Fall of 1991, in the blue-collar city of Baltimore, David Koslowski had written some songs and recorded them on a cheap ass tape recorder. He asked his roommate Colin Preston to buy a bass guitar and form a band with him. Colin had never played an instrument before…it’s the classic punk rock story. The two would go on to generate a machine like band known as Liquor Bike. The Bike would roll full steam ahead for 5 years until it’s inevitable crash in 1996.
A flyer was posted in various record stores looking for another guitarist & drummer. After several failed auditions the band brought in guitarist, Stefan Meyers, who was a friend from the bar and recruited Eric Dixon, a metal drummer and record store clerk to join the band. The first incarnation of the band was complete. The group quickly set up shows playing its first at The Jar, a loft space in downtown Baltimore and their second show was in Boston the next weekend. They were driven and ready to hit the road and put out records as soon as possible.
In the summer of 1992, after putting out a 6-song cassette Liquor Bike were asked to put out a 7” single on San Francisco’s Penultimate Records. The band recorded "Thirst Day," "She’s Gotta Way" and "Barb’s Wired" with Frank Marchand at the newly opened Oz Recording Studio. The single was well received and the group hit the road to promote it. While on the road, they were asked to do a couple songs for some up and coming indie labels like Uprising and Third World Underground. They recorded some tracks with Candy Machine’s Tony French. This resulted in the Vicegrip single and some compilation tracks.
The band was then snagged up by local indie hipsters, Merkin Records for the release of their first full-length. Before they hit the studio David, Colin and Eric decided to replace Stefan with longtime friend Michael Gaitley. Eli Janney from Girls Against Boys jumped on board to produce what would become “Lowborne.”
“Lowborne” was a hard-hitting in your face assault of punk-pop. Liquor Bike quickly hit the road to support the record, playing all over the East Coast and Midwest. “Lowborne” gained the attention of CMJ, receiving a glowing review. At this point, the band started getting hit up by everybody from Atlantic to Columbia to Grass Records. The group played a few showcases in NYC, some labels walked out with their ears bleeding from the volume, others ate their dinner while the band sang their hearts out, but one woman stuck around and actually talked to the band after the show. Camille Sciara from Grass Records, which was part of Dutch East India wanted to sign the band on the spot. The following Monday the contract was faxed over and the band had a record deal.
While touring to support “Lowborne” and they played a pinnacle show at 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis, which was attended by Creature Booking’s Dean Van Lith. Creature was also home to L7, The Melvins, The Cows, Hammerhead, Helmet and many others. Dean loved the band and wanted to bring them into his stable. Liquor Bike agreed and signed on. Dean would work with the band until it’s demise.
Liquor Bike took sometime off from the road to write what would become “Neon Hoop Ride,” their second full-length and their debut for Grass Records. With Mike firmly in place and plenty of miles under their belts, the unit was tighter and more focused then ever. They decided to record the upcoming record with Drew Mazurek (Jawbox, Shudder To Think) at AmRep Recording Division in Minneapolis with the help of Tim Mac (Cows, Hammerhead, Helmet). “Neon Hoop Ride” was more bombastic and just pummeled the listener over the head.
Liquor Bike toured extensively in support of “Neon Hoop Ride,” even hitting the West Coast for the first time. Playing shows with The Cows, Iowa Beef Experience, SNFU among others. The record was well received by critics and fans alike. They were gaining new fans in cities across America.
After touring with Hammerhead and Killdozer the band was ready to record its next CD for Grass Records. At this point the label had been sold to a multimillionaire who had ties to BMG. The next record was set to be released on Grass/BMG. Grass Records would eventually morph into Wind-Up Records and release music by Creed and Evanescence.
They decided to record at Drew Mazurek’s newly remodeled studio in Baltimore. “The Beauty of Falling Apart,” sounded huge and once again the band delivered some of its catchiest numbers. The band even started to experiment in the studio adding acoustic guitar and violin to "Old Fashioned," 8 tracks of guitar to “Hi-Fi Sigh,” and David even sang falsetto through a fan on “Superface." The end result was the band’s finest work to date.
“The Beauty of Falling Apart” was set to be released in May ‘96 and the band was hitting the road for 6 weeks in support of it. They toured the East Coast with Gas Huffer and then branched out on their own, travelling all through the Midwest and out to the West Coast again. It was in the Midwest that the band received heartbreaking news, at a truckstop David had called their manager to find out where their record was and why there weren’t any posters up at the clubs they were playing and was informed that their A&R person had been fired and they were dropping most of her bands, including Liquor Bike. Being the troopers that they were Liquor Bike got back in the van and finished the next 4 weeks of the tour sans their new record and tour support.
The next 5 months were trying months for Liquor Bike, they had just recorded their best record, had a great booking agent, but no label to put out the release. David and their manager spent the next several months talking to labels and sending out copies of the record, but to no avail.
In July of 1996, Mike Gaitley decided to leave the band and return to the working world. The band played one more final show with Mike. Eric, Colin and David wished Mike the best and began talks on how to fill his shoes. During this time, David made the crucial decision to end the band he had started. The band had succumb to The Beauty of Falling Apart in September, 1996.
Two years later in March, 1998, Liquor Bike reunited for a packed house at The Ottobar in Baltimore. The reunion was a celebration of the post-humanously released “The Beauty of Falling Apart” and a send off for David, who was relocating to North Carolina. The group tore through a 2-hour set of everything in their catalog and ended with 2 encores of covers, including “Sheela-Na-Gig” and “Highway To Hell.”
Liquor Bike would like to thank everyone who ever set foot in a club, basement, or music venue of any sort and stayed to watch the band. Also, many thanks to all the labels, booking agencies, producers, engineers and managers that dedicated their time, so that the band could deliver the rock to the kids.
Thank you David, Colin, Mike and Eric! You guys proved once again that you are the greatest band EVER to come out of Baltimore. Trainwreck was for me right? (Tell me it was even if it wasn't) You made me feel 23 again.
I'm going to meet up with Pat Buchanan next week. I'm gonna try to convince him to come up for the reunion. That would be 2/3rds of mousetrap! Maybe you can provide a drummer?......
