Murder 1 was founded in late '94 by Newark, NJ 'renegade' bassist/radio DJ Job the Raver &
guitarist Captain Klingon of the stoner rock outfit Dense, Moist & Sticky. They were joined
by 17 year old Killing Machine drummer Boy Toy (from Elizabeth!!!) & vagabond blues rock
vocalist DW Lee Fontaine. Killing Machine's Special K soon joined as 2nd guitarist. The
sound was heavily stoned & very loose, much like thier South Jersey brethren Monster Magnet.
In March of '95, after his second DWI arrest in 6 months, Fontaine awoled & the gap was
filled by blues rock purist Lene Gene Potts of Colossal Street Jam. By late '95, both Potts
& Special K had bailed & former Digger frontman (and Newark school teacher!) Cakeboy was
brought in. The sound took on a more "Stooges-Like" punk-laden turn. This fearsome foursome
excelled in creating havoc! Klingon's onstage bong hits, BoyToy's constant fisticuffs,
Cakeboy's nudity & Job's habitual misdemeanors caused bannings from many NJ, NY & PA clubs
(only Newark's legendary Pipeline ever gave the band a "guarantee"). These antics were more
documented than the early recordings! After his Rockland County "garden" was mowed down by
local authorities, Klingon became despondent & was replaced in early '96 by 17 year old Core
guitarist G.Money. Despite his six pack a day habit, the 'kid' added fire & speed to the new
recordings and this lineup recorded the Joe Guzik produced seminal punk/metal opus "Shopping
For Porn" in early '97. This slab of 'pure filth' is surely a late 90's punk classic!
Touring hard over the next 18 months with Anal C*nt, Candy Snatchers, Downset, Savatage, US
Bombs, Step Kings and Kid Rock, replacement players were needed for the "ailing" Job &
G.Money. This problem would further surface in years to come, but in '98, Shat/Dillinger
Escape Plan's Jeff Wood, Masred's Fred 'Shogun' Zoeller & Big Wig's John Grasso filled in
admirably on both bass and guitar. Higher and tighter than ever, it was the classic Job,
Cakeboy, G.Money, Boytoy linuep that recorded the Mike Goldberg produced metallic firestorm
"American Junkie" in 1999. This album also featured three quality vocal performances by
drummer BoyToy, who was now out of his "teen shell". His visionary punk/reggae version of
Bob Marley's No Woman No Cry was aided by the vocal talents of Kid Rock! The boys hit the
road like juggernauts in Y2K, highlighted by a mainstage appearance at the titanic KXXR
Minneapolis Edgefest, but with a dozen gigs left, G.Money shockingly quit M1 to attend
Rutgers University. Savatage's Chris Caffery, Anger's Terry Torino and Rhythm Trip's Jonny
Rod all filled the guitar gap, but none joined the band full time. During the chaos at the
end of Y2K, Job & BoyToy teamed up with old friends Special K & Lene Gene Potts as well as
Fifty Cent Whore players Spanish Fly (bass), Cucu Crazycat (percussion) & Al Kinky (guitar)
to form the mammoth Deep Purple & Hawkwind influenced sonic assault called Murder 1 Blues
Army. This lineup recorded the Job & Mad Mike Cullin produced Mordor Rising in early '01.
Towards the end of this album's production, Job, BoyToy and Cakeboy brought in ex Solace &
Killer Instinct axeman Iceberg as the full time Murder 1 guitarist. His Iommi meets Frehely
crunch combined with Job & BoyToy's love for "longform" 70's metal added a more classic hard
rock aura to the band, much to the chagrin of punk stalwart Cakeboy. Regardless, this
foursome started playing shows immediately. For three months, both Murder 1 & the Blues
Army were BOTH in full work/gig mode!!! Things took a bizarre turn after an M1BA gig at the
Birch Hill Nite Club in Sayerville, as Special K quit the Blues Army sighting stagefright!
