The Story of DANOTI - Part IV

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Read the Story of DANOTI Part III here.

Start at the beginning of the Story of DANOTI here.

The Refreshments started playing our originals in Tempe clubs in early 1994. During an early gig at Long Wong’s, maybe six weeks after our Tempe debut, I noted the overflow crowd, and I could feel something of their intense interest. It was starting to be obvious that we weren’t just another Tempe band, that something was happening around the Refreshments that was distinct. As we started our song “Suckerpunch,” the P.A. system malfunctioned. Roger’s and Dusty’s voices abruptly disappeared from our monitors, but the singing didn’t stop. The room of 100 or so early fans sang the words back at us. There was nowhere for these people to pick up the lyrics but at one of our shows, and they’d already learned this one. It was shocking to hear, and about as pleasant as anything that might happen while playing in a band.

With interest in us growing, we knew we had to make an album. The Gin Blossoms had managed to record and release an album locally. No record label, just make it and sell it from the lip of the stage. That was our next step.

We didn’t make much money from those early gigs, so we couldn’t afford normal studio rates. Luckily, Don Salter, who owned the Saltmine recording studio in Mesa, was willing to offer a discounted price to get us in the door. The only caveat was that we had to record during the wee hours of the morning, from midnight to whenever, after the full-priced customers had left for the day.

While recording Wheelie at the Saltmine, we built a beer can pyramid on the pane of the console window, which became known as “the beeramid.” It was maybe 20 or 30 cans in all, and it got to the point that engineer Mark Matson couldn’t see us from the soundboard. That was fine. In the bosom of this alcohol-soaked era, we weren’t up for much guidance. We spent maybe a half-dozen late nights at the Saltmine drinking, recording, and mixing, and we finished the album by the end of the summer.

December 4^th, 1994, represents the greatest triumph of my music business career.

On that Sunday night, I took a box of 200 Wheelies to the Yucca Tap Room. I’d set up my bass rig earlier that day so I wouldn’t be encumbered with it during our CD release party. I’d had the back booth of the Yucca Tap Room reserved as a merch booth, and I walked through the early crowd of 75 or so with our box of CDs in tow.

I’ll never forget the feeling of 75 sets of eyes following me as I walked through the room. By the time I sat down, a line had formed from my booth all the way to the other end of the room. The first guy in line dropped a stack of bills on the table and said, “Give me 15.”

I don’t care how accomplished the Refreshments became after that. You can point to Mercury Records, “Banditos,” King of the Hill, whatever. Nothing ever felt more successful to me than walking through that room with all those eyes following me, sitting at that booth, and having the first guy drop a handful of bills on the table and say, “Give me 15.” We wound up selling 410 copies of our CD that night, in a club that held no more than 200 people. I’d had to run home during the band’s break to get another box.

The CD didn’t lead to any substantial income for the band. We didn’t charge enough for the album, and we gave away too many, but it was for sale at our shows and local record stores.

Importantly, the CD didn’t just sit there. They sold. The album served as a tool for keeping our fans engaged even when they weren’t seeing us play, and it was the perfect calling card for packages sent to folks in the music industry. In an immediate sense, it didn’t matter if the professionals who received those packages liked our album. We were an original musical outfit that played gigs, made and sold albums, and kept ourselves afloat without day jobs. No TV, no radio, no record label, and still we managed some semblance of a living. Times had changed since I’d watched Van Halen on MTV and wondered how to achieve such a life. A little band like ours could get a small foothold in the world. And who knew? Maybe we could be the next Gin Blossoms, or band that played original music in Tempe and got signed to a major label. Anything was possible.

Tune in next month for Part V.

My first memoir My Iliad Odyssey is available now. Order here.