"Genius is not the maximization of intelligence, but the minimization of stupidity." -- Mike Davis, 1986Today's Date: Sunday, September 07, 2008
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Last updated: Monday, January 21, 2008
Artist History ==> Web Page 16 of 26
Another major project developed in Dombrovski's TOXIC STUDIOS was Dombrovski's collaboration with singer/songwriter/guitarist Mike "I Am An Antichrist" Davis beginning in January 1995. The partnership was known under the collective moniker "DAMAGE." DAMAGE was a punk/post-punk/alternative/grunge/guitar-driven band with Davis, a Bob Dylan-, Neil Young-, JOHNNY ROTTEN-inspired musician, taking center stage as primary vocalist and lead guitarist. Dombrovski took up rhythm acoustic and electric guitars at this point, and collaborated with Davis writing many songs, including: "God Don't Care About Me," "Maternal Dirigible," "Rural Pain In the Ass," "Lion In My Arms," "Loserville," "Can't Pay the Rent On My Tent," "Got to Fall In Love with You," "Assf*ck of the Headless Corpse," "Move My Atoms," "Reality is Brutality," "The King is Dead, Long Live Me," "Born Hard," "Hum Yourself to Hell," "Johnny Called Collect," "Better Than THE BEATLES, Greater Than BACH, Worse Than Smenkovski," etc.
"Genius is not the maximization of intelligence, but the minimization of stupidity." -- Mike Davis, 1986
"Dombrovski is the TOLSTOY of Rock." -- Anonymous, 1986
DOMBROVSKI: Sheer, unadulterated, comedic genius and Mike Davis are synonymous. Ours was a love/hate relationship. Mike Davis loved me. I hated him. But seriously, I jest. I had so many misfortunes befall me in my tumultuous teenage years, among them meeting Mike Davis in high school.
DOMBROVSKI: Mike Davis and I entered the same Wilmington-DELAWARE-U.S.A. high school when we were 13, and we met in ninth grade. Our high school had a main building and another school building about half a mile away where they would bus the ninth graders for half the day. Mike Davis was in my English class there. Mike Davis was the guy making everyone around him laugh like mad. What can I say? Mike Davis is witty. He was often brutally hilarious. The girls loved it. They couldn't believe how funny he was.
DOMBROVSKI: That's also when I met a guy named "JOHN KEVIN HOPKINS" (R. I. P.) All the kids kept saying, "JOHN HOPKINS is so smart." Well, it was true. HOPKINS took an IQ test in a psychology class, and the teacher said HOPKINS' IQ was the highest he'd ever seen; moreover, I think HOPKINS achieved one of the highest SAT scores ever attained in our high school. The UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE Math Department was actively recruiting HOPKINS afterwards, plus, while at that university, HOPKINS was a pre-med student, and he was a potential candidate for the RHODES SCHOLARSHIP. The man really didn't study either, and he could put down a beer or two, to say the least. HOPKINS was also a drummer.
DOMBROVSKI: Going back to that time in 1981, my claim to fame at 13 was I wore a jean jacket like armor, and I used to party on the school bus before school started, so I was usually catatonic for the first half of ninth grade; HOWEVER, I was seriously into music, and I just started taking drum lessons, although I'd already been playing drums for about two years prior to taking drums lessons. I wasn't completely dead in the head. I had interests outside partying.
DOMBROVSKI: The point of all this is one of the first things I remember about ninth grade was Mike Davis arguing with HOPKINS about who was the better drummer--KEITH MOON of THE WHO or Neil Peart of RUSH. At that point in time, Mike Davis, HOPKINS, and myself all realized we had a mutual passionate interest in music beyond the average high schooler's casual concern with it. That separated us somewhat from the crowd, and we identified with each other in that respect.
DOMBROVSKI: Another debate in high school I remember was Mike Davis and I arguing about who was better--THE BEATLES or BEETHOVEN. I was making the case for BEETHOVEN, but Mike Davis could more than hold his own in an argument. Mike Davis was a well-read rock critic, like a pubescent John Landau or Dave Marsh. Mike Davis knew the history of Rock-n-Roll, its mixture of country and blues in the rural south, and Mike Davis could articulate the relevant musical figures, plus events.
DOMBROVSKI: I'll give you some Mike Davis quotes from high school, when Mike Davis was 16. Need I say more?
1984 -- Mike Davis on Punk Rock:
"It's f*ckin' raw, man. No f*cking surface at all. It's balls out, no bullshit, f*ck music, and I love it."
