We also needed some mics. So we all chipped in and bought the 3 pack of CAD microphones for 100 bones. We couldn't afford a mic stand so I rustled through my parents garage and used some copper pipe, 4 shelf brackets and some electric tape and this became our stand. This one mic and one copper pipe stand was all we used to track our drums on the early demo tapes. Keep in mind that we only had 4 tracks to work with, (well, technically we would get 7 down after we bounced tracks, but I digress), so one mic for the drums seemed like plenty.
We started recording some songs and showing them to friends to try and gauge a response. At this time, I had developed some more confidence and my guitar playing got a little better. So I, in addition to Mike, sang some songs which leads us to our final change at the time.
In the beginning, I was unable to really sing and play guitar, so the thought of doing so didn't really occur to me. As I got better on guitar, it felt natural to sing along. This began the idea that I would sing some songs and Mike would sing some songs. This seemed like it would work. It was just a matter of time before this arrangement saw it's course. Between Mike missing practice, a general lack of interest to my over zealous desire to practice and my new found interest in singing, we came to a mutual conclusion to part ways.
Michael and I had our differences through the years, but we managed to grow together and to this day he remains as one of my closest friends. Even at the time, he didn't show any resentment as you could see him (and really hear him) at a show that took place in 1996. (Video to follow.) Again, Mike remains as one of my closest friends.
We were MINT! No, really, we were M(att), I(van), N(ick), and T(im). I know. How fucking brilliant were we?! All kidding aside, this was truly it. For the next 2 or so years, we sweat buckets in the summer while practicing in my parent's garage, rocked cozily while the dryer would be keeping us warm in Nick's basement and wailed at several dozen shows in the NY/NJ area. I will make every effort to recall the places we played, post videos of some of our earlier shows and any fun stories we may had had along the way. Next stop, rock town!
Here comes the music!
