Johnny Wishbone

Johnny Wishbone
Band logo
Active Years	1995 - 2001
Origin	Boston, Massachussetts, USA

Biography

"Johnny Wishbone started playing the fraternity scene of Tufts University back in the spring of 1995. The beginnings of the band go back to the fall of 1993 when Dave Raymond and Andy Milk met in their freshman dormitory. Dave had played the guitar for 7 years before coming to Tufts. Upon meeting Andy, Dave learned that he also played the guitar and had written some of his own tunes. At small dorm parties, Dave and Andy would play the songs that they had learned together in their many hours of schoolwork procrastination. Outside of the dorm, they would play for residents, trying to get their votes for Andy and Dave's bids for Vice President and President of two residence halls. All of freshman year, they hoped to sometime put together a Tufts cover band.

In the spring of 1995, they met Doug Arsham and found out about his drumming abilities and his zeal for forming a band.

When the fall arrived, Doug was too busy with football to do anything and they didn't have anywhere to practice. At the beginning of the spring semester in 1995, a friend of Dave's from high school mentioned that a brother at the Delta Upsilon fraternity house was interested in forming a house band. This guy was Daren Orzechowski. He played the guitar and offered them the chance to have practice space, storage space, and a place to play for people. Dave and Andy jumped at the idea but realized that if Daren played the guitar and so did Dave, Andy wouldn't need to strum his ax. Consequently, Andy became the singer of the band. In a matter of days upon hearing the news, they called Dickie Scandrett, a buddy from freshman year dorm days. He played the bass and had a yearning for performing before music loving college kids. The date was set for the first gig two weeks away at the DU frat house.

In those fourteen days, Johnny Wishbone learned 30 songs to fill a night with music. During that semester, JW played at several frat houses, a club in Harvard Square, Tufts' MacPhee Pub, and an outdoor venue. The next semester Dave went abroad to Paris, France and Andy played rhythm guitar while Daren took the lead. That semester, fall of 1995, Johnny Wishbone hit many of the same places along with headlining the Tufts Homecoming Block Party.

In the spring of 1996, Dickie went to join Dave in Paris. JW picked up Mike Condon as their interim bassist. Mike fit right in and did the job quite well. While many Tufts students believed the 'Bone to be dead, it lived on. Again, the band played many of the same venues and refrained from playing any original songs of yet. Daren Orzechowski graduated this past year from Tufts and headed off to Hofstra Law School to pursue a career in entertainment law. Johnny Wishbone wishes him luck.

In the fall of 1996, the four original members minus Daren will be playing at Tufts as well as many Boston venues. Keep in touch with our web site to see where they'll pop up next."

"T'was many moons ago, during the winter of 1995 to be exact, when four scurvy college students decided that they would become famous by being in the rock star business. So they formed a band, called it Johnny Wishbone, and played some cover songs to drunk collegians at Tufts and Harvard. Come autumn of 1996, tired of playing the same old shit, the band decided to focus on original material, and recorded a 4-song demo tape in one afternoon. The Bone used this "raw" (translation: low quality) demo to get gigs all over Boston, most notably at The Middle East, Mama Kin and the like. The band played out, saved some money, and went into a real studio in April 1997 and cut a 5-song tape/CD that got them into The Paradise, The Hard Rock Café, TT the Bear's Place and a host of other dives.

And their music? Good question; they definitely started out as a hard rock band in the vein of 70's style rockers, "the Who, the Butterfield Blues Band and ZZ Top," (The Noise, October 1997), but have since evolved a more modern, funky-ass groove in their tunes (while becoming increasingly heavy), as heard in their as-of-yet unrecorded live hits "Urban Eve", "Heave Ho" and their own particular homage to the 1970's, "DiscoPorno".

The three Massholes and one New Yorka that call themselves Johnny Wishbone all currently reside in the Boston area, working dumb jobs so they can drink and play music with each other. However, they all done graduated from college, so they have decent employment: Andy, the singer and occasional rhythm guitarist, works in interactive development and likes to eat. "Doug The Drummer", as his clothing line of the same name is called, is a New York native working in construction management (big surprise there) and worships the New York Jets, earning him the ire of his bandmates. Dickie plays bass, drives a delivery truck, and is still trying to win the band a sponsorship from the Skoal Tobacco Company: "What the fuck," muses the Framingham native; "I go through 10 tins of that shit a day and they won't give us any money?" The guitar player, Dave, is an Aquarius but thinks Zodiacal signs are retarded. He is currently a "loser", though he's looking for a job so he can support his "Smurfette doll" habit.

