Crease is an American
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
band that formed in
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in 1994.
Three quarters of the band (Kelly Meister and brothers Fritz & Eric Dorigo) originally came from the Alt-Thrash band XSF (Excessive), which formed late in 1985. When their bass player quit the band to get married, friend of the band, Greg Gershengorn was brought in to replace him. Once a few shows that were previously booked as Excessive were completed, the band changed their name to Crease and started writing all new material. The band recorded a full-length studio album, ''
Interference
Interference is the act of interfering, invading, or poaching. Interference may also refer to:
Communications
* Interference (communication), anything which alters, modifies, or disrupts a message
* Adjacent-channel interference, caused by extra ...
'', on a local indie label in 1995. But it wasn't until the self-financed/self released album ''
...Six Pack Shy Of Pretty'' was released in 1998, that the group found success. Their
major label
"Big Three" music labels
A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and t ...
release, ''
Vindication'' and Indie release ''
Only Human'', would follow.
History
Early years (1994)
Crease was an outgrowth of a previous band, XSF (Excessive), formed in 1985 by four high school friends: singer Kelly Meister, guitarist Fritz Dorigo, drummer Eric Dorigo and bassist Vinny Pereira. The latter was replaced Greg Gershengorn in 1994. With new songwriting blood in the mix, it was agreed that the foursome would wipe their slate clean by writing all new material and changing the name of the band. With a new identity and sound, the band played relentlessly throughout the South Florida music scene in 1994. During this time, the group entered the studio to record a 6-song demo (Spiritual Bliss, Curiosity, Bored, I Don't Think So, Manhole & Face) with local producer Gary Stryder. These recordings would eventually lead to the band getting noticed by a local
Independent label
An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represente ...
.
Interference (1995)
One year after forming, the band secured a record deal with indie label DM Records in 1995. Crease entered the studio to record their first full-length studio album, ''
Interference
Interference is the act of interfering, invading, or poaching. Interference may also refer to:
Communications
* Interference (communication), anything which alters, modifies, or disrupts a message
* Adjacent-channel interference, caused by extra ...
''. Trouble began almost immediately as the band was extremely unhappy with the records final mix. Lack of promotion and distribution led to poor sales. However, the album did garner the band a Jammy Award nomination from JAM magazine for “Best Independent Release of the Year for the State for Florida”. A year later, the contract between Crease and DM Records was over and the band was back to square one.
(1996–1998)
During the next three years the group would write over 60 songs and wound up recording three albums worth of material. These albums (Stuck Like Chuck, Tastes Like A Penny & Lost In The Process) were never released to the public, but did contain some of the material that would later be included on ''
...Six Pack Shy Of Pretty'' & ''
Vindication''. The group became a fixture on the
South Florida
South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...
scene and would open for such heavyweights as
Quiet Riot
Quiet Riot is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band founded in Los Angeles in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads, bassist Kelly Garni, and vocalist Kevin DuBrow.
The original lineup featured Rhoads and Garni with lead vocalist Kevin Du ...
&
Vince Neil
Vincent Neil Wharton (born February 8, 1961) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist of heavy metal music, heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, which he fronted from their 1981 formation until his departure in 1992. Neil reunited with the ...
. It was during this time that the group, through a mutual friend, met legendary band manager
Bill Aucoin of
Kiss
A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...
&
Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Idol achieved fame in the 1970s on the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of Generation X ...
fame. Aucoin liked the band enough to help set up a label showcase. The labels would all pass, but Crease was introduced to music producer Paul Trust that evening. Trust was taken with the band and expressed interest in working with them.
…Six Pack Shy Of Pretty (1998–1999)
Crease entered the “Dungeon” recording studios in North Miami with Trust in hopes of recording a full-length album to shop with. However, five tracks in, the band was almost out of money. As luck would have it, “Frustration” was one of the tracks recorded. The band released ''
...Six Pack Shy Of Pretty''. The band printed 500 copies of the EP and to save money, the CD was shipped in pieces to be assembled by the group. The EP was given to a DJ (Kimba), at the rock radio station in town, 94.9 Zeta (WZTA). Kimba picked the anthemic “Frustration” to play on “Zeta Goes Local”. Program Director Greg Steele of 94.9 Zeta, happened to be listening. Steele called the band and told them that “Frustration” has the sound that he envisioned for Zeta and wanted to put the song into a regular rotation to see what would happen. A week later, 94.9 Zeta asked the band to open for
Dishwalla
Dishwalla is an American alternative rock band from Santa Barbara, California. Formed by vocalist J.R. Richards, guitarist Rodney Browning, and keyboardist Greg Kolanek, they were initially known as Life Talking and then Dish upon adding bassist ...
in front of 8,000 people. “Frustration” went to a heavy rotation and hit No. 1. Over 7,000 copies of ''
...Six Pack Shy Of Pretty'' would be sold. Crease signed with New York-based manager, Jamie Schoenfeld, and began shopping for a deal. Industry magazine, “Hits”, named Crease the “Hottest Unsigned Band in the Country” during the summer of 1999. During this time, other radio stations in Florida would add “Frustration” to their playlists and 94.9 Zeta would release Crease's cover version of “Jenny 867-5309” as the band's second single. Crease was added to the “Zetafest” bill, four slots away from headlining the show and proved that they had what it took to entertain a crowd of 35,000 Floridians. Crease outsold
Kid Rock
Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter. After establishing himself in the Music of Detroit#Hip-hop, Detroit hip-hop scene, he broke through into m ...
