Zack Shark-GUT,VOX/
Michael Red-VOX & BONE/
A.D Adams-DRUMS/
Glen Horsepower-GUT & HEAD BUTTS/
Dave Shark-GUT/
Ray Benza-BASS/
Cactus Kale-BASS/
Germ-BASS/
Influences
There have been a few running through our bloodstreams......
Sounds Like
Nothing else you've heard.......ever.
Unless...ya know...you were at one of our shows...
Two guitars, bass, drums and a trombone. Twice the carbs, a fat quarter bag, fifth of Patron and a dime of schwag!!! Yeah, that's about right.
Okay...so….you want the real story ? Grab a fuckin’ chair and a cigarette.
Tijuana Poker Sharks were formed in 1999 by Zack Carmicheal (Papa, Arms Of The Sun, Fleshpedal) Lead vocals, guitar and drums……and Ray Benza (HillBilly DevilSpeak, Papa, and plenty others who I can’t name right now) Bass, trumpet, guitar and vocals. While searching for the right lineup, they recorded 2 songs.......Sunshine & Forcefeed. Both songs ended up on a local compilation......All The Rage 2000.
The response from the compilation warranted using friends who were already in other bands, for the already scheduled gigs and what ultimately ended up being the self titled EP.
The first to join was A.D Adams (Glass Hereos, Beat Angels, Rooster & The Hotrods)
local drum god, the next was Kevin Bentz aka Glen Horsepower (Stereotyperider, The Orange, Corrupt Citizen....rip...) Lead Guitarist & Headbutt King, Next was Micheal Red (Sound Of Birds, Sonorous, Papa, Arms of the Sun) Blowing a mean horn and backup vocals (at first).
We re-recorded Forcefeed and a new song Happy as a full band in 2000.
Again, for a compilation including local punk legends JFA, The Filthy Little Bastards & Great Atomic Power.
The Rep did a review of the compilation in which Kerry Lengel said......
The Tijuana Poker Sharks were "the coolest new find."
Of course he also gave a great review for JFA....did you expect anything different ?
Through meeting Mike Strub from Great Atomic Power we ended up recording the self titled EP at his studio Burnt Chrome....which was released in 2001 on 56th ST. Records (A local co-op label including Papa, Arms of the Sun, The Castration Army, Sound Of Birds and of course Tijuana.)
The EP included…….
Happy, Forcefeed, Sunshine…
Wrinkles, Icebox, Oscar and a hidden track…..7…..Hateful by The Clash.
There were a series of shows promoting the EP throughout the end of 2000 through 2001...these are some of them...( I can't remember them all)... The Bash On Ash with Papa....The Rhythm Room with HillyBilly Devilspeak, Papa, Arms Of the Sun and The Castration Army.
I'm trying to do these in order...please excuse me….
Hold on….. I need a Bong hit……..
Okay…better now.
Around this time Ray had decided to focus on Papa and his new project as Hillbilly's 2nd guitar player......which was okay...were all friends and we just happen to have another friend who AD had played with before.
And that was Germ...just Germ....The King of the Indians. (he’s really a wop like me!)
He fell right into Ad's back pocket. Ha Ha....and all was good.
Around this time we started doing a few new songs……..
Annabelle, Driver and Un Ballo…..which brought out the lead singing style of
Michael “Duke” Red.
This was the first among many changes which would alter our sound and reveal to us what was in the cards.
Then....The Rhythm Room again, this time with Beat Angels, The Glory Revival and Papa.
Next was a show that our Drum God (AD) hooked up at the Cajun House (now The Venue of Scottsdale) opening up for The Royal Crown Revue (cool guys..btw....we ended up spending all the gig money +$10 on drinks for Germ's Birthday)
Next was a show at The Emerald (our little punkrock Cheers) with other local favs...Les Payne Product.
It was packed......you couldn't see the person next to you the smoke was so bad.
At this point things are going well.......alcohol consumption is at an all time high yet still....All was good.
But Mexico was on it's way................
You remember that line in Sid & Nancy when Malcolm says concerning Sid Vicious....."he's a fabulous disaster."
Ya.....you get the idea.
Through Papa we played 2 shows in Rocky Point organized by Mark Dicarlo at MAD Industries........which included.….Authority Zero, Redfield, Papa, Hall 13 and again excuse me...I can't remember the rest...too many trips to the Pharmacia. :P
The shows were great with the exception of technical problems...
Glen Horsepower was in rare form..….Headbutts were given out like candy.
Not to be cocky but.....it was tough to follow us...apparently, because they bumped us 2 or 3 slots later into the night, the 2nd show.
Debauchery.....High...Things still good...
But this was the beginning of the disintegration of that lineup and the hiatus no one wanted.
The first to leave was Kevin…
We all had our own drinking/substance issues…whatever…we’re a rock band…
But, the Mexico trip changed all of us in one way or another…and when it came time for business talks & taking it to the next level, anger & frustration won more often than not.
And so an official “break-up” is born…I use “ “ because I felt like it really was over…I was wrong…thank God.
Fast forward to 2004..…
A meeting is held with four of the five members, AD, Mike, Germ and myself.
We all agreed the band was too good…Hell, too much fuckin’ fun, NOT to keep it alive….
But, Germ had prior commitments with Chris Hiatt……
And then it was 3…..
We set out to repair, what we thought, could be one of the most important projects any of us had been involved with, not to be cocky…just confident…
So, as luck sometimes goes……
We were blessed the day my friend, and ex-bandmate (we played together in Fleshpedal in the mid 90s) Dave Barbee aka Dave Shark came in to my place of work (an evil corporate chain)…we hadn’t seen each other in years…but, he was always a badass guitar player, so I asked him to come by and see how it went..…
It went, just like it should.