He was replaced immediately for the northeast leg of the Clutch/Candiria/M1BA tour by none
other than Iceberg! This did NOT sit well with the already 'testy' Cakeboy, as the M1 Blues
Army spent the remainder of '01 playing hash parties, spaceouts & beer festivals. An
unrivaled EIGHTH member, piano/synth man Bramphetamine joined for band's final 5 shows! A
slightly damaged but enthusiastic Murder 1 started writing the follow up to American Junkie
in '02, but the sessions were plagued with musical disarray, drug use and bitterness,
eventually causing Cakeboy's departure. This left Murder 1 in one helluva predicament with
studio time pending with Daniel Rey!), ten shows booked, & NO frontman. Forced to bail on
the recording, the band did one show with Speed Kreature of Nebula & Donner Party fame
before once again calling upon the talents of Anger's Terry Torino to fill the void (this
time on vocals). The band then announced the full time addtion of Bramphetamine, who added
gallant backing vocals & killer ragtime piano. After the tour, the band auditioned quite a
few singers (including a highly considered hardcore Philly native named Tim Borror!) but
were fairly convinced to move forward with Torino. It all changed the day Job boarded the
(192) Rutherford to NYC bus next to the "king of herbs", former Novena & Punkinucle singer
Will Naga. He auditioned later that week and was given the gig immediately! With one
overnight jam session, the band found peace between the signature punk/metal M1 sound and
the forward thinking jam out approach of the M1 Blues Army. Now sounding like the bastard
spawn of a Led Zeppelin, Black Flag & Melvins musical orgy, this lineup would conquer, if
they could only keep thier demons in check. Job was face to face with impending jailtime
for two drug posession charges earlier that year. He escaped with consecutive probations.
Within a month the band was shopping a fresh demo and signed a new deal with The Music
Cartel/Rise Above. Locking themselves in the studio for 13 days with a van load of whisky,
beer and various chemicals, the band emerged with the classic Nelson Ayers produced
drug-rock epic "On High" which was released midway through '03. On the final day of
recording, the band was joined in the studio by old bud Chris Caffery (who by this time was
riding the Trans-Siberian train to superstardom) for a scorching rendition of UFO's Rock
Bottom. Eighteen gigs later, the new & "highly" improved Murder 1 found themselves on a
national tour with Clutch, Throat & Mastodon! The DEA however were not fans of the 'rock'
or the band's "habits" & this era of M1 fell from grace almost as fast as they climbed the
musical mountain. Job faced more drug charges in '04, missing shows and stalling the band's
"chronic" & "amped" up touring schedule. Fed up to the max, Iceberg actually quit the band
briefly to join Symphony X frontman Russel Allan's side project Atomic Soul, but was
convinced to rejoin Murder 1 a few weeks later. The band restarted the engine in '05 by
writing and recording a batch of new material, tentatively titled Escape From New York, but
the monkey was clinging hard to Murder 1's back, as Will Naga did time in the NYC tombs for
posessing some of the highest 'grade' the NYPD has ever sniffed out. A few months later,
Job was arrested in unrelated "toxic" events. Murder 1 was spiraling
downward & the band was forced to take time off to clean things up. Things really hit the
"skids" in '05 when Job flipped his convertable over the guard rail of the New York State
Thruway. Authorities are still searching for answers as to how he crawled out alive! A
regrouping of sorts took place towards the end of '06 as this now 'desperate band' began
gigging again (including 3 celebrated high energy-rock shows at NYC's Snitch). Job became
consumed in a fevered rock & roll work ethic by forming the 'psychadelic drug-punk cocktail'
known as The Drugstore Cowboyz with Iceberg and old friends Cucu Crazycat & Speed Kreature.
He also joined New Jersey supergroup The Cursed alongside Overkill's Bobby "Blitz"
Ellsworth, Hades' Dan Lorenzo and Non Fiction's Mike Cristi. Leaving the completion of
Escape From N.Y for a later date, Job took on the massive production of a 10 year historical
Anthology including remastered recordings from '97 all the way to the present. This nugget
of handywork will be released this spring as Murder 1 has rekindled the fire and vowed a
plethora of East Coast shows and of course, plenty of mayhemic chemistry!
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