Lyrics to "Bye, Bye" written by Mike Davis while in high school:
"Senior class president
Bathroom attendant
Dishwasher, car washer
You know where you can send it"
Copyright (C) 1984 by Mike Davis.1984 -- Mike Davis on his lyrics to "Bye, Bye":
"Yes and No. F*ck the public school system, period... On the American Dream, I had the idea that these people think they have some level of importance, which is blatant bullshit."
DOMBROVSKI: Going back, HOPKINS and I formed a little avant-garde/very alternative/left field/extremely underground group circa February 1982, while we were in high school, and we started recording our original material on cassette and reel-to-reel tape. We played some of that material for my father in the summer of 1982, and he said it sounded like a "retard school." "Retard School" had a nice ring to it, so it stuck. "RETARD SCHOOL" became the collective moniker for our recording situation. It was an unpretentious name, plus it heralded the fact that if one dared listen to RETARD SCHOOL, then they were about to learn things they never wanted to know in the first place. The name waived any liability claims against us. In a sense, the name RETARD SCHOOL was an indemnifier proclaiming if you're stupid enough to voluntarily listen to us, then you've knowingly, with full disclosure, and a genuine meeting of minds, agreed to accept the consequences, one of them being the evolutionary hindrance of any mainstream, or tasteful, musical aesthetic you may have been developing.
DOMBROVSKI: It's been said, "Things are best understood not by defining them, but by contrasting them with other things." Well, RETARD SCHOOL certainly increased one's understanding of the banality of the commercial, musical mainstream in vogue during the 1980's because RETARD SCHOOL certainly stood in stark contrast to it. We were literally punks--young, inexperienced, insignificant, and presumptuous little men with too much testosterone who had enough balls to even dare call what we were doing a "band"--RETARD SCHOOL. It was logical we adopted a "do-it-yourself," punk-like ethos. Given our extremely limited musical resources and finances as offspring of blue-collar, working-class proles (none of us could legally work full time at 13 or 14; hence, no real money; hence, sub-par recording equipment and instruments), we knew the only genre we could possibly do justice to, and take to any sort of complete and logical conclusion, on terms we understood, was something punk-like. Any attempt at any other genre would've been disingenuous in the extreme, you know? We abandoned all preconceived notions. At that point in our development, none of us saw the point in trying to act like, or attempting to play like, grown-up, millionaire rock and pop stars with big corporate money behind them. Given that we were under 18, why try to compete? We couldn't even legally drive. None of us even had a bank account. Again, because of our economic circumstances and legal status as minors, RETARD SCHOOL was forced to adopt the "do-it-yourself" punk ethos, but in the end RETARD SCHOOL was RETARD SCHOOL, and nothing else, not even punk. I don't think RETARD SCHOOL's origins can be satisfactorily, nor convincingly, traced to any real outside influence. RETARD SCHOOL was hermaphroditic and godlike in the sense RETARD SCHOOL spawned itself. IT WAS THAT IT WAS, you know? I SUCK, THEREFORE I AM.
DOMBROVSKI: To be precise, HOPKINS and I took on the name "RETARD SCHOOL" after we cut the now-extremely-underground classic single "Newspaper" sometime in the summer of 1982, when HOPKINS and I were 14. Again, we played "Newspaper" for my father, and he said it sounded like a "retard school." "Newspaper" appeared on an extended-play, reel-to-reel recording named Preschool by RETARD SCHOOL. That recording contained guest appearances by my brother Dave Anthony and my cousin John Slawski (pronounced "Swahv-skee" in Polish). Next, RETARD SCHOOL cut a full-length recording, which was entitled Volume I, released in April 1983, when HOPKINS and I were 15. That recording (Volume I) contained several tracks recorded between February 1982 and prior to the recording of Preschool by RETARD SCHOOL, Preschool being recorded in the summer of 1982; however, Volume I by RETARD SCHOOL also contained additional tracks recorded after the release of Preschool, which explains the subsequent April 1983 release date of Volume I. There were guest appearances on Volume I by: Dave Anthony (my brother), Tom Lennon, Chris Noonan, Bob Enloe, and Bernie Harrison. Tracks from Volume I by RETARD SCHOOL include: "Dog Day," "An Interview with Mr. Dick," "Doo-Doo-Dee-Doo," "Bong-Bong-Bong... Bong-Bong," "Hour of the Proctorator," "Yellow Snow," "The More I Play with It, The More I Like It," and "Mr. Dick Interviews a Drummer."
