Bio

HENNING How does a half German, half Danish, lanky freak end up in School for the Dead? Well, it is a long and tiresome tale, riddled with incongruencies and lies. Enjoy It's first grade in hilly Andover, Massachusetts sometime in the 1970's. There are shadows all around, the hallway floor slants, a classroom shrieks. In the distance, surrounded by angels and protected by a tiny giraffe, a little boy with an Incredible Hulk T-shirt stands hovering two or three inches above the floor. Nobody notices. In walks Henning, eyes still red from crying, shoes stained from Melissa Label's rejected breakfast, someone is in his chair. It might be Amy Gallant. Minutes later it's ninth grade and Russell no longer wears the Hulk line. But he is aware of nerd, Henning, and he doesn't like him one bit. A few years later find the two of them, popular outcasts, writing a song about Viking Death Rats, in Henning's tiny off-the-kitchen yellow room. This song has nothing to do with The Shrugs or The Purple Stars Sound. But you might hear it weeks later in their extended liberal arts course called Odyssey. At the same time Lady Winter is humbled by two freakish sojourners. Henning and friend Jim Astbury walk endlessly in the frigid night air with Jim's tiny boom box at their sides. Suzanne Vega, REM, Steely Dan, Roger Waters, Ultravox, Syd Barrett, and Michael Hedges go along with them wherever they go. The River, the Rail Road, The Factory. Friendly's. It's the late 80's now. Henning moves away to The University of Massachusetts about 100 miles west. His co-op hippie dorm embraces him but he does not turn hippie. He rooms with high school friend and agitator Lee Rosenstubble, and begins to take shape. It's not long before Russell arrives, he isn't enrolled in the school but that doesn't stop him from moving in to the dorm surreptitiously. There is music everywhere, seems that there always was. (Not long after, Brian Todd basks unknowngly in the echoes that Henning and Russell left behind, as he also, moves into Butterfield Dorm). Henning sits in the audience at a coffee house / open mic and enjoys the music of a young spindly Anthony Westcott, who plays "Hell of a Guy" and "Complete Bastard." Henning thinks, "That's the kind of songs I like to write, who is this guy?" A few years behind an old Farmhouse in a decrepit barn, Russell and artist Steve Busch lead Henning with an oil lantern on a haunted and terrifying tour of things to come. A year in the farmhouse filled with recording and composing and performing and exploring, causes Henning to return back to school, this time for music and the recording of it, Russell escapes to Hawaii. Four years have past and Henning and Russell have returned from their separate spiritual journeys. Henning starts sleeping on Russell's roach infested just-above-the-bar apartment. They kidnap and take over a band called Funnilingus. They find a better apartment. Although popular for it's shows, Funnilingus is clearly a dead-end street. They shed their clown make-up, step-out of their electric costumes and join up with everybody's favorite drummer, Brian Todd. And The Aloha Steamtrain is born. But let's go back a again a little. Henning enjoys music. Maybe it started in 4th grade with the piano lessons. My brothers were taking them, too. And we practice in the basement on the old black mess of a piano that we had. Piano lessons didn't last too long for me or for Norbert but Alvin devoured them and learned more than me and Norb combined, in half the time. That didn't stop us from banging on the higher and lower keys while Al played tunes by Abba and Neil Diamond. Maybe it started when Norb performed his Machine-Gun antics along with the drum break in Frankenstein by The Edgar Winter Group. Later it was all the XTC and Lou Reed that was emenating from his room. And when I was just learning guitar it didn't hurt to have Norb play Suzanne Vega's Small Blue Thing about eighty times in a row. Alvin, meanwhile, had learned to play every part to every song by Yes, Genesis, Marillion, and Ultravox along with countless songs by REM, Pink Floyd, and Kate Bush. I decided it was time for me to learn the guitar. But I still only knew a few chords on