERS go on right at 9:15. we should be on around 11:30- DON'T MISS IT!!!**

thanks to jackie padilla for the flyer!

11:22 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

"What up with The Mormons???"

so, it's been a while since you've heard anything from us. people have been asking us if the rumors of us breaking up are true. well it is true that we've been out of circulation for a while. a couple of months ago jimmy (bass) decided to part ways with us- which is another way of saying he quit. i'd like to tell you that is was a clean and amicable split, and i'd also like to tell you that i have a 12 inch cock thick as a beer can- but that's not exactly true. the fact of the matter is that a guy that has been in our band for the last 7 years- a guy who has been our pal for almost 18 years- up and quit on us over some bullshit. when you're in a group with strong personalities and opinions (a group of assholes, pretty much-myself included), shit is bound to hit the thing that blows air around. and sometimes when it shits, it splatters. this is common and inevitable when there's a breakdown in communication. keeping a band together is a high-wire act, and lack of communication will fuck things up. bandmates will have disagreements and arguments- that's part of the deal. but disagreements come to a head when they're not dealt with. in this case a disagreement turned into an argument. apparently jimmy had built up resentment toward the band or me or whatever the fuck.  but we believe this was just an excuse to bail out.  jimmy didn't seem too happy towards the end. 

to make things worse, it looks like we have to find a drummer as well. kelly (drums) is an old friend of ours from the high school days. when kelly joined our band a year ago, we were excited because knew that we had the best drummer around. but unfortunately for us, kelly switched gears on us and lost interest.

look, there's a whole story behind this and i'm trying my best to be as diplomatic as i can with this. the fact of the matter is we're disappointed at the way things we're dealt with. in my personal opinion, i feel some people were being phony, passive agressive, not forthcoming, and shit heads. ask us and we'll tell you i guess, but i don't want to perpetuate the bullshit. if anything we'll talk about it on our radio show if that ever happens. but i don't think that really matters cause we are where we are. we'll miss playing music with jimmy and he remains our good friend- even though we're not on the friendliest of terms right now. i love the guy, even though he's being a turd.

so that leaves me and patrick. the original founders of the band and the ones left standing. over the last couple of months we've been deciding what we're gonna do. we're the two guys left who have been here since the begining 9-1/2 years ago. even though at times we felt like quitting, we never did. we love what we do too much to throw it in the garbage. so what's next? well for one thing, we need a good bass player and a good drummer. we've been writing songs and focused on returning. one thing we've been talking about for some time now is transitioning into a new band. what better time than the present? so, as soon as we get our affairs in hand we WILL be back in new form. hopefully more sooner than later. right now we're only limited by circumstance. WE NEED A BASS PLAYER AND A DRUMMER AND WE'LL TAKE IT FROM THERE.

what about the mormons?

people have been saying, "hey, i heard the mormons broke up!"

i say, "did we?"

our focus now is our new band- which is not very different musically. so far, it looks like we're gonna call ourselves GRaViTRoPe. but i will say this- THE MORMONS HAVE NOT PLAYED THEIR LAST SHOW. keep your ear to the ground and hang in there with us. our humble thanks and praise go out to all our fans and friends. we WILL be back soon and we hope you enjoy whats next.

more to come...


-vince

11:47 PM - 16 Comments - 14 Kudos - Add Comment

***what happened to mr. t’s bowl?***we need your feedback!***

let me start off by saying that i believe that mr. t's bowl in highland park is the best venue in l.a.  but lately anyone who's been a regular of mr. t's bowl can tell you, things have been on a steady decline there over the years.  people tell us that they can't afford to drink at t's anymore- drinks are too pricy and not made well, or the security guards are unfriendly pricks and way over the top, and A LOT of bands say that they don't get treated well there- so the've decided not to play at t's anymore.  and i agree.  it's getting harder and harder for us bring bands and people to t's for these reasons.  more and more we're seeing that people are not going to mr. t's bowl, and they've been telling us why point blank- they don't like it there anymore.  i'm not sure that we'll be able to continue for much longer at t's if bands and patrons are unhappy there.

so, what i'm doing right now is reaching out to all of you for your feedback.  we want you to step up and be vocal.  i'm looking for people to respond with their own opinions and accounts as to why people have decided to move away from mr. t's bowl.  if you have complaints that you'd like the owner to know about- we need your feedback! 

we love mr. t's bowl, but for mr. t's to retain it's legendary reputation, we need everyone's support- bands, fans, and patrons.  look, we make no money doing what we do at t's.  we do it because we love the place and we understand how important it is to the l.a. music scene.  unfortunately we don't own it, and at the end of the day, it's all up to the owner. but maybe if we can show him that we're not making this up, maybe we can help change things to make the bands and patrons a little more comfortable, and maybe people will want to go to mr. t's bowl. 

*** PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS!!  and please spread the word about this.  we need a lot of honest feedback to demonstrate this point.  we're doing our best, but we need your help.  it would also help if you copied your comments to: tbowltuesday@yahoo.com ***

thanks for giving a shit!

-vince

7:33 PM - 67 Comments - 35 Kudos - Add Comment

The Mormons featured in Pasadena Weekly

http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/article.php?id=5176&IssueNum=92

Go Out and Pick Up a Copy!!!!

2:38 PM - 3 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

The Mormons Finally Recognized In The LA TIMES Buzz Section

Kevin Bronson of the L.A. Times "Buzz Bands" section finally gives us some Recognition, although he is "not necessarily a fan "

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/buzzbands/

Thanks to Everett Lee

2:46 AM - 8 Comments - 7 Kudos - Add Comment

6 Weeks Of Tuesdays

COME ON OUT!!!

flyers by EVERETT LEE

2:56 AM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

"...i'm gonna knock all of you out!"

where will the mormons [mobile unit] pop up next, and will we be
greeted with a good reception, or will someone tell us, "...i'm gonna knock
all of you out!!"?

so, the mobile unit has been dispatched twice in the last two weeks. 
first we headed over to the coachella music festival a few saturdays
ago.  to say the least, it was hot!  it was so hot you could fry an egg on
a faux hawk.  people were walking around looking like honey-baked hams. 
and there were shitloads of people.  it felt great to be playing these
songs again.  it was 109 degrees, we were sweaty, burning up, but we
felt great!  we started off our mobile show in the parking lot and
marched in toward the entrance.  we'd pass security and police officers
anticipating an, "excuse me- what do you think you're doing? you can't do
that!" or "hey! stop right there assholes!" but there was none of that. 
instead of a hassle from the cops we got smiles and waves. now THAT'S
weird- right?  where i come from if a cop smiles at you, he's got you by
the short and curlies and you're about to get a beat down.  we played
for about four hours walking around as herds of people were walking in. 
a film crew shooting for the coachella documentary got some footage and
a small interview from us while we were doing our thang.  it was a
blast!  the crowds were receptive and appreciative, smiling and taking in
the spectacle.  as symptoms of heat stroke started setting in, we headed
back to our hoopties and called it a day.  i felt like a crack addict
hitting the rock for the first time after a long time with no crack.  it
was fun. 

the next field trip was on cinco de mayo.  our goal while we're getting
back at it is to dispatch the mobile unit as much as possible.  we've
been keeping our ears open for public events that might be worth showing
up at.  so, we heard that indie 103 was broadcasting from some
restaurant in santa monica called 'luna's cocina'.  we had no idea what kind of
event this was- all we knew was that they were gonna be broadcasting
live from there and they we're saying, "...everyone come down and join
us" so we decided to join 'em.  20 minutes of guerilla
rock- no big deal.  we headed over to santa monica with intentions of
fun,  but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

santa monica is a very clean community.  there is no smoking, and the
bums must have been sent to concentration camps, cause i didn't see any. 
there was an air of snobiness like there is an air of shit in an
outhouse.  most of these mobile unit apperances have gone with little or no
problems.  when we go out and do this, we only go out with the
intentions of playing a mobile rock show and most people enjoy it for what it
is.  as i've said before, we're not trying to cause trouble but sometimes we will encounter people with a stick buried deeply inside of their ass. 

so we get to our destination- luna's cocina.  it's a mexican restraunt
with a hint of mexican and a big serving of snobby whities.  as soon as
we marched in and started playing we were met with unappreciation.  not
even 30 seconds into our first jam, and the owner [looked liked "magda"
from that movie "something about mary"] appeared at the door
instructing her security guards to stop us. the bouncer stepped to me and said,
"hey, you guys can't do this.  you have to stop!"  i told him, "i can't
man.  i can't help it- i have to do this.  don't get mad."  we didn't
stop.  then he whispered in my ear, "...how would you like me to shove
that guitar up your ass?"  i told him that would be a bad idea.  plus,
who wants to get a guitar shoved up their ass?  why are tough guys so
quick to shoving things up other men's asses.  well, we were in santa
monica.  i told him he should chill out.  he stepped back and we
continued.  he was pissed though.  some guy who looked like a 'chef jean pierre' or some shit- or more like 'wolfgang schmuck'- stepped from behind the bouncers.  he was equally as pissed off.  he told us he was calling the cops. 

