We know who we are. A Common Thread is a basement band. Hardly, actually. A Common Thread is a basement ensemble, a mish-mash of morons, as it were, constantly flirting with the prospect of a full line-up yet invariably and inevitably falling victim to this reality: Evan Mulgrave and James Conley are the only permanent and actively contributing members of the train wreck called ACT.
The band has not been without its straggling few. In the Sewing Room Days of late 2003, the year of ACT's inception, bassist Sean Emerick lent the low-end to original three piece lineup, with founding members Evan Mulgrave (Guitar) and James Conley (Drums). The three met in high school and began jamming during their freshman year. Practice schedules were intense, and tensions ran high.
They played together one time.
Evan's Fender Deluxe and Conley's Drumset by Mattel provided the sonic amazement for some time, carrying the metal through the first lean period of the band's tempestuous existence, maintaining the pulse of the maj amidst every indication of failure.
For months the duo fell by the wayside, jamming infrequently until relief came early in 2005 in the form of Evan's tube amplifier. The band could now be loud. They continued to jam sporadically. They had no songs yet. Only sweet fucking riffs. They could cover AC DC with aplomb, and were even learning the parts to Master of Puppets.
Eventually, things started to fall into line. The band first experimented with recording in early winter 2006, pulling the first live demo through Conley's laptop-mounted internal speaker (Michael J of the now-defunct Dreamhouse Jetpilot - www.myspace.com/dreamhousejetpilot). They graduated to recording through a Radio Shack brand headphone-jack computer microphone. It was with this microphone that the band recorded its first live song, Welcome Home.
Speaking of Welcome Home, it was the first collaboration with also-sporadic lead guitarist Shaun Oneil. The Shaun Oneil has roots predating ACT, as Oneil began jamming with cousin Conley in 2002. Rolling Shaun "The Metal" Oneil into the mix brought the band new possibilites, each one of them, again, inevitably, pointing to failure. The Metal brought a new edge to the band, eventually resulting in collaborations on Welcome Home, The Maj, Casanova, The Pharoah Fuckers Jam, The Longest Jam Ever (52:47), and Crucifiction (www.myspace.com/shaunmichaelisnuts).
Nick Funyak also helped bring an element of coherence to the band, though coherence is a principle short-lived in the train wreck called ACT. His bass credits include stints on the ubiqutous Armageddon cut and Dave's Jam, production assistance on most of the band's early work, and played with the band in their only two live performances to date: 2007 Mayhem in the Maholz Mansion, and 2009's Zagorac Special: The ACT Trailer Show. He remains thoroughly disappointed with Evan and James (www.myspace.com/nickfunyak).
The ACT history is replete with tales of failure and more failure, though the band knew no success like the success of Summer 2007. Jam Central Station received a permanent relocation to What Used to Be Conley's Bedroom, the band purchased honest-to-God recording equipment, and set to work on the first of two consecutive summers of mass production: Summer 2007 saw the coagulation of Relentless, The Maj, and Armageddon, the original recording of which remains to this day the last and best hope for the band's continuity (Listen to the riff at 3:53 and immediately understand why).
Summer 2008 was perhaps the band's most productive. While they didn't play a graduation party, they did write: Casanova, Hot Dirty ZZ Top Sex Jam, The Anti-Crust, Death Gravy, Immedia, Loose Juice, Rapture, Spirit of '77, Carolina Ribs (Parts I & II), The Car Chase Lick, Sleep Deprivation Experiments Part I & II (Firecry), and Dave's Jam. Dave's Jam (formerly Spillin' Gravy) remains one of the band's high points, the second best product of the band's short lived collaboration with lead guitarist Dave Schubert, who the band cannot thank enough has still left his giant awesome half-stack amplifier in James' basement.
Since then, the band has done little. Summer 2009 saw the creation of Thunder Love and Rusty Noose, fully embracing the spirits of Ted Nugent and Soundgarden, respectively. The guys, once again essentially Evan and James, shored up cuts of Immedia, Casanova, Deep Dreg (formerly Hot Dirty ZZ Top Sex Jam). The thought of a vocalist is still off in the mist, as are any hopes of respectability.
The band continues to jam and practice sporadically. It's business as usual for the train wreck called ACT.
I would be remiss if I did not mention some of the off-shoots of ACT, Dreamhouse Jetpilot (www.myspace.com/dreamhousejetpilot), and Castle Delta, (www.myspace.com/castledelta).