DOMBROVSKI: Volume I was followed up with Instrumental School by RETARD SCHOOL, which was recorded from August 1983 through October 1983. My brother Dave Anthony made a guest appearance on that recording. Guitarist and high-school classmate Tony Panaccione also made a guest appearance. More on Tony Panaccione later... Tracks from Instrumental School by RETARD SCHOOL include: "Hoppy HOPKINS' No Bongos," "I Stink," "Drummer's Nightmare," and "Hamcob Impressions Relief."
DOMBROVSKI: 1983 was the year when Mike Davis entered RETARD SCHOOL's sphere of influence. I don't know exactly when Mike Davis began playing guitar; however, in late 1983, after Mike Davis just turned 16, he and I recorded a death-metal track entitled "Ode to The Exorcist," which was released under the group pseudonym "MIKE POORE AND HIS COMMUNIST ATHEIST SYMPATHIZERS." Mike Davis was on guitar and I was on drums, keyboards, and voices. Together, "Ode to the Exorcist" and the name "MIKE POORE AND HIS COMMUNIST ATHEIST SYMPATHIZERS" were an allegorical recognition of the occult origins of the revolutionary faith. MAY DAY!
DOMBROVSKI: Sometime in 1983, independent of my collaboration with Mike Davis on "Ode to the Exorcist," HOPKINS and I, still under the collective moniker RETARD SCHOOL, recorded the extremely underground classic single "She's Me." Like everything we did in our pubescent years, it was a complete commercial failure (RETARD SCHOOL failed to sell a single copy of anything), but artistically triumphant. In a sense, RETARD SCHOOL rivaled Michael Jackson. Whereas Michael Jackson broke records for most recordings sold, RETARD SCHOOL broke records for most recordings NEVER sold. After the release and absolute commercial failure of "She's Me," I asked Mike Davis to join RETARD SCHOOL. Part of the impetus for that proposal was learning of the vanguard original song "Talking Freak Show Massacre Blues" written by Mike Davis whilst Mike Davis was in high school. Again, I asked Mike Davis to join RETARD SCHOOL in an attempt to renew and invigorate what I felt were becoming flaccid attempts on HOPKINS' and my part to keep RETARD SCHOOL a viable, extremely underground artistic vehicle. Mike Davis proved more than worthy to the task and brought an aggressive posture to the band. It was very late 1983, possibly very early January 1984, when Mike Davis, HOPKINS, and I, all at age 16, recorded the now-extremely-underground classic "Behavioral Sink." The song opens with the immediately recognizable and physically exhilarating, guitar-at-tube-melting, maximum-volume explosion provided by Mike Davis. My primal screams in the verse contrasted with the gentle lullabies of HOPKINS' chorus. Mike Davis said "Behavioral Sink" galvanized the frustration with and contempt for life in the STATE OF DELAWARE. RETARD SCHOOL wasn't afraid to break the unspoken taboo of probing the bitter, outer anxieties of contemporary, blue-collar, working-class existence; however, RETARD SCHOOL spent a lot of time laughing at society, too. Politically, we were advocating marriage at age 14 and a happy death at 30.
DOMBROVSKI: What's interesting about "Behavioral Sink" by RETARD SCHOOL is it's extremely GRUNGY and definitely ALTERNATIVE; moreover, given it was recorded in very late 1983, possibly very early January 1984, it predates NIRVANA and mainstream acceptance of the grunge and alternative genres by over six years. RETARD SCHOOL was alternative long before alternative became fashionable because RETARD SCHOOL had no alternative.
DOMBROVSKI: "Behavioral Sink" ended up on an early-1984 RETARD SCHOOL retrospective recording entitled We Ain't Just Meat. We Ain't Just Meat summarized RETARD SCHOOL's early career, which began in 1982, with past material from that era and also included new material, with "Behavioral Sink" amongst said new material. On February 6, 1984, Mike Davis and I gave an interview to the extremely underground high school press in which I proclaimed the death of RETARD SCHOOL. On February 18, 1984, I issued a statement, as I was the dominant member of the group, explaining the dissolution of RETARD SCHOOL.
DOMBROVSKI: After this first dissolution of RETARD SCHOOL, Mike Davis and I would continue recording in 1984. Three songs I remember recording were: "Jumpin' Jack Flash" by THE ROLLING STONES, "Light My Fire" by THE DOORS, and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by THE BEATLES. Those cover songs consisted of guitar, drums, and vocals. We could never find a damn bassist.
DOMBROVSKI: Sometime in 1985, Mike Davis and I resurrected RETARD SCHOOL without HOPKINS and with fellow guitarist, vocalist, and high-school classmate Tony Panaccione making a special appearance. Tony and I had already been recording together since the summer of 1983, and that situation was identified under the collective moniker "THE TONY PANACCIONE GROUP."
