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Dave Lindauer - Lead Vox, Background Vox
Geo Bennett - Guitar, Background Vox
Brian Osburn - Bass, Background Vox
Bobby Kunkel - Drums, Background Vox
The Truth, Pittsburgh's newest original rock band, was formed in the February of 1998. However the band's roots and friendships go back more than ten years to the spring/summer of 1990.
The Beginning.
Guitarist George (Geo) Bennett and drummer Bobby Kunkel grew up together in an area of Pittsburgh, PA, known as lower Greenfield or "The Run." Bobby fondly remembers their formative years. "When we were kids we would do everything that teens typically do, play sports, swim, ride our bikes, etc. But everywhere we went we always had a radio. Sometimes we would sit on Geo's back steps until 1 am listening to the radio or cassettes, hoping the local rock station would play side one of Rush's 2112 or a live concert from one of our favorite bands." By the late eighties the two had formed a band called Strutter. When the group disbanded in 1989, the two were not actively searching for player's to form another band. "We were just sort of lying low, not doing much of anything," says Geo. "We knew eventually that something else would happen, but were in no hurry to put anything together."Kunkel, who was attending Duquesne University as percussion minor, met keyboardist and piano major Rick Gallagher in the spring of 1990. "We were playing in a small student jazz group taught by Dave Budway, recalls Rick. "We were having so much fun with the "Budman," doing some gigs at local clubs and colleges, and having a great time developing as musicians." At the end of the school year Bobby and Rick exchanged numbers with the promise to keep in touch. Rick kept good on that promise at the beginning of the summer. "He had called me to ask me if I would be interested in putting together a group for a battle of the bands contest to be held at Kennywood, a major, local amusement park. I agreed and Rick further inquired if I knew any bass players that might be interested. At that point I turned to Geo and asked 'Do you want to play bass for this thing?' Geo then agreed and we started rehearsing the next week."
The band that formed consisted of Rick, Bobby, and Geo, as well as Eric Simon on lead guitar, and a lead vocalist that Rick knew from Westminster College, Dave Lindauer. Geo recalls, "We always had trouble finding a good singer, even back in the Strutter days. We would always pick cover tunes by bands like Boston, Journey, and Kiss, that we so hard to sing. We were murder on singers," Geo laughs. Lindauer, however, was a perfect fit for the band's style. Bringing a strong tenor voice to the mix, Dave began rehearsing with the band, which would be called Aura for the competition. The group performed with about twenty other bands at the contest and came out on top, winning first place! "Talk about a complete shock," says Kunkel. "I think we rehearsed maybe two or three times, learned about five cover tunes and one original that Eric, Rick, and Dave had wrote, and walked away with the grand prize…which amounted to about $300 dollars and a pair of socks." While the competition wasn't a high profile event, it brought together five individuals that would form close bonds, bonds that would be put to the test in the coming years.
Stone Romeo.
While the Kennywood competition helped bring the group together, little happened between the summer of 1990 and the beginning of 1991. Bobby was previously committed to the drum/percussion chair in of a six week long, off-Broadway production of "Pippin" in the Pocono Mountains. "I really missed the camaraderie that developed with the band, says Bobby. "We all kept in touch, but school had started again when I got back home an there wasn't a lot of time to think about what to do next." However in the spring of 1991, the band reformed under the name Stone Romeo, and added Brian Osburn on bass guitar, allowing Geo to share guitar duties with Eric. The group began writing music for their first release "Groove Machine," and traveled to Gainesville, Florida to record. They quickly found that recording an album was not quite as easy as winning a local band competition. "We were so young,' says Rick. "We thought we had an idea of what we wanted to accomplish, but had so little experience producing music that we were more impressed with the equipment in the studio than we were the final product."
Upon the release of "Groove Machine" Stone Romeo began playing the local Pittsburgh bar scene, and soon attracted a respectable following of enthusiastic fans. In fact the band was playing frequently and over the next few years was doing quite well. "We recently found some old schedules we used to give out at shows," says Brian. "We were playing 8 to 10 times a month in Pittsburgh and out of town. It was a lot of fun and we actually were able to pay off the financing of the recording and started turning a profit." However, in April of 1993, Eric decided to leave the band to concentrate on his studies. "Eric was the youngest member in the band and had just graduated high school," says Dave. "He wasn't exactly sure of what he wanted to do, go to college, get a job, so unfortunately we parted ways, although on the best of terms." Eric was replaced by guitarist Kevin Rix, also a student at Duquesne University…and the band played on.
The Breakup.
Looking to take the group to the next level in 1994, Stone Romeo enlisted a manager who split his time between Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. Initially it seemed as if a manager was a good idea. "We didn't have any real contacts outside of Pittsburgh, say Rick. "We were under the impression that a manager was what we needed to get noticed by important people in the industry." As the band began writing and recording material for its second release, tensions between management and the band developed. The national music scene was changing from melodic pop rock to alternative and "grunge" and the band was under increased pressure from management to choose or modify their direction. "We've always draw from a variety of musical styles when we write," says Geo "and we've always been a fun type of band. Music took this dark turn in the mid 90s and we were about 180 degrees out of sync with bands that were becoming popular at the time."
At a production meeting, the group's manager had pressed the band to pick a more defined style. Bobby remembers the meeting distinctly. "Our manager asked us if we thought we were an adult contemporary band or a rock band. Geo asked him to 'define rock,' and the answer we got was White Zombie. I immediately said that we were nothing like White Zombie but did not think we were some lightweight, adult contemporary band either. I considered ourselves more an AOR (album oriented rock) band, but apparently our definitions of rock differed from our manager's." Over the next few months, tensions between the band and its manager, as well as between members in the band increased. "Kevin seemed to want to do darker heavier material," says Geo, "while the rest of us wanted to continue writing music that was more melodic and more mainstream." Upon the request of management, Dave traveled to L.A to meet with some people within the business. During the trip, a serious rift developed between Dave and the band's manager, and upon returning to Pittsburgh, it had deteriorated into constant disagreements and questioning. The band ultimately disbanded bitterly in the spring of 1994.
