Mother Anonymous: A History |
Psychadelia 1998 Adam Dalton - Guitar Chris Donnelly - Guitar Evan Dalton - Drums Psychadelia was a very crude band, but served as a starting point for the eventual Mother Anonymous. It included brothers Adam and Evan, who have stayed constant throughout, and later member Chris Donnelly. With less than professional equiptment, the group started out learning songs by Nirvana ("Smells Like Teen Spirit" "Polly" "Tourettes") and then gradually added in a few Hendrix staples ("Foxey Lady" "Wild Thing"). The band new really broke up, but stopped playing over the summer of 98'. Flashbacks 1999 Adam Dalton - Guitar, Vocals Brian Alves - Bass Evan Dalton - Drums During the fall, Adam began teaching Brian the bass guitar. The only problem was that Brian didn't have a bass, and had to learn on his mother's old Japanese electric guitar. Together they played the songs "I Ain't Got You" and "Foxy Lady", as well as a rash blues jam. On Christmas that year Brian got a bass, and the three were off and running. (This established the Mother Anonymous core members that remain the same as of today.) The name "Flashbacks" was coined for the band only playing classic rock. Increasing their repetoire, they took on songs such as: "Dazed and Confused", "Fortunate Son", "Machine Gun", and "Hey Joe". The trio auditionioned for the Silver Lake Battle of the Bands with "Hey Joe", performed instrumental. Mother Anonymous (Mark I) 1999 - 2000 Adam Dalton - Guitar, Vocals Chris Donnelly - Guitar Brian Alves - Bass Evan Dalton - Drums Shortly after the audition for the Battle of the Bands, the Flashbacks played a talent show. In the moment they invited Chris Donnelly up to play rhythm guitar on "Wild Thing" and "Machine Gun", the latter of which he had been showed how to play five minutes before the show. Things went well, and there was a jam on Good Friday with Chris. They played through the songs that they already had under their belts, and then jammed out a rough "Killing Floor". It wasn't until that summer however that they worked things out further. They organized "Kingston Woodstock" and performed their full repetoire for an audience. Their friend Andrew Spence Kostka opened the evening. The band began making four track recordings of some of their songs over the end on the summer, and finally mastered it by the fall. In that time they had managed to work out the dual guitar conflict which plagued the bands past performances. They made a shift in style to a more "rock" arrangment. The first recording made with this arrangment was a 4-track on the Bachman Turner Overdrive song, "Takin' Care of Business". From there they learned songs like: "Jumping Jack Flash", "Rock and Roll", "The Ocean", and "Slow Ride". Over Christmas vacation the band got together with all of their gig gear and recorded a rough tape of all of their new songs. In the months that past they continued to work on a 4-track album that just never materialized. They layed down multiple versions of "You Really Got Me", by the Kinks, as well as two versions of "Another Brick in the Wall part 2". Mother Anonymous got a gig doing a graduation party, which turned out to be the last time that the band would play together. The band practiced the night before over Chris' house and prepared a few new songs, such as "Centerfold" by the J. Geils Band and "Rock'n Me" by Steve Miller. Mother Anonymous (Mark II) 2000 - 2001 Adam Dalton - Guitar, Vocals Kevin Wallack - Keyboard, Saxaphone Brian Alves - Bass Evan Dalton - Drums Over the month preceding the graduation party, Chris had been dividing his time between Mother Anonymous and a "side project" punk band. There was no conflict, but things eventually collapsed, and Chris left the band. This left Mother Anonymous in an unatural state, a member short. Between the graduation party and the bands next gig, a block party, Adam and Evan jammed with Kevin Wallack for a music thoery final project. It both felt and sounded good, so they talked of doing it again sometime. Chris' departure had left the band underprepared for their show, and they asked Kevin if he would like to accompany them. In two rushed practice sessions the four revamped some old favorites, and worked on a few new tunes such as: "Low Rider" and "Oye Como Va". They also wrote an opening blues jam. When they had run out of songs to play with Kevin, Adam, Evan, and Brian stretched out a little. They had a chance to play all of the Hendrix songs which they had held in for so long. Midway through their set they had a lengthy jam in which they mixed "Voodoo Chile (slight return) and "Machine Gun." In total they played for about three hours. The band decided Kevin was in, and they began working on songs for that summer's Kingston Woodstock. Over the next few months before summer vacation they worked on learning new material. "Free" by Phish, and "Wipe Out" were a few of the songs that were product of these practice sessions. Due to the absence of Adam and Evan over the summer, the band was inactive. The Dalton family had gone on a cross-country road trip. When they returned, plans were all set for Kingston Woodstock 2000 on the 2nd of September. The day before, the band hurridly learned 3 new songs; "Cinnamon Girl", "I Feel Good", and "Helpless". Kingston Woodstock 2000 had a much better showing than that of the original, and two bands played before Mother Anonymous; Nothing Obscene and Ultimatum. Mother Anonymous kicked off the night with a quick energetic blues jam, and followed it by "Centerfold", "Oye Como Va", "Low Rider", "I Feel Good", and "Free". Next they mellowed it down a bit with Bob Dylan's "Knocking on Heaven's Door". Then leading the way to invite Carolyn Jacobson up on acoustic guitar for a version of "Helpless". The next portion of the show contained the band's more rock based songs; "Cinnamon Girl", "Moby Dick", and their Hendrix material. The band ended the show with a long jam with Ultimatum guitarist Mike Mackmanis. They jammed to "Wild Thing/Louie Louie." Presently Mother Anonymous is still working hard, and they are concentrating on completing an album featuring material from Woodstock, 4-track recordings, as well as a few other items. |