DOMBROVSKI: Tony Panaccione was a lyrical genius, and he more than compensated for the loss of HOPKINS' creative input. The following is an example of Tony Panaccione's absolute lyrical brilliance:
Death of a Cow
Poor girl, chewing your
Regurgitated cud
Why do you weep?
Are your milk-giving days over?
Many times I have
Robbed your teats of
The unblemished Juice
You provide your kind.
Now that you die,
You rob me of my dignity.
Go meet your Maker and face
The eternal bliss He has
Prepared for you.
Copyright (C) 1985 by Tony Panaccione.
DOMBROVSKI: With RETARD SCHOOL now consisting of Mike Davis and myself, with Tony Panaccione making a guest appearance, we recorded what is now glowingly referred to as The Geniuses for Africa Sessions. The songs from those sessions included: "If You're Gonna' F*ck, You've Gotta' Farm," "Terminator," "Don't Burn My Neck," and "Joanne." That material ended up on a compilation recording released on October 30, 1985, entitled Raunchy, Smutty, and Just Plain F*cking Weird, which contained various artists, RETARD SCHOOL amongst them.
DOMBROVSKI: Mike Davis, HOPKINS, and I graduated from high school in June 1985. HOPKINS was working at a video store named "VIDEOSITIES," and he helped get me a job there in August 1985. Eventually, HOPKINS quit, and I helped Mike Davis get a job at VIDEOSITIES. HOPKINS was in college studying and partying at THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE. Mike Davis and I went off to college, too, and we were both working part-time at that video store, so music was put on hold for a bit in late 1985; however, just after New Year's Day on January 2nd, 1986, probably around 12:01 a.m., Mike Davis and I were back together recording.
DOMBROVSKI: Those RETARD SCHOOL sessions were known as The New Year's Sessions, but Mike Davis liked to call them the Liquid Sessions because the most inspiring musical influence there was alcohol. We took an acoustic approach at those sessions--no keyboards, no electric guitars, only acoustic guitar, percussion, vocals, and alcohol. Original material recorded from those sessions included: "Schizophrenic Poem," "Shit and Tit," "Go F*ck Yourself," "Love Hate Love," and "Piece of Cheese."
DOMBROVSKI: "Piece of Cheese"--Mike Davis provided a very outside, beatnik acoustic guitar accompaniment to "Piece of Cheese," which became somewhat of a pagan, underground cult classic in our little circle, so I'll quote the lyrics:
Piece of Cheese
Boring holes in the house of mass glory
Leaving the wild fields of questionless faith
Collectively a scraper of great stories
Full of traps set with dimensionless bait
I look and see the animals' degree
Their instincts alert and keen to evil
Concerning themselves with only the grass
No miscontents with indescribables
But there is something beyond the spirits
Just fight greedily for your piece of cheese
That is wonder upon what the Gods do feed
Try to satisfy your need to believe
Bore your little cubbyholes
Take from the Gods bits of fire
Quenching the thirst of your souls
Though mad angels conspire
Oh, most Holy Divine Magnitude
Can't make fun of that which I can't perceive
We made a spectacle of solitude
In my immortality I believe
Copyright (C) 1985 by Joseph William III, Dombrovski.
DOMBROVSKI: After January 2, 1986, Mike Davis, Tony Panaccione, and I would record a tune entitled "Kick Me In the Nuts," which was included in the RETARD SCHOOL catalog given the song's intrinsic stupidity. Mike Davis would continue recording with me and separately with backup guitarist and vocalist Mike Poore through March 4, 1986. Some of the material Mike Davis recorded separately, outside RETARD SCHOOL, included: "Trust Yourself" by Bob Dylan; "Mannish Boy" by MUDDY WATERS; "Cortez the Killer" by Neil Young; and "Blowin' in the Wind" by Bob Dylan. Mike Davis (electric guitar, vocals), Mike Poore (electric guitar), my brother Dave Anthony (drums), and I (drums, vocals) recorded "Ziggy Stardust" by David Bowie and a RETARD SCHOOL original entitled "Cacophony" sometime before March 4, 1986. When the session that included "Cacophony" ended, RETARD SCHOOL officially ended as far as I'm aware; however, that's not to say something won't turn up in the archives, although I am fairly certain RETARD SCHOOL's existence cannot extend beyond March 4, 1986. All the above material ended up on an extremely underground compilation recording released on March 4, 1986, entitled Basement and Bedroom Recordings, which contained various artists, RETARD SCHOOL amongst them.