the keyboard. That was enough to start a band with friends, Herb and Gary Wang and Lee Wilkinson. Herb taught me that its possible to write songs. And the first thing we did as a band was to start to record them. Herb is one of the world's great unheard song writers and I learned just about everything I know from him. He taught me how to play bass and how to record four tracks with two tape decks, too. I played a Casio keyboard until I bought my first keyboard, my Korg Poly-800 for 600 bucks. Lee played a toy drum set and used a kitchen waste basket for a snare. And we recorded a record. Or a cassette anyway. We went by the name Secular Humanism but soon changed it to The Shrugs (slackers before our time). The Shrugs recorded 5 albums: Secular Humanism, So Now What, The Alvin Project, Lack Depth, and Hoedown all on 4-track cassette. Nobody but our friends and family have ever heard them. Over all this time, we only played three live shows: Two at Phillips Academy in Andover, and one at Dartmouth College. And that was it. When I went off to The University of Massachusetts in Butterfield I began playing the guitar about 6 hours a day. Not practicing it, just playing it. Writing songs and playing songs by REM, Robyn Hitchcock, Paul Simon, and They Might Be Giants. This is when I started performing on my own at Coffeehouses in the dorm basement. I listen to some tapes now and I admire my fellow dorm mates for sitting through my singing. I also began playing acoustic rock operas with my friend and writer Derek Leif. These rock operas became dorm favorites and I began to feel like I could entertain people for real. All this time I was recording my own albums on the 4-track, playing all the instruments and writing all the songs. My albums include: Henning's Self-Promotional Tape, The Farmhouse Henmasters, The Search For Rub Wrongways, Big Plans For Underachievers, and Henning's School For The Dead. On top of those I have about 90 million little songs and doodles trapped somewhere on 4-Track Cassettes. So, when I started school at Umass Lowell as a recording student I already had some ideas about how I like things to sound. As a music major I started to learn to read music better, to sight sing, to compose in classical theory, and to lose some stage fright by having to embarrass myself over and over again. I recorded a full album while at school, Big Plans For Underachievers, my best up to that date. And I started to realize that if they could get past my singing voice, people might actually enjoy my music, not just because they were my friends but because it could actually move them. It's not an easy thing to admit. After moving to Northampton I started playing in Funnilingus and Humbert. When I first saw Humbert, Frank Padellaro of King Radio, Scud Mountain Boys fame, was their temporary bassist. After I saw them I said to myself, I said, "Henning, that's the kind of band I want to be in." About a week later Ari Vais, of Humbert, asked me if I would like to play bass for them. And so began a three year adventure in rock and roll. Ari and Tony Westcott had both been at UMass when I was and I recognized them both to be incredible songwriters. I had never considered myself a bassist but I picked it up pretty quickly and after a year we put out Humbert's second CD, my first, The Great White Lunchroom and I found that I had a local hit "The Screen Door". Humbert played all over the place in New England and NYC and our new album kind of sort of exists somewhere in someone's cd rack. I think it's Tony's. But all this time The Aloha Steamtrain was the center of my concentration. Now, we have called it quits after almost 6 years. Six years of incredible experiences. Recordings, Videos, and show after show after show. We were one of the most popular bands in the area and I doubt I will ever been in another band that could occasionalyl draw such a savage energy form the audiences. I learned so much in that band about what it is to be in a band and how to run one that now it is all second nature. So, School for the Dead is now the center of attention, though I still play in The Fawns and the Gay Potatoes. This is the band for me, this one. School for the Dead. I love it.

