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This is my story. It started out in 1990 with myself and four other confused individuals. After the first get-together, it was obvious that the second guitarist had to go, actually HAD to go as he sliced open his hand after furiously strumming a guitar with horribly rusted strings. After a few months of
this, we started to have regular jam sessions. The group was dubbed "Stray Toasters" after an underground comic book. The band was Rich Patz (me) on bass, Rick Parker on guitar, David Haines on drums and Rob "Repo" Bowen on vocals. Well, this lasted a few months until it was decided that Repo couldn't sing. Then, we lost Dave, who fled with his wife and newborn to the relative safety of sleepy Athens, Ohio.
Everything changed once we grafted in our new drummer Jared Dennis. We became a three-piece and we really started to gell. We were gigging regularly and also did several live radio broadcasts and lots of recording. Nothing materialized but we had fun. We considered our style "Cyberpunk", this was a relatively new sub-genre at the time. Our influences were varied and produced what could only be described as authentic,
balsy hard rock. We lost the Stray toasters monniker after a minor dispute with another local band with the same name (how?), and Comatoast was the name that stuck from then on.
In 1993, Comatoast enjoyed local noteriety for our outlandish stage shows and non-compromising music. We had a presence onstage that people gravitated towards. It was fun to play the shows, do the recordings, and basically be a musician, but it was always very stressful at the same time. I was already laying down foundations for a different future, things were tough for me at that time in my life and I knew playing music was only for a season.
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E-mail : shroom@trinicom.com |
The earliest photo- This photo was taken during an outdoor shoot in downtown Houston around early 1991.
David Haines- David Haines and I met at the Redemption Ranch Home For Wayward Boys in 1982. We became fast friends there due to our fondness for Harley Davidson motorcycles and classic rock and roll. We were bros from 82-97 when we lost communication. Dave was the first drummer in "Stray Toasters" which morphed into Comatoast. If you're ever in the Athens, Ohio area, look him up and tell him to call me!
The Hemp Fest- This photo was taken at the Hemp Festival in the Montrose of Houston 1993.
Backstage Shenanigans- Backstage at a gig in Beaumont, TX. 1993.