DOMBROVSKI: Also appearing on Basement and Bedroom Recordings, although Mike Davis and I were no longer calling ourselves RETARD SCHOOL (because the two of us were now a separate, nameless musical unit looking to hit the DELAWARE club circuit), were cover songs Mike Davis and I recorded, using electric guitar, drums, and voice, including: "Old Man" by Neil Young; "Mother" by JOHN LENNON; "Heart of Gold" by Neil Young; "Highway 61 Revisited" by Bob Dylan; "Sedan Delivery" by Neil Young; and "Sail Away" by Neil Young. We also recorded an original written by Mike Davis and me entitled "Cambodian Babies."
DOMBROVSKI: Beginning on March 10, 1986, Mike Davis and I recorded four originals co-written by the two of us: "Shuttlecockless Badminton," "Dance with Me Tonight," "Birthday Card," and "Sing to Maria"--again, using electric guitar, drums, and voice. We still didn't have a damn bassist, and we were thinking about playing live in the DELAWARE club circuit. Sometime after March 10, 1986, a co-worker at the video store where Mike Davis and I worked suggested we get together with a guy named "Bill Smenkovski" who played bass. I met Smenkovski on June 3, 1986. Smenkovski was 24, about six years older than Mike Davis and me, the two of us being 18. Smenkovski had been in the band "FAR CRY," and he was currently in a band named "MOTHER JUDGE," which was in the process of breaking up. On June 5, 1986, Mike Davis, Bill Smenkovski, and I jammed together; however, by June 22, 1986, I was drumming in a different band with Bill Smenkovski, which was to become THE MERGE and then RAEL. Mike Davis continued writing, singing, and playing guitar without me.
DOMBROVSKI: As far as I can remember, I was out of Mike Davis' music scene from about July 1986 until sometime between July 1987 and December 1987, because I was so busy drumming with THE MERGE a.k.a. RAEL. Although I was drumming in RAEL, sometime between July 1987 and December 1987, Mike Davis and I collaborated on two songs: "The City" and "Love and Pain." Next, Mike Davis and I wrote and recorded a song entitled "All I Put You Through," and we finished it on April 13, 1988, when we were 20. That song is predominantly Mike Davis' creation.
DOMBROVSKI: Mike Davis kept singing, writing, playing guitar, and recording because I have a copy of his ten-song demo dated September 1, 1988. Mike Davis and I collaborated on a song entitled "One by One," dated December 29, 1988. On January 6, 1989, Mike Davis and I had a song in progress entitled "Baby, Baby, Take My Hand." By March 1989, the band RAEL, which I drummed in, no longer existed. I talked to Mike Davis on March 12, 1989, and he was playing guitar in another band getting ready to gig. I was drumming in the heavy metal band EXXESS at that time, plus working on my solo recording project with producer Vince Eoppolo. On May 13, 1989, I saw Mike Davis perform live on guitar with his band at a Wilmington-DELAWARE-U.S.A. club named "STUFFED SHIRTS." Mike Davis' band was a good, twangy, college band, and they had the club shakin' and movin'. The band played lots of cover songs. The crowd loved it.
DOMBROVSKI: Near the end of May 1990, the heavy metal band I was drumming in disbanded, and in August 1990, I was drumming in the PINK FLOYD tribute group ECHOES. On March 30, 1991, ECHOES did a big gig at the CORPUS CHRISTI Social Hall in Elsmere, DELAWARE, U.S.A. Mike Davis and his girlfriend were there in the audience.
DOMBROVSKI: In September 1991, I was in Boston, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., attending BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC, but I was in contact with Mike Davis. In January 1992, I was in Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., and in April 1992, I was back in DELAWARE, U.S.A. I was involved in several different bands and recording projects before Mike Davis and I would work together again in 1994.
DOMBROVSKI: The point of all this is Mike Davis and I had a LONG history, going back to 1981, when we were 13 and 14, of discussing, writing, and recording music together LONG before we decided to form the group "DAMAGE." One major event preceded our forming the group DAMAGE. Circa December 1994, I realized come June 1995, it would be 10 years since HOPKINS, Mike Davis, Tony Panaccione, and I graduated from the same Wilmington-DELAWARE-U.S.A. high school. Each of us was now 27, and I figured a RETARD SCHOOL reunion in the form of a 10-plus-year retrospective interview would be interesting. As a result, Mike Davis and I produced a 36-minute recording entitled RETARD SCHOOL Remembers: No F*ckin' Bass, which was a 10-plus-year retrospective featuring interviews with past band members, plus music by RETARD SCHOOL. It was recorded at my TOXIC STUDIOS in Stanton, DELAWARE, U.S.A., beginning on December 9, 1994, and ending on January 15, 1995. A copy of RETARD SCHOOL REMEMBERS: No F*ckin' Bass was given to a guy named "Bradley" who wanted to broadcast it on BARD COLLEGE's radio station in NEW YORK, U.S.A., about 90 miles from New York City. There's a pretty good chance it actually was broadcasted.
