| Wander Other Worlds (1991-1994) Originally conceived by Ted while in Hollywood CA around 1988 (that's when he first started writting songs for the project), he didn't really put an actual band together ubtil around 1991 when he moved back to Michigan. Ted was operating an 8 track recording studio out of his home, and had closed a deal to record "Evil Twin" ~ and they contacted me to produce it. I ended up doing guitar tracks for the Wander project. That led to the formation of a supporting band to go "live". I had just ended the "Trouble City" gig, and knew all the "WOW" tracks, so it was a natural move. Plus, recording the tracks had been a BLAST! The style of music allowed a much more expressive implementation of the instrument (i.e., guitar) than I had ever had the oppertunity to endulge. |
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| :: Home :: :: Wander Other Worlds :: :: Trouble City :: :: Stiff Kitten :: :: The Mood :: :: The PUSH Band :: :: Bolts :: :: Street Elite :: :: Mondo Kane :: |
| GIGS Wander Other Worlds did a mix of original material from the CD and covers. * The Ritz (89X Radio Live Broadcast) * Griff's Grill * Rick's Rock Cafe (Lansing) * Rick's (Ann Arbor) * * Rick's (Kalamazoo) * Rubble's (Mt. Pleasent) * ??? (Bay City) * Club 32 (Alpena) * The Mesquito Club * Editor's Note: I'll try to add dates and organize these in chronological order, if and when I can sort it out. If anybody has any memories and/or photos to contribute, please e-mail me or use the feedback forum (link at bottom of page) |
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| Once we had the members together, it occurred to us we could book some bar gigs and potentially make some money if we rounded out our reputuare with a couple dozen 'covers'. We selected stuff most other bar bands weren't doing ~ Bowie, Depeche Mode, U2, X, Cure, etc. Not only did this seperate us from the pack, but it suited our style. We booked a few 2 set shows, and mixed the cover stuff with our own. For the one-set gigs, we did either all WOW stuff or maybe a couple choice covers just to keep the ere of familiarity. We did a stretch of 3 or 4 nights in Alpena, 4 sets per night. It was fun, but we didn't make much money after motel and expenses. We made a few new friends, though. |
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| Eventually, some complications evolved in the line-up. I believe it's a good policy to avoid developing any kind of relationship other than professional, when there's a female (or two) in the band,. Well, once again, this proved to cause problems. The drummer, Gary, just couldn't resist oppertunity. Of all the girls on the planet, he had to mess with one of the singer/dancer/keyboardists. Not to mention he was feltching out on bills, and taking a very self-rightous posture, which was adding more tension than good. So, we exiled him. Somewhere amidst the termoil, we ended up losing both girls, too. |
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| We hired Ben, a seventeen year-old from Northern Michigan who had just moved to Hamtramack. He was very independant, and extremely talented as a drummer, especially given his young age. He had no problem at all replicating the tracks that had been recorded, and did an excellent job finishing up some tracks for newer Wander tunes. As for the girls, we ended up with 2 new ones, both of which spent their evenings as exotic dancers in a Dearborn adult club. Gotta admit, that proved to be a turn for the better. We taught them how to sing a bit, and it worked out quite well. |
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| We ran ads in local entertainment guides for a drummer, and came up with the idea ~ what I still think was a good one ~ of hiring one or two females to hang out behind the keyboards - to sing, dance, play, just look good, whatever. |
| Wander Other Worlds - 1st "live" line-up: Front Center: Ted; The Girls: Deanne (fringe) and Kara; Drummer: Gary; TC (at right); |
| After about 6 months working on tracks, the urge to "play live" set in. We ran more ads, and set out auditioning drummers and interviewing girls. |
| Ted and I concentrated our focus for the most part on recording tracks for the CD. We had invested heavily in digital recording equipment (Mac based, Digidesign ProTools) and were re-recording everything from the sessions a few years before, and several new tracks. Without a drummer, we set out to program the drum tracks. I personally put in at least 400 hours, being careful to create tracks that could be realistically performed by one single person for live support. It was all done on an Ensonic keyboard controller, then transferred to Pro-Tools as individual instuments for flexability at mix down. |