 BRIAN My full name is Brian Todd Marchese. I was born on December 6, 1972, in Huntington Beach, CA. My first concert was KISS, in 1978, in L.A. As a youngster I idolized KISS, Neil Diamond and Scott Joplin. They each received about 18 months of obsession from me, during which I could tell you every song title from every album in order. My first drumset was a Sears Catalog toy, when I was 5 or 6,which was reduced to splinters within 2 months. That ended my music career until I started playing alto sax--that lasted from 4th to 11th grade. I was a pretty spastic kid, fighting to be heard over 4 older siblings. My first real drumset was a present for my 14th birthday. I remember Miami Vice being on in the background when I was setting it up. I always hated Miami Vice. I taught myself how to play, using a book for technical guidance. All my free time was spent playing along to the Beatles, the Kinks, the Doors, CCR, the Stones, the Monkees, and later, the Who, the Dead and Hendrix. I had no idea that Keith Moon was a speed freak, so I told myself that I should be able to move around the kit that fast. I'd watch The Kids Are Alright in slow motion, like others my age were watching "Porky's" (which I've still never seen). No wonder it took me so long to discover girls. My first gig playing drums was an 8th grade talent show. The trio I was with played a lame-ass Van Hagar song. But I'll never forget the bliss I felt from the satisfaction and from receiving compliments after our slot. I'm presently addicted to that feeling, and must continue to feel it on a weekly basis or I will fall hard. I was basically a Classic Rocker until 10th grade, when I got into the weirder old stuff like the Velvet Underground, Love and Syd Barrett. I wore pointy boots and turtlenecks and fell out of favor with everyone in school except the freaks and geeks. I wouldn't want it any other way. I soon discovered the better current music, and became a big fan of XTC, the Buzzcocks, Camper Van Beethovan, REM, the Stone Roses, Joy Division, Robyn Hitchcock, The Smiths, the Cure, the Pixies, Sonic Youth, etc. My sister Alyssa was a huge influence on me. Bought me my first Doors tape in 6th grade. I played drums on my bed for a year before I got a real drum kit. Alyssa advised me through the whole "if you like this, try this" thing with bands. We spent a lot of time listening to music, talking about music. We went to a lot of great shows; Dylan, Elvis Costello,Dead, Petty, Monkees, all in a short period (1988-91). She convinced me to become my own person, when I was listening to good music, but still dressed like a dork. She's now in CT with a husband and daughter, while I continue to be a freak (with a girlfriend and a cat). Some day I'd like a donkey and a llama. My first real band was called the Mean Wyoming. I named the group, played drums, and co-wrote some of the songs. Most songs were written by my best friend at the time, Matt, with whom I wrote and recorded dozens of songs outside the band. The Mean Wyoming recorded 2 ep's, both cassette-only. We played happy post-punk pop, with guitars and keyboards. Our biggest gig was at Phillips Acadamy, spring of '91. A band called That Cat followed. Though we recorded about 30 originals in a 12 month period, logistics prevented the band from gigging. A great disappointment. I went to UMass in Fall '91. Graduated in Spring '96, with a 3.01 GPA and a BA in English, with a psychology minor. During my time there I was in 3 bands. Sweetspot was a Western Mass grunge power trio. Opened for Jawbox at Williams College, recorded a demo at American University with TeenBeat records' Rob Christiansen. At this point I could have moved to Washington DC and joined the band Eggs, but decided education was more important. Next came a band called Princess, a schizo-licious mess of punk, surf, rockabilly and grunge. We played with Papas Fritas at the Loud Music Fest. We also rocked the Iron Horse opening for Amanda's Dirty Secret--I think it was our last gig. Then came Sourpuss/Pollyanna. This was 1994. My sister Alyssa was in this band, as was That Cat singer Todd McMurray and Ken Maiuri, who's presently a very in-demand session man in Western Mass. We recorded a 7", had a whole bunch of fast, lyrically and musically intricate indiepop-punk songs. It collapsed under its own weight, after dozens of gigs and lots of praise from within the local scene. At this point, I was considering what to REALLY do with my life. I was ready to just consider music and songwriting a harmless hobby. I had 1 more year at UMass, and was considering my career options. I wasn't even really playing the drums for fun. This was an odd period (9 months--my longest between gigs). Along came the Figments. For more Figments info, see www.natural-disaster.com. What I will say about the Figments personally is that prior, my experince in bands had been loud, aggressive, more critical than