DOMBROVSKI: Getting back to DAMAGE, Mike Davis writes a well-crafted song with an edge, both musically and lyrically. I'd been hearing evidence of that since before he wrote "Talking Freak Show Massacre Blues" circa 1983, plus I could never forget his later "Jack the Rabbit Freeloading Blues." Additionally, Mike Davis is the only mathematical guitar genius I've ever run into who doesn't offend my intestinal nervousness with his rear guard sound. With all that in mind, it was on January 4, 1995, in the midst of recording RETARD SCHOOL Remembers: No F*ckin' Bass, that Mike Davis and I talked about getting together to write some songs again. On January 9, 1995, Mike Davis and I were working on an original song entitled "You Are Not A Memory."
DOMBROVSKI: Although my principal instrument was the drums, I'd been messing about on guitar probably since I was 10 or 11. I'd always had a cheap acoustic or electric guitar around to mess about with, which I used to record some of the guitars for RETARD SCHOOL. In high school, Mike Davis sold me a HARMONY electric guitar he probably bought at SEARS. On January 11, 1995, fellow musician Vince Eoppolo sold me a PEAVEY T-60 electric guitar and a Bucci custom-made electric guitar. The point being, I was playing more guitar than drums at that time. On January 20 and 27, 1995, Mike Davis and I were working on more songs. On February 13, 1995, we wrote "God Don't Care About Me."
DOMBROVSKI: On February 17, 1995, Mike Davis and I discussed the feasibility of putting a band together. Mike Davis would be on lead vocals and lead guitar, and I would on backing vocals and guitar. I called our ex-high school classmate and former-RETARD SCHOOL band mate JOHN KEVIN HOPKINS to ask if he was interested in playing drums for the group. On February 18, 1995, HOPKINS said, "Yes."
DOMBROVSKI: All we needed now was a bass player, and getting one became an ordeal. On February 28, 1995, Mike Davis and I asked Bill Smenkovski, the bass player we jammed with about 10 years before on June 5, 1986, if he'd like to play bass with us. Smenkovski said he'd consider. On March 7, 1995, Mike Davis, Bill Smenkovski, and I played together, but Smenkovski wasn't interested. On March 4, 1995, HOPKINS said he'd found a 19-year-old girl named "Cassie" who played bass, and she said we could rehearse at her house. I was supposed to meet Cassie through HOPKINS, but as of March 16, 1995, HOPKINS still hadn't arranged the meeting nor talked to Cassie again. On March 17, 1995, HOPKINS told me to come to Newark, DELAWARE, U.S.A., because we were going to meet Cassie at the Newark Diner on Main Street. Well, HOPKINS and I sat at that diner, but Cassie never showed up. On March 19, 1995, I spoke to Cassie myself on the phone, and we agreed to meet on March 24, 1995, at 7 p.m., at the Newark Diner on Main Street in Newark. On March 23, 1995, I left a message with Cassie's mother to confirm the 7 p.m. meeting Cassie and I scheduled for March 24, 1995. The next day, I called Cassie and left a message on March 24 to again confirm our meeting that night. Cassie called back later and left a message saying she couldn't make it because she didn't have a car. I tried calling her back to tell I could pick her up in my truck; however, her brother picked up the phone instead, and he said she was sleeping, then he said she's not here. Finally, I talked to Cassie at 6:45 p.m., which was 15 minutes before our previously-scheduled and agreed-upon meeting, and she finally admitted she couldn't make it because she was going to a show instead. She wanted to get together another time. I talked to Mike Davis, and we decided this girl was not serious. That was that. We never bothered with her again because, although HOPKINS said Cassie was 19, in reality, Mike Davis and I discovered she was only a 15-year-old girl. Mike Davis and I began wondering about HOPKINS' judgment.
DOMBROVSKI: I'm not sure when Mike Davis and I decided DAMAGE should be the name of our musical endeavor, but I know on November 6, 1993, I wrote down the name "DAMAGE" in a notebook.
