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No Control, whose band name was born literally through the toss of a dart, is: eleven years, two cities, three CDs, thousands of fans, and probably millions of musicians who have rotated in and out of the band! I won’t even begin to tell you some of the names that were considered in the beginning, but suffice it to say none of the others could ever live up to the way “No Control” would come to describe this melodic rock/alternative ensemble!
Back in 1990, I had my own business in East Texas (Nacogdoches, AKA “Nacanowhere”), when my buddy said “move to Houston! It’s awesome!.” I took his advice, packed up, and headed for H-town. I wasn’t there but for a couple of days before he took me to several of the thriving live music venues along Houston’s famed “Richmond Strip”. Among those was a cool little place called the Pig & Whistle.
Keep in mind that prior to living in Houston, I had lived in either small towns or small cities such as Shreveport, Louisiana (I had played in some bands there including The Operators and Broken Glass). Houston, though, was totally different! Huge, alive and sprawling, the city captivated me, along with the pumping live music that was emanating out of the Pig that evening! I’ll never forget watching the band, a Beatle-esque group called the Saltwater Cats, simply ROCK, and feeling the energy of the crowd and the band as they fed off of each other! It was simply magic! Or was that feeling from the Yeagermeister? Well... it doesn’t matter.
What does matter is that It was so compelling I immediately wanted to start playing the professional circuit.
My first inclination was to try out for existing bands, although I already had a sizeable amount of original material from previous endeavors. Wow, what a disappointment! My first experience auditioning was for a band of four very sweaty guys in a 10 x 10 room with no air conditioning–in sweltering 110° heat.
You can imagine how good that smelled. My next tryout was one that included sessions of heavy pot smoking by the auditioners (and subsequent choking---I don’t do drugs). Not for me.
It was obvious that this would be a long and tedious process, and that was not going to work!
So I took the opposite approach. I put an ad in the Houston Press and started auditioning musicians. Before long, I had the lineup in place, and within three weeks started playing out. And our very first gig? The Pig & Whistle! That was one of the most exciting nights of my life. Soon we were also playing some of those originals I had written, and it was even more satisfying for me when people in the “Cover” clubs started to request our originals!
And now... over 12 years later... No Control is still around and better than ever, after thousands of gigs. Oh, and barfights, lost equipment, drunk and disorderly guitar players (ahem, no longer with the band), broken vehicles, 3AM Whataburgers, two “home” towns (first Houston, then Dallas as of 1995), three CDs (all recorded here in Dallas), thousands of fans, flat tires, TV appearances (including Fox4Texas and Austin Public Access), radio gigs (Eagle 97 Local Show, Dallas; 99X Rock Radio, Shreveport; Q102, Dallas), some cool opening gigs (Kansas, 38 Special, Soul Hat, The Byrds), many, many nine volt batteries (for wireless gear), and many, many MANY ex-girlfriends (just kidding!!!).
So what do you get nowadays when you go to a No Control show? A rocking, slamming, passionate performance by seasoned musicians who write and perform melodic, upbeat and thoughtful songs, all with an energy surpassed only by... well, I can’t really think of anyone! Houston Music News describes No Control’s music as “full of emotion and talent.”
So here we are!
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