encouraging, and more or less aimless. The Figments forced me to develop a new style in playing, which I'm so thankful for. Not only do I save money on drumsticks, drumskins and bandaids, but I'm a better drummer now. Also, from my first rehearsal, I was blown away by the style of encouragement, constructive criticism, generosity, patience, ambition and productivity. The Figments have more of a "vibe" than most bands. Then--the Aloha Steamtrain. The band that my entire life was leading up to. Go back to what my influences have been. You will see what I mean. Then go to www.alohasteamtrain.com and freak out a while. Unfortunately, after 5 years of tons of gigs and adoration, the Steamtrain had to end. During the Steamtrain came a few other bands; notably Lo Fine (www.natural-disaster.com), The Greenbergs, The Gay Potatoes (www.thepotatoes.net) and School for the Dead. It's great because now I'm playing music that I could play for another 20 years without feeling old and out of it. So, What else floats my boat??? I love cats. I like a nice beach. Absurdly funny people. Creative and ambitious people. Ice Cream. Baseball (particularly the Red Sox). Hearing other people's philosophies, and ideas, as opposed to recycling the masters. I'm a sucker for astrology. I like Spring and Fall the best--it's comfortable, yet you can still look hip. I like people with good fashion sense. I admire people who have dedicated their lives to doing what they truly love (and have suceeded). I like women. I like being alone, and peace and quiet. It would take a lot to make me live in a city, but New York City is really fucking great. I love England. Northampton is a damn groovy place for dozens of reasons. I often hear California calling me back. After overdosing on books as an English Major, I have successfully forgotten everything, or at least cleaned up the clutter. And after 4 post-college years of Zen-ing myself, I'm ready to absorb other people's works again. I like beer, I like vodka. I don't like getting drunk. I like temporarily shedding my shy-tendecies. I think that everyone's conciousness can use a jarring every once in a while, as long as you view it as you would a movie--it's just something to fill up your time, and you hopefully enjoy it and learn something. It's part of life, but IT ISN'T life. This goes for all things. Balance and moderation is everything. It's June 2002 as I revise this, and currently one of my fave things to do is make French Toast on a Saturday while listening to Car Talk and Wait Wait Don' t Tell Me on the radio. I love feeling like I have the freedom to become a different person tomorrow if I want. I am not a vegetarian, but do not like to eat red meat very often. I still can't swim. I would love to subsist on just playing music rather than get rich sitting in an office 9-5. To me, the Beatles and the Velvet Underground are the bread and water of pop. However, Michael Nesmith and Andy Partridge have my two favorite voices. The last song that made me cry was "Walk Away Renee" by the Left Banke. It was the millionth time I'd heard it, but the first time it meant anything. No, I don't think Pet Sounds is over rated. Sgt. Pepper may be (Revolver is the true masterpiece). NAIVE IDEOLOGICAL STATEMENT: I think the music industry is barking up the wrong tree. I think they could make this a smarter country if they poured their billions into different artists. What would happen if suddenly everyone had to think about what top 40 artists were singing about? I love commerciality, but I hate what it currently means in music. Suddenly, sitcoms and commercials can be sophisticated, but not pop music? There is no shortage of creativity in the rock/pop genre. It is not a dying art. If it dies, you can blame the few who control the market. They'll have you think that all that's left are the dregs, and that there's nohing left but violence and lethal doses of NutraSweet. I feel so very fortunate, even if I never prosper, that I have attracted such immensely talented musicians throughout my life. As well as extremely fascinating people, musician or non. They've all taught me so much. I need to document them in a book or screenplay some day. I have big plans. I think love is every dream and nightmare rolled into one word. I think you don't need to know anything else about me. My fan club e-mail is brian@schoolforthedead.com. 