Dombrovski and Davis originally intended for DAMAGE to be a live act, and the band actually rehearsed in April 1995; however, their drummer, JOHN KEVIN HOPKINS, died at age 28 in January 1996, a victim of liver disease, the disease itself very likely the result of heavy alcohol and substance abuse.
HOPKINS had been friend to both Dombrovski and Davis since all three were approximately 13 years old, each entering the same DELAWARE-U.S.A. high school in 1981. Throughout 1995, beginning in January, almost 14 years later, when Dombrovski and Davis first began their DAMAGE collaboration, the two foresaw the dire fate quickly descending upon their disturbed friend and drummer HOPKINS. Dombrovski and Davis took this as an inauspicious omen, and sometime in August 1995, the idea of DAMAGE ever performing live, for all intents and purposes, was abandoned. Also, in March 1995, Dombrovski seriously considered selling all of his TOXIC STUDIOS' recording gear so he could concentrate on songwriting and performing live as a rhythm guitarist with DAMAGE; however, given the difficulties turning DAMAGE into a live act, Dombrovski and Davis, in August 1995, decided changing DAMAGE into a strictly studio-based band would be more productive.
DOMBROVSKI: Oh yeah, I wanted to play out live again with a band, so much so that on March 26, 1995, I was prepared to sell all the recording gear in my $30,000+ USD, home recording/project studio. I felt like my reclusive recording and engineering self-apprenticeship was over. I didn't want to spread myself too thin in a band situation. I didn't want to be responsible for producing, engineering, and recording the band's music in addition to being the band's backing vocalist and guitarist, plus songwriter. I thought going into a commercial studio to record would allow me to focus solely on making music, while someone else attended to the recording/engineering chores. Given that I was prepared to make the band a priority, I didn't think I'd have much use for a fairly complete home recording/project studio, and I didn't want the equipment just sitting there collecting dust. I didn't think Mike Davis and I needed all that recording gear just to cut effective demos. I felt all the recording technology ended up being more of a distraction for me because it got me thinking more in terms of how certain things should be recorded rather than thinking about making the music itself.
DOMBROVSKI: I actually did sell some equipment and left other equipment up for sale, but some friends convinced me I was crazy. They said just keep the gear, and if you're not using it, just let it sit there unused until you need it again. So I stopped selling gear and did just that. Later, that would prove useful for Mike Davis and me after we gave up on the idea of performing live with the band.
DOMBROVSKI: I had a lot of band equipment stored at my grandmother's house, and on March 31, 1995, Mike Davis and I moved all that gear to Mike's shed. On April 1, 1995, Mike Davis, HOPKINS, and I rehearsed without a bassist at Mike Davis' house. Given the smallness of that house, the proximity of the neighbors, and the sheer volume of the band, Mike Davis and I knew this was not a good idea. We were going to eventually have to find a better rehearsal space to continue. That never happened.
DOMBROVSKI: On April 3, 1995, Mike Davis and I wrote a "Seeking Bassist" advertisement. On April 4, 1995, I talked to a bassist named John Hedges, whom I played drums with in a DELAWARE high-school production of Grease back in May 1989. John was interested in jamming with Mike Davis and me. We arranged a future date for that.
DOMBROVSKI: On April 8, 1995, Mike Davis, HOPKINS, and I again rehearsed without a bassist at Mike's house. The three of us rehearsed there again on April 15, 1995. The second time, we had to pay HOPKINS $20 USD to show up.
DOMBROVSKI: On April 18, 1995, Mike Davis and I jammed with bassist John Hedges at my apartment, but John wasn't interested. I think the main reason John wasn't interested was John wanted to walk into a more developed, paying situation. DAMAGE was in too much of an extremely embryonic stage of development.
DOMBROVSKI: On April 22, 1995, Mike Davis, HOPKINS, and I rehearsed again at Mike's house, but this was to be the last time. Mike's house was in too residential an area, and we were too loud. Plus, that house was too damned cramped, and it was a pain-in-the-ass having to re-organize and put back all the furniture every time we finished rehearsing. We also had to tear down all the equipment and keep putting it all back in Mike Davis' shed every time we rehearsed. There were just a lot of hassles incidental to that small house. It was designed for a very small family, not a band.
DOMBROVSKI: Some of the artists whose songs I remember learning were: HUSKER DU, THE BREEDERS, THE CLASH, and Bruce Springsteen.