Fresh out of school and ready to rule the world, Johnny Wishbone are currently working on new material, butchering older tunes for salvageable riffs, and trying to adjust to the real world. They are also looking for a lucrative major label contract, chicks, and lots of "expense accounts" so they can drive ostentatious gas guzzlers and put the heat up to 80° all winter.

Finally, what one word that might sum up the experience that is Johnny Wishbone? "VULGAR". (The Noise, 10/97) though "INFECTIOUS" (The Metronome, 10/97) works well, too.

• A quick warning: Not all of the above may be, in any way, true."

"Defying and redefining.

That's what Boston's Johnny Wishbone has been doing to musical genres over the past year, both on stage and in the studio. Radio, TV, press, fans, and labels are taking notice.

Since they came together in March of 1999, the five members of JW have been churning out a sweaty mixture of heavy, funky, hip-hop-tinged, electronic, tribal, groove-filled rock that has impressed fans and critics all over the Northeast. Here's the breakdown: Doug lays down thick hip-hop beats on the kit to which funkmaster Hugh fuses his furious bass; Raymond throws in some heavy, grinding guitars; DJ Springs switches frantically between turntables, percussion, and samplers to incite crowds to a fever pitch. All of this happens BEFORE maniac singer Milk steps into the fray with his schizophrenic blend of guttural screams, speedy raps and pristine melodies.

In May of 1999, a scant two months after meeting, Johnny Wishbone came away with the Grand Prize in the WKPE 104.7 Rockslide Battle of the Bands, emerging victorious from a pool of 30 Massachusetts-area bands. They went home with about $4,000 in recording time and gear and began planning their debut album.

For the next few months, JW played anywhere they could--from the rural wilds of Vermont to the insanity of New York City--and everywhere in between. With their songs solidified and well-received by live audiences, they headed into the studio in November 1999 with producer extraordinaire Ted Paduck (Powerman 5000, Run D.M.C., Aerosmith, Nine Inch Nails) at Sound Techniques in Boston. While holed up in the studio, the boys got word that they'd been reviewed by no less a music authority than MTV, who sang their praises and called the band a "funk factory that will energize the most skeptical of audiences" in a September 1999 online review. Johnny Wishbone is no stranger to the Internet themselves, as their comprehensive self-run web site has helped generate a mailing list of over 6,000 fans while tallying 2,000+ visitors per month.

Their continued success led them to sign with Boston independent label Six Second Blackbelt Records, which released "Make it Nice" on May 5th, 2000 to a sold-out Bill's Bar in Boston. "Make it Nice" is already making an impact: in the summer of 2000, the ESPN X-Games will use "Good One" in a feature on world-famous skateboarder Tony Hawk; "Core" has gotten 58 adds on northeast college radio in four weeks of radio promotion; WAAF 107.3 Boston is currently playing "Good One" and the band performed an acoustic set in the studio on July 2nd, while WBCN 104.1 and WFNX 101.7 Boston have put the single "Core" into their rotation and continue to promote Johnny Wishbone's album and tour.

Most recently, Johnny Wishbone won the Garageband.com / Flawless Records "Diamond in the Rough" talent search and played a record label showcase at the Palladium Nightclub in Worcester, MA for Fred Durst, lead singer of Limp Bizkit and founder of Flawless Records, along with talent scouts from Flawless before the Limp Bizkit/Cypress Hill concert in July, 2000. They came in first place among 50 popular unsigned New England-area bands, earning the showcase slot.

Johnny Wishbone is endorsed by Mesa/Boogie amps, Michael Tobias basses, Anvil Cases, and J. D'Addario strings.

To spread the word about JW, a large-scale promotional effort has begun including shows from Portland, ME to Washington D.C., college and commercial radio promotion in conjunction with The Planetary Group, and distribution to all cities where the band tours (along with worldwide distribution through Amazon.com).

Get ready for the next level of crossover hip-hop funk-metal whatever-you-want-to-call-it..."

Members

Last known line-up:

• Andy Milk - vocals
• Dave Raymond - guitar
• Hugh - bass
• Doug Arsham - drums
• DJ Springs - turntables, sampler, percussion

Former members:

• Dickie Scandrett - bass
• Daren Orzechowski - guitar

Discography

• Demo (1996) (EP)
• Demo (1997) (EP)
• WAAF 107.3 Acoustic Set (album?)
• Make It Nice (album)

Links

Official Website