MAX Here’s my concise rock star history: Age 6 months. I was born in Monrovia, Liberia. According to my folks we lived across the street from a record store with speakers out on the street. They apparently blared James Brown records all day long (to my parents' chagrin). I think hearing all that Bootsy at such an early age made me a prime candidate for the bass. Or maybe that’s why I like shiny clothes. Age 6. Tried to learn “Rhinestone Cowboy” on my dad’s classical guitar, and failed. Age 10. Discovered Queen, Kiss and Kool And The Gang. It was a monumental year. Age 12. Wanted to play drums, guitar, *anything* cool. Parents started me on trumpet, and got me a bass on the condition that I took lessons on both. I knew even at that tender age that chicks didn’t dig trumpet players. Or bassists. Age 14. Most Improved Marching Band Member (Keene High School). Also Most Unlikely Freshmen To Kiss A Girl. Age 16. Formed Visionary; a cute little metal band. We didn’t think we were cute, we thought we were SCARY and EVIL and I drew up record covers like Maiden’s, with our own version of Eddie. I still listen to those tapes and think we had... um, something. Age 18. Joined my first cover band, Playground, which was also my first band to play a real bar gig, for real money, and not-so-real beer (in New Hampshire you could perform at a bar at any age, as long as you were entertaining). I had the Hockey Player’s mullet, and stonewashed jeans with David Lee Roth and Living Colour pins. Tried to enter Keene State College as a trumpet major and was rejected. They accepted me as a Euphonium player. The Euphonium is like a mini tuba. On the coolness scale it ranked just behind glockenspiel. I lasted (amazingly) through two years of music education before switching to design. Age 20-21. Lots of college-era bands which had grand ambitions but never made it out of the basement (if we made it that far). Started Kitchen Accident, with Pat something or other, who wrote music in the Squeeze vein. We were actually very good (a first). Enter Philip Price, who worked with Pat at Bagel Works. We were a quartet for about a month before we kicked Philip out. I don’t remember why, but I think it had something to do with Pat’s ego. Over Christmas break I couldn’t stop listening to Philip’s tapes, so soon after I left Pat and started playing with Philip. It was a bizarre love triangle. Age 21-29. Played almost exclusively with the Maggies. 30 to current. Joined the Stephen Kellogg band, which has been very enjoyable. Met Dennis Crommett and formed Birdless, which became the Hart Cranes, which became Spanish For Hitchhiking, which nobody can spell. Helped the Steamtrain serenade a friend with a mariachi-inspired version of You Shook Me All Night Long on a cold winter night, which I suppose helped land me the coveted spot in School For The Dead, and later, The Fawns. All these groups make me feel fuzzy inside. Ok, so it wasn’t very concise. 

TONY ----The Arrows (5th grade): me on rhythm guitar and The Belden Brothers- Jeff on lead guitar and Mark on drums. I wrote songs with lyrics but was too scared to sing in front of my mates so we played them as instrumentals, along with a huge helping of Beatles instrumentals. Late in our existence, my school chum Dickie LaBelle joined as another guitarist, bringing with him songs like the theme to "MASH" and "Eye Of The Tiger." Our big hit: "Seaside Hotel" (Westcott). ---Black Star (9th grade): An awful combination of two kids who loved heavy metal (drummer Tony Mazza and singer Jeff Asher) and two of us who preferred 60s rock (me and second guitarist Stuart Allsop). Tony's dad was a professional drummer and had a P.A. and studio in their basement so we had some cool rehearsals but our repertoire was entirely covers and when I grew tired of playing songs I just didn't like by Motley Crue et al and was unsuccessful at convincing my bandmates to learn any Bob Dylan songs outside "Knockin' On Heaven's Door," I quit. Band was most known for having Jeff Asher as a member. He went on to infamy as a cop who was videotaped kicking a black man on the ground in Springfield back in the mid-90s. --Kiley Jr. High Jazz Band (9th grade): Led by Dr. Farnsworth, who taught me about improvisation. This guy absolutely loved/lived to teach kids music. He was smiling and happy and cracking jokes like a randy uncle all day. Loved that dude. We rocked on 3 Dog Night's "Joy To The World." I had a solo in "On Broadway." --The Earthlings (10th grade): Stuart Allsop and I formed this band with our friend Ernie Whitehead on drums. Finally, I sang originals in a band but they were all goofy songs. Still hadn't worked up the courage to play more meaningful songs in front of others, though I'd been writing songs for years. More tragedy in this band- both of Ernie's sisters died in a car accident a few years later and Stuart became a Holyoke high school teacher infamous for chaining an unruly student to a desk. Ahh, my friends. Did I mention old Arrows co-member Dickie LaBelle was expelled from our Catholic school? (for kicking our principal Sr. Eileen) The only other kid who was similarly expelled when I was there was Ronnie D'Ambrosia, another friend of mine, who was partly responsible for turning me on to The Beatles in 4th grade. --Springfield Central High School Stage Band: (11th-12th grade): The apex of Central's jazz band- both years I was in it, we won the Big Apple Music Festival as Jazz band. And