into our second song, they closed the front doors.  we went on just
moving to the side a little playing toward the open windows.  even some of
the customers were stuck up.  some of them looked annoyed, but i'd bet
that these people are always annoyed- just seemed like those type of
people.  speaking of annoying, this annoying middle aged woman- a friend
of the owner- came out with a wad of hundred dollar bills.  she told
me, "ok, how much do you want?  how much do you need to stop this?  one
hundred?  two hundred? three?"  she flipped through the stack of
hundreds with this look on her face like she's got it.  i told her to put her
money away.  "this is for free, lady!  relax!"  bitch tried to buy us
out!  even though $300 is $300 more than we have, we didn't sell out to
this obnoxious rich bitch.  we continued.  her father, a rich, old,
white-haired whitey who was flipping us off the entire time, came out with
his fingers in his ears saying, "don't pay 'em anything!  this is bullshit!" soon after they began to shut the windows, making their customers get up from their tables to do so.

we kept on- almost done anyway.  then, chef jean pierre walked out with
a water hose saying, "...i'm allowed to water and wash my sidewalk." 
what a dick!  he walked over to the spicket.  we kept on.  by then, an
additional bouncer appeared.  this guy was agro!  he told us, "i'm gonna
knock all of you out!"  he talked and talked and got in our faces and
went on and on until chef jean pierre hooked up his water hose.  "oooh,
you muthafuckas is about to get wet now, bitch!"  we didn't move.

it was like retarded 'mississippi burning' scene.  chef jean turned on the
water hose and proceeded to spray the ground at our feet.  it was
ridiculous!  this guy didn't have the balls to wet us or our instuments.  he
went down the line of us, spraying at our feet- not even wetting our
feet- just little sprinklets got on our shoes.  this made me laugh out
loud!  he pretended like he was going to wet us!  i'm laughing right now
typing this.  that was some funny shit!

chef jean finally turned off the water hose and gave up.  by that time
we were on our last song.  we finished up and it was over.  we were
there for about 20 minutes tops.  man, these people got really pissed off. 
but while the owners and staff got upset, we got some appreciation from 
a lot of the patrons inside and people on the sidewalk.  those who chose to stop and watch seem to enjoy the retarded fiasco.  mission accomplished.  as for indie 103, we forgot that they were even inside.  unfortunately we didn't get a chance to go in and say hello, but we had a feeling that the owners would not be too happy about that.  they'd probably try to shove guitars up our asses or some shit.  oh well.  that was hilarious though.


so, needless to say, more mobile-unit to come... keep an eye out for
us.  and don't get mad.  if you know of anything worth and appearance from the mormons [mobile unit]- let us know.  

...and a 'baba booey' to y'all. 



-vince
the mormons

p.s.  we're doing a couple of warm-up shows as you're used to seeing us
in the coming weeks.  info to come...

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1:59 AM - 23 Comments - 24 Kudos - Add Comment

WE'RE BACK!!

once i heard that the actor richard gere stuck a gerbil in his ass.  over the years this would come up in conversation and people would say, "that's the rumor anyway".  in my heart of hearts i hoped this rumor to be true- cause let's face it, the 'officer and a gentleman' guy from 'pretty woman' sticking a hamster inside himself cause he liked the way it felt having the little furry critter kicking around in his butt hole is as weird and gross as it is funny as shit!!  mister 'sex symbol'!  how do you like your sexy man now ladies??  "man that richard gere- what a hunk!"  yeah, what a hunk- of a rodent up his ass!!

however unfortunate though, this has always been just a rumor.  i have never seen or heard confirmation that this dude really did shove a rat up his culo.  i would like to have seen actual pictures of the doctor pulling out a wet shit-encrusted ball of what used to be a gerbil, but, sadly, i haven't.  nor have i seen or heard the hamster interviewed anywhere- yet. (i still have hope)  so that sick story remains a rumor.

but some rumors are true. 