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| Wander did one of the first live radio broadcasts over 89X from The Ritz in Roseville (flier/discount coupon at left). A copy of the full broadcast or any part is available by request (contact me thru the forum / guestbook at bottom of page or E-MAIL). |
| Wanader Other Worlds (version II) Upper left (The Girls): Jennifer and Christina; Front L-R: TC, Ted, Benny |
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| We did a few gigs around, and things were actually looking up for this version. I remember playing the 'Troy Days' festival. Right after we got set up in a metal portable stage/trailer, the sky clouded up and broke into a huge downpour. Needless to say, we played to virtually no one since it was an outdoor gig. Our good friend, Bubba, stuck it out and taped the show on pro video ~ electricusions and all. Yes, we got zapped BIG time. Great footage, though. The girls did great ~ all leathered out and wiggling. They had a blast. Very hot show. Video clips upon request thru forum/guessbook. |
| We also started up our own record company and worked on artwork for the CD and promo. This included contacting dozens of radio stations by letter, fax, and unsolicited e-mail (back in the days before it was called "spam", mind you). |
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| We played a gig at Rubble's near Mt. Pleasent, Mi.- Ben's home town. He got drunk, and refused to tear his drums down after the gig. I think all the compliments from his friends, and more importantly, his father ~ whom he'd never been able to impress before ~ went to his head. To further complicate things, he'd shared his weinee with one of the chicks in the band, and got all wierded out over it. All his senses were fogged, and he basically became unmanagable. I supose it was his age. Anyway, he kind of disappeared, and we have no idea where he went. He sent one of his ex-girlfriends or cousins or something over to pick up his drums at the band house, and that was that. |
| We once again turned our focus to completing the CD. Mix down took weeks - no, months. Ted is a perfectionist ~ and reworked everything over and over, and over again. He finally settled on a mix he was mostly satisfied with, then set about and mastered it digitally himself. In the meantime, I continued our promo campaign. We managed to get into rotation on several collage stations, and did a couple of interviews. We also secured a few reviews that were published in print and on the Internet. |
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| Wander Other Worlds' CD was marketed thru and available from the Free World Records website, which we also put together entirely ourselves, complete with downloadable song samples. This seems like no big deal today, but we're talking 1994 here ~ and this was ~ like our music ~ very cutting-edge stuff. In retrospect, there were a couple technological obsticals that I think choked sales. One, everyone had only dial-up, and "shopping carts" were niether common nor easy to implement on websites. This meant that if you wanted to order CD's or T-shirts, you had to disconnect from the Internet and dial our 800 number. What? End a surfing experience, after waiting 1/2 hour to connect? You get the point. Secure on-line credit card ordering was still in development and not widely available at the time ( actually, there are still issues), so we took orders over the phone (like, that's so safe). |
| Download ALL the MP3 Sample Tracks FREE! Click HERE to DOWNLOAD to your hard drive. This is a ZIP file format ~you will need to unzip the file to play them. |
| Want a Wander Other Worlds CD or T-Shirt? We still have a few of each, but all the smaller size T's are long gone. CLICK HERE to contact me by e-mail and REQUEST info. Don't worry ~ all entrys to the Guest Book are PRIVATE until the administrator (me) reads them, so your e-mail addy won't be published. ~OR~ CLICK HERE - DOWNLOAD or BUY on CDBABY.com (authorized!) CLICK HERE TO BUY OR DOWNLOAD FROM YAHOO MUSIC CLICK HERE TO BUY OR DOWNLOAD FROM GREATINDIE.COM ALSO: The CD's are selling on eBay and Amazon.com (new and used, from other people ~ NOT us!), as of April 2007 !!! |
| Latest Version of the Band With the release of the CD, we put together (yet another) line-up. This time, with Detroit Area famous drummer Bruce. Stabble as a rock, and a well-versed professional, he learned the material in just a few rehearsals. We pulled in yet one more girl (didn't bother working on vocals), and booked a few gigs. |
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| Vidio clips from one of WOW's last gigs. Unfortunately I don't remember the girl's name. Drummer: Bruce |
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| Comments, leave messages, order stuff BY E-MAIL or thru the Guest Book >>>>> |
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