we were good. In junior year, Martin Jones played lead alto- this was a kid who could sight-read, learn Coltrane riffs by ear and was motivated enough to take over as conductor when our teacher Mr. Christie was out sick (our substitute teachers must have been impressed). I had solos in Spyro Gyra's "Soho Mojo" and 'Route 66" but Martin was our star player. He went to UMass and gave up music altogether to become a campus activist- he wrote for The Collegian and stirred up many a protest over things like the Rodney King incident. I was proud to see him concentrate on what he thought was important but he could've continued playing, too. He was so naturally talented. In my senior year, we got a bunch of pretty gifted sophomores like bassist Kenny Walpurgis and alto sax player Mark Abbott. I had a lovely solo in "Skylark," among others, but going against jazz convention, I wrote out the solo in Skylark and played it the same way everytime. I was always very hot onstage because we had to wear these wool uniforms, to which I'm slightly allergic, so in order to make sure none touched bare skin, I'd wear a sweatsuit underneath it. Our pianist Jess Townsend (yes, she did have a brother named Peter) was always cold onstage, so we would clasp hands before we started playing to even out temperatures so that my hands wouldn't be too sweaty and slip around the guitar neck, her fingers wouldn't be too cold to properly play piano. All this and a nearly 300 lb. kid named Alvis playing drums. He's now a rapper in Springfield, going by the name Black Magic, last I heard. --The Awakening (11-12th grade): My first real, good band outside school. We played actual gigs like opening for local MTV Basement Band-winners The Breakdown at Central's Halloween dance and had the dream gig of all-time- playing a dance at Springfield's private all-girl's school MacDuffie- I took my shirt off and did a goofy-slash-lascivious Mick Jagger impersonation, enough to ensure we wouldn't be invited back. Dumbass. Anyway, Kenny Walpurgis from the stage band played bass, Aaron Fay was on drums and songwriters/vocalists Greg Ransom on piano and me on guitar rounded out the lineup. Sometimes Mark Abbott joined us on sax. Our big hit was "Swashbuckler," a catchy gospel-inspired pop song that was a hit at the talent show. I loved having kids I didn't know come up to me in the mall saying "Yo, you that Swashbuckler guy" or singing the chorus hook line to me as I walked down the hall in school. Anyway, Greg and Kenny went on to form an Elton John tribute band in the early 90s and Aaron Fay gave up drums and became a singer and now sings in Orange Crush, an extremely popular 80s retro cover band in Springfield. Our best songs were the aforementioned "Swashbuckler," a blues song I wrote about impending divorce called "Ready When You Are," an anti-war song "McPherson Avenue" and an evergreen ballad called "Serenade." All were collaborations of mine and Greg's. Ok, I'm getting carried away with the expositions here. I could write a book on my next band, the comedy band, The Generics. Our exploits were outrageous, things like luring a crowd of skater punks (who were our normal audience) to a gig at a church for Christian youth activities. I'm guessing by activities they didn't mean having these unruly heathens use a red magic marker to paint a red nose on a bust of Jesus on the crucifix, placing a sign next to it reading "Rub my nose for luck." Probably also didn't appreciate the band singing a song called "Yo, Mephistopheles Raps" within God's house. Anyway, I don't want my SFTD members to feel like they need to write lengthy summaries of each band's histories, nor do I want to write them myself so I'm scaling back as of now. -The Generics (1989-1992) w/ Mark Abbott, Todd Rosever, Hawkeye Thompson, E.J. Dawson. Recorded two cassettes of original comedy-rock. -Get Norm (Summer of '89): Springfield cover band w/ Aaron Fay singing; we played a few gigs and lots of parties. -Woody's Culture (Summer of 1990): Easthampton cover band with Ken Walpurgis, Marc Jordan and Tim something-or-other. Tim got us a gig at Katina's in Hadley then abruptly quit the band mid-summer to go play soccer at some private school he'd enrolled in. -Nag Nag Nag (1991-1993): started at Umass w/ Ari Vais, Brian Osley and Paul Pelis. Played Umass, Boston, NYC, recorded a casette named "7 Too Many." We broke up in Richmond, VA. -Bespectacalia (1993): offshoot of Nag, basically Nag minus Ari, our set had a punk flavor to it. -Humbert (1994-2000): members included Ari Vais, Chris Monroe, John Gotschalk, Paul Pelis, E.J. Dawson, Frank Padellaro, Henning Ohlenbusch, Brian Marchese- THE band of my life so far. You all know the story. -Ribboncandy (2001-) I joined Ken Maiuri's band a s a second stage guitarist. -School For The Dead (2001-) Here we are. -The Parents (2002) a duo comprised of me and singer Samara Loewenstein. Look for us soon...