IT WAS HARD TO SAY GOODBYE

january 19th, was the last anyone heard anything from us.  that was the night we played our "last show".  we played our last notes and with a bitter taste in our mouths, we sadly bid yous farewell.  at that point in time it really felt like it was over.  it was like someone smacked a great-tasting beverage out of our hands mid-gulp.  johnny and louie made a resentful exit- we had to practically beg these guys to do this last show- and the night was not funny nor fun.  pissed off and bummed out, that was the most difficult show to do.  but i'm glad we did it.  we felt we owed it to our audience for all of the support over the years.  plus, you shouldn't leave without saying goodbye- but man, that was hard!  after the best ride of your life, it's not easy stepping out of that seat.  it was like saying goodbye to an old pal for the last time and knowing it.  we've had several people leave over the years and we kept pushing forward, but this last breakdown left us sour.  patrick and jimmy, and even i kinda felt that maybe it was time to move on to a new project.  we knew we had to find a good drummer, at least.  it's not just a cliche- drummers are hard to find!!  "FUCK!! this sucks!"

HASTE MAKES WASTE

so a month went by and we hadn't even picked up our instruments.  we were depressed and in a haze.  we just went to our jobs and went home.  no practices to go to, no band to practice in.  we didn't even really hang out.  by that time it was just me, patrick and jimmy remaining.  even joey (our manager) decided to step out.  he felt that we all did so much work that it was stupid to turn our backs and let it rot.  he wished us luck and assured us that he would help with what he can, but knowing how hard it would be to completely start over, he was not interested in that.  he still believed in the mormons.  i saw where he was coming from and i agreed, but we all had to be on the same page.  me, patrick and jimmy have been playing music together for 14 years.  we started our first band (the dyslexics) back in '93.  i wasn't about to do anything that these guys didn't want to do.  i would have hated for us to go our seperate ways.  these guys are important to me.

so a month turned to two months.  we talked to one prospective drummer who seemed like a nice guy, but it didn't pan out and to this guy's credit, it wasn't his fault.  we were mentally bogged down.  there seemed to be little or no progress and i was afraid that we were slowly disappearing.  by that time i was starting to go fucking crazy.  i'd go to work every day and the reality of 'this is my life' made me want to puke from boredom.  i'd take a look at some of these miserable fucks and the dread that loomed over me as i envisioned myself as one of these sad sacks made me nearly shit myself!  we were aching to get back out there.  as more time passed, the johnny and louie bullshit faded and it became more clear that we really were just walking away from a good thing.  i mean, it wasn't like we were content with moving on.  up until the time of our breakdown we had been accomplishing goals, moving forward and, most importantly, still having fun.  it didn't feel right.  joey had been hinting all along about getting the band back together.  we all talked about it and the four of us decided to jump back in.  it took a couple of months, but we were finally on the same page.  there will be a time for our new project, but not now.  plus, it makes more sense to transition into a new thing than it does to begin from failure.   that day we sent out a message looking for a new drummer.

AN OLD FRIEND

just a few minutes after posting that message, our old pal kelly emailed us back expressing interest in joining.  kelly is the best drummer i've ever seen.  he taught me how to play drums back in the dylexics days. back then i only played drums.  it wasn't until the dyslexics broke up that i picked up a guitar.  he taught me a lot and i credit him with helping me gain the confidence and skill it takes to be a good drummer.  we've always been amazed at the talent kelly has. 

over the years we lost touch with kelly.  he moved away for a while, but moved back to l.a. about a year ago. and it wasn't until recently that our paths crossed again.  while we were thinking of drummers we knew, his name came up.  the only reason we didn't hit him up was, as far as we knew, he was already busy in another band.  but as it turned out he was available and eager to join.  what a stroke of luck!

HERE WE ARE

so that brings us to where we're at now.  we've been practicing again for about a month and things are moving along smoothly.  now, not only do we have an awesome drummer, but were all old friends!  i can't express to you how great it feels to play again, and how lucky i personally feel to have these guys -patrick, jimmy, joey, and kelly- as pals and colleagues.  thanks go out to all of yous who have continued believing in us.   

we'll keep you up to date and let you know when our first official show back will be, but in the meantime, the mormons [mobile unit] will be out in force!  keep an eye out for us.  i heard that we already hit coachella.  is that true?
 
as far as a replacement for our open rythym guitar spot, we're looking for the right person to fit the bill.  for now we'll be doing it as a four piece.

on behalf of 'the mormons', we're happy to say, the rumor is true...  WE'RE BACK!!

-vince

the mormons

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