"It was very difficult for me," says Bobby, who ultimately joined Kevin for a brief period in a band called "Shade" which had a more aggressive and progressive sound. "I had a lot of misconceptions about what "making it in the business meant. I still felt that Kevin and our manager had ties to higher ups in the industry and thought that I could capitalize on some opportunities." Unfortunately after a few months of rehearsing and one show, Kevin disbanded the group and moved to Los Angeles with the band's manager. "I basically abandoned my friends for what I thought was a big opportunity, but turned out to be nothing," states Bobby. "I also started playing music that really wasn't what I enjoyed. Technically it was challenging to play and I liked that, but it was darker and angrier than the things that moved me the most."
Furthermore, the members of the band weren't speaking to one another. "Bobby and I didn't speak for months after the breakup," says Dave "We had a nasty argument in our old studio a few weeks after the band broke up and that was the last contact we had had for a long time." Even Geo and Bobby who were best friends most of their adult lives didn't speak to each other often. "We'd get together once in a while to watch hockey games," says Geo. "But it would be very awkward. After all that time together in bands, we couldn't really talk about music anymore because we didn't have anything going on together."
Out of the ashes…
Brian, Geo, Dave, Rick, and Bobby didn't play as a collective group between 1994 and 1997. Rick and Bobby formed the Blue Minor Quartet with bassist Scott Tumilinas and Mind's Eye guitarist Greg Muter. Bobby also began playing as a freelance drummer with a variety of artists, including Mr. Speed (a KISS tribute band) and Barbara Blue, while Rick established himself as one of the finest solo piano players in the city. In 1996 an opportunity arose for the guys to do some recording for the 97Rock charity project called "Dreammakers". Bobby, Geo, Dave, Rick and Mike Kadrie, a long-time friend, recorded two songs and subsequently performed a set at Pittsburgh's "Attic" club. "It actually felt pretty good," says Dave. "I think that gig was what got most of the guys thinking that maybe we should give this another go." Before the five got back together, Geo and Bobby collaborated on a socio-political concept record, and afterward Geo began writing for a solo release. Material from the two projects ultimately provided the impetus for reforming the band and the friendships that had seemingly deteriorated over the past several years.
The Truth…
In late 1998, Dave, Brian, Bobby, Geo, and Rick began rehearsing together as a band once again. However, progress was slow due the busy schedules of the five. "Rick and Bobby were honoring commitments they had made as freelance players," says Brian, "so we took our time and just started rehearsing whenever we could. It was actually more important to just be together and to be speaking to each other as friends again." And while a lot of time had passed, a lot of things had changed for us both as individuals and collectively as a group. They all had, without question, become better players and songwriters. In addition, they had all matured as people. "It's really all about friendships," says Rick, "and knowing how to work collectively as a group. The things that really bother you at age twenty-one don't particularly mean as much to a person by the time you've reached your later twenties. You learn to let go of you ego, to fit in and play a role in something that is better than its individual parts.
In the following year, the band continued writing and rehearsing, and ultimately began recording what would be their debut CD "Dying to Live." But the band wanted to distance themselves a bit from the Stone Romeo days and were looking for a name that would reflect the band's direction. The name The Truth was actually one that Geo had suggested when the band originally formed in 1991. Bobby once again nominated it at a rehearsal one night and the rest of the guys approved. "I think the name encompasses several things. The 'truth' about the band is that we like to write good strong rock tunes," says Bobby, "stuff that is memorable but not too clichéd. We like to draw from a variety of styles without coming across as arrogant, because that can turn the average listener off. Also the 'truth' is that people like music they can sing to and use as a soundtrack to their lives."
In February of 2001 Dying To Live will hit local record stores in Pittsburgh. Rather than succumbing to the darker more negative musical trends of the past decade, The Truth offer a more positive collection of songs, as is evidenced by the title track of the disc. "That song essentially summarizes the band's overall outlook on life," states Geo, who wrote and co-wrote most of the tracks on the disc. "Life isn't always great, but there's no need to dwell or become jaded by the times that are difficult." Bobby adds "I personally never could listen to music that is depressing, overly dark, and cynical, particularly after a bad day. Music has always been such a bright spot in all of our lives, and we try to convey that in our writing and our live performances"
Recorded by Dave Hanner and mixed by Sean McDonald, the songs on Dying To Live feature common production and melodic threads that hold the recording together well from start to finish. However, the band draws on a variety of musical textures, styles, and influences to keep the tunes fresh and non-repetitive. The title track, "Three Margaritas," "Farmer's Daughter," and "Nothing In Particular," reveal the bands fun and optimistic nature, while others such as the slow 6/8 time of "One Of Those Things," the Latin influenced "Calles de Muerte," and the heavier social commentary of "Don't Put Your X On Me", display the band's versatility. In addition, The Truth reverts to the tried and true power-ballad formula in "Desiré," and creates an inspiring, anthemic vibe on the guitar-heavy "Water Street."
However the band views the CD as a springboard for its live performances. "We try to put on a energetic, irreverent, but tight show," says singer Dave Lindauer. "We've gotten to the point vocally and instrumentally where we can relax and have a good time while putting on a good show for our fans." And in 2001 the band is committed to doing just that. That's the Truth, The whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth. So check it out!!