Many new songs later it’s still going
New songs include……
Vegas, Happy Birthday To Me, Twisting, Save Yourself and many more in the works.
But we still needed some low end to go with the monster behind the drums that we are lucky to have.
Enter Cactus Kale......A super-cool guy that we really hoped was “the guy”…unfortunately, he and AD just never locked in…..most painful decision I’ve been involved with in a long time.
We love you Kale..…
Low end star search continues into ’05……
As I’ve said, there were no hard feelings when anybody left…we are all friends…so, when I recently bumped into Ray again…(the original bass player)…I thought, ‘would he?’…
After a joint or two, we came to an understanding……
So after many trials and tribulations…….
The World Famous Tijuana Poker Sharks are, in effect, BORN AGAIN!!!
Hallelujah to whatever God you hold/holds you sacred !!!!!
Zack Shark
!!!!!!!!!!!! VIVA LOS TIBURONES !!!!!!!!!!!
PS..............
The Tijuana Poker Sharks are not currently together.
Please check out these other bands for music from members of Tijuana.
A.D. Adams- Glass Heroes, Crash Street Kids/
Zack Shark- Reverie, Thee Unfortunates/
Mike Red- Sound Of Birds, Sonorous/
Dave Barbee- The Pugilistics/
Kevin Bentz- Lost In The Sun
Hi Tijuana Poker Sharks, Crash Kelly's NEW CD, "One More Heart Attack" is in stores, on Rhapsody, and Amazon now, please help spread the word!!!
For a listing of U.S. store locations, check out the "Where Can I Get My Crash Kelly CD" blog on the MySpace page!
Rock on!!!
June 7, Thursday - Chicopee, MA @ Maximum Capacity
June 8, Friday - Amherst, MA @ Mercy House
June 9, Saturday - Saratoga Springs, NY @ King's Tavern
June 13, Wednesday - Buffalo, NY @ Club Diablo
June 14, Thursday - Pittsburgh, PA @ 31st St Pub
June 15, Friday - Akron, OH @ Chuck's Steakhouse
June 16, Saturday - Cleveland, OH @ Pat's in the Flats
June 18, Monday - Hamtramck, MI @ The Belmont
June 19, Tuesday - Toledo, OH @ Mickey Finn's Pub
June 20, Wednesday - Chicago, IL @ Cobra Lounge
June 21, Thursday - Dayton, OH @ Pearl
June 22, Friday - Columbus, OH @ Caf? Bourbon Street
June 23, Saturday - Indianapolis, IN @ Melody Inn
June 26, Tuesday - Cincinnati, OH @ Poison Room
June 27, Wednesday - Lexington, KY @ The Dame
June 28, Thursday - Lexington, KY @ CD Central (3pm in-store performance)
June 29, Friday - Knoxville, TN @ Corner Lounge
June 30, Saturday - Atlanta, GA @ Star Bar
July 4, Wednesday - Spartanburg, SC @ Ground Zero
July 5, Thursday - Charlotte, NC @ The Milestone
July 6, Friday - Winston-Salem, NC @ Millennium Ctr. (Heavy Rebel Weekender)
July 7, Saturday - Baltimore, MD @ Sidebar Tavern
July 11, Wednesday - New York, NY @ Lit Lounge
July 12, Thursday - Philadelphia, PA @ Pontiac Grill
July 13, Friday - Smithtown, NY (Venue TBA)
July 14, Saturday - Long Branch, NJ @ Brighton Bar
July 17, Tuesday - Somerville, MA @ Abbey Lounge
July 18, Wednesday - New Haven, CT @ Alchemy
July 19, Thursday - Chicopee, MA @ Maximum Capacity
July 20, Friday - Florence, MA @ Florence VFW
July 21, Saturday - Northampton, MA (Venue TBA)
If you'd like to help promote a show, go to www.thegenders.com (tour dates section)
Hey, how's it going? We haven't been very good at staying in touch recently... Well the latest news is we got a new bass player and well be playing 2 shows in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem this month.
We're planning to go on our next US tour in June and hit Europe also in July/August. It's gonna be a busy year!
Cheers,
The Genders
MERRY CHRISTMAS, happy KWANZA and HAPPY HAUNUKKAH to all our friends! Not to mention a great FESTIVUS (for the rest of us)
See you all in 2007,
Luv
The Genders
No....Zack, don't put the bong down, just hand it to me......
Oh, and..... Pinky The Pussy Benefit was a success...Raised more than enough for Pinky's eye surgery.
(and I got to sing..heehee)
Here are some pics for everyone...............
uuhh, ok....I need to put the bong down!!!
PINKY THE PUSSY BENEFIT - march 2nd(not the 5th, like my dumbass posted!!! all other info correct...SEE YA THERE ! !
H E L L O K I D D I E S ! ! !
Thursday(tomorrow) 3.05.06 @ COUNTERCULTER CAFE (2330 e. McDowell rd.)
***** Benefit for "PINKY" the pussy(it's a cat), who needs an expensive eye surgery...NO COVER-ALL AGES!!
show starts @ 8:00 till around 12mid......
PERFORMING:
SLUTTY PUTTY
THE COMPLAINIACS
acoustic sets by:
CHRIS DOYLE &
ZACK SHARK(...yes, from Tijuana Poker Sharks...r.i.p)
A L S O !
belly dancing & fire - eatin' ! ! !
HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL THERE!!!!!
p.s. rumour has it there is 1 copy of the TIJUANA POKER SHARKS self titled EP(the LAST ONE) I'll be givin' it away for donation to the "pinky" fund...YOU ROCK!!!!
Online Now!
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