&
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
, who had new CDs released at that time, in the Miami market for the next 2 weeks. Crease spent the rest of the year playing a slew of showcases up and down the East Coast as well as opening for
Godsmack
Godsmack is an American Rock music, rock band from Lawrence, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The band is currently composed of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Sully Erna and bassist Robbie Merrill. Since its formation, Godsmack has released eig ...
,
The Goo Goo Dolls
The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band based in Buffalo, New York, composed of lead vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik, bassist and vocalist Robby Takac, as well as several rotating members since its formation in 1986.
After starting ...
,
Our Lady Peace
Our Lady Peace (sometimes shortened to OLP) is a Canadian alternative rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1992. Led by lead vocalist Raine Maida since its formation, the band currently also features Duncan Coutts on bass, Steve Mazur on guit ...
,
Finger Eleven
Finger Eleven is a Canadian Rock music, rock band from Burlington, Ontario, formed in 1990. They have released seven studio albums (six as Finger Eleven and one as Rainbow Butt Monkeys), with their album ''The Greyest of Blue Skies'' bringing th ...
&
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...
. The New Times of Broward/Palm Beach voted Crease “Best Local Rock Band of 1999”. Smelling success, DM Records resurfaced with claims that they still owned the band. The group decided to take legal action against DM Records and wound up settling, instead of letting the matter get drawn out in court. With DM out of the way once and for all, Crease signed with
Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records is a Dutch–American record label focused on Heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock music. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. Formerly seen as ...
in December 1999.
Vindication (2000–2001)
Crease entered Elysian Fields recording studio in Boca Raton, Florida, in January 2000. The band tracked 7 new songs (Gravity, Just For A Second, I'm The One, Spin Around, Butterfly Stitches, Stuck Like Chuck & Watch What You Wish For) and included revamped & remixed versions of the 5 songs from ''
...Six Pack Shy Of Pretty'', on what would become ''
Vindication''. The record was finished at Audio Vision recording studios in Miami, Florida in March 2000. “Frustration” was released to radio in June 2000 and was the 8th most added song across the country for its first week out. "Frustration" was featured in the film, "Thank You, Good Night". Jenny 867-5309 was featured in an episode of TV's "Roswell" and the video game "ESPN X-Games Skateboarding". "Building Up" was used by HBO in their documentary, "Middle School Confessions". By October 2000, the President and their A&R person were gone from the label. All of the bands these two signed were dropped the same day. Crease was one of those bands. The group was now without a label and didn't own the rights to ''
Vindication''. Without losing any momentum, the band headed back to the studio to record 5 new songs. After a few showcases, any label interest was waned after the September 11 attacks.
Only Human (2001–2006)
The band enlisted the help of Grammy winning producer/mixer
Charles Dye
Charles Dye is a Grammy-nominated and Latin Grammy-winning record producer, engineer and mixer from Hollywood, Florida, USA.
Grammy
In 2001, Dye received a Latin Grammy for Best Engineered Album for Thalía's '' Arrasando''.
Other production ...
to helm their next studio record. Dye, who was writing a column on Digidesign's (Pro Tools) website, Hard Disc Life at the time, asked the band to do something that had never been done before. Dye & Crease made available all of the tracks from one of the songs (Live To Be In Love), to give Pro-Tools enthusiasts an opportunity to practice and hone their mixing skills. Through Dye's column, users would be given a rare opportunity to download and work with high-end material and high-end recordings, at no cost to the users, and learn to mix through Dye's groundbreaking teachings. The column was a huge success. In 2004, ''
Only Human'' was complete and released on Crease's own label, Whateverman Records. "Nothing Is Real" was released as the first single. Unable to repeat the success of ''
...Six Pack Shy Of Pretty'' & ''
Vindication'', Crease disbanded in 2006. Guitarist Fritz Dorigo and bassist Greg Gershengorn went on to form the punk/rock group, Dirty DNA.
Leftovers (2010-2011)
It was announced in January 2011 on their MySpace page that Crease is currently working on a new CD. The band went back into the studio to record the remaining songs they had left over from Only Human and a few new ones, as well as very old material that was never recorded. The record is entitled, “Leftovers”.
Discography
Studio albums
*''
Interference
Interference is the act of interfering, invading, or poaching. Interference may also refer to:
Communications
* Interference (communication), anything which alters, modifies, or disrupts a message
* Adjacent-channel interference, caused by extra ...
'' (1995)
*''
...Six Pack Shy Of Pretty'' (1998)
*''
Vindication'' (2000)
*''
Only Human'' (2004)
*Leftovers (2011)
Band members
*Kelly Meister – lead vocals
*Fritz Dorigo – guitars, vocals
*Greg Gershengorn – bass, vocals
*Eric Dorigo – drums, percussion
References
External links
Crease @ Myspace
Crease @ YouTube
Crease – Only Human
Dirty DNA @ Myspace
Dirty DNA – Skeleton Sex Scandal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crease (Band)
Hard rock musical groups from Florida
Musical groups from Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Musical groups established in 1994
Musical groups disestablished in 2006
Musical groups reestablished in 2010
1994 establishments in Florida