DOMBROVSKI: On April 22, 1995, HOPKINS said he knew of a better place to rehearse and store our equipment; however, on April 29, 1995, HOPKINS said that was a bad idea. Mike Davis and I were writing originals, and on May 5, 1995, we quickly recorded a cassette demo of "God Don't Care About Me," which was actually written earlier in February 1995. On May 27, 1995, Mike Davis and I returned all the band equipment of mine I was storing in Mike's shed back to my grandmother's house. We went to a library to do some research on rehearsal spaces, but had no luck. We even checked a recording industry sourcebook, but there wasn't much listed for DELAWARE, U.S.A., or for PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., at least not anything within reasonable driving distance.
DOMBROVSKI: On May 29, 1995, I worked on a "Seeking Bassist" flyer, but by May 30, 1995, I told Mike Davis I was abandoning the band project. Things were not off to an auspicious start, that was for sure. We were having a very tough time finding a bassist, and another problem was our drummer HOPKINS' health. Mike Davis and I knew HOPKINS' wasn't looking good. HOPKINS wasn't the same guy we knew in high school. I visited HOPKINS on June 30, 1995, in Newark, DELAWARE, U.S.A., and HOPKINS was strung out on booze and pills, plus vomiting in the street. HOPKINS was putting on a lot of weight, too--I think as a result of damage to his health due to the many substances he was ingesting without restraint.
DOMBROVSKI: HOPKINS and I were like brothers in high school. We had most of our classes together, and we hung out a lot after school. We did a lot of growing up together. After we graduated from high school, we drifted apart a little because we attended different colleges, and I was very busy with music, but not so completely apart we didn't still hang out now and then. We sporadically kept in touch on the phone, too. We graduated from the same high school in June 1985, and there we were 10 years later in June 1995. A lot of things happened to each of us individually in those 10 years. I didn't expect HOPKINS, being as demonstrably intelligent as he was, to be in such dire straits at this point in his life. It was hard for me to reconcile the HOPKINS I once knew with the bloated, vomiting HOPKINS of June 1995; that caused me to fail to accurately assess the seriousness of HOPKINS' situation. Hey, a friend doesn't get in the way of another friend's good times, right? I thought this was something HOPKINS was going to pull out of, you know? I didn't want HOPKINS thinking I thought he was weak, or he was stupid, or he couldn't handle his liquor. Like I said, I thought HOPKINS would pull out of it because I remember dropping him off at an A.A. (ALCHOHOLICS ANONYMOUS) meeting on December 31, 1994. Based on that, it looked to me HOPKINS was taking steps to solve his problems, but I wasn't with HOPKINS enough on a day-to-day basis to understand HOPKINS would be dead within seven months of June 1995. I didn't understand HOPKINS was actually in the midst of a crisis because it didn't always look that way. Sometimes HOPKINS was perfectly coherent, but things were getting more up and down as time went by.
DOMBROVSKI: HOPKINS was living in Newark, which is where the UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE (U of D) is, and where HOPKINS attended university. Newark likes to party, being the college town that it is, and sometimes all that partying exacts a toll. There were some interesting scenes in Newark in the summer of 1995. Mike Davis and I weren't part of those scenes, but HOPKINS was. Things were getting tough for HOPKINS in Newark, though. He was feeling more and more alienated because he was 27 and was attending university off and on; however, most of the kids going to university there were rarely more than 21. What was fresh and exciting to them was becoming very old hat for HOPKINS. He was suffering from anxiety attacks as a result.
DOMBROVSKI: Anyway, on May 30, 1995, I told Mike Davis I was abandoning the band project, but on July 9, 1995, about a month later, I talked to Mike Davis about trying to resurrect the band. On July 10, 1995, I hung up "Bassist Wanted" flyers at a place named RAINBOW RECORDS in Newark, DELAWARE, U.S.A. On July 11, 1995, I hung up "Bassist Wanted" flyers in ACCENT MUSIC in Newark, DELAWARE, and MID-ATLANTIC MUSIC in Wilmington, DELAWARE. On July 12, 1995, I was seriously considering playing bass myself. Mike Davis liked the idea because it was extremely pragmatic. On July 15, 1995, Mike Davis and I went to GEORGE'S MUSIC in Springfield, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., to look at basses. We also went to MEDLEY MUSIC in Bryn Mawr, PENNSYLVANIA, to check out basses. Also, on July 13, 1995, I found a guy in DELAWARE named Jamie who had a rehearsal space available for $260 USD a month. Mike Davis and I never made any effort towards getting that rehearsal space because we didn't have a bassist yet, and I think HOPKINS' status as drummer was seriously in question due to his declining health. The idea of me playing bass kinda' fizzled out. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to be a bassist when push came to shove.
DOMBROVSKI: On August 3, 1995, a bassist named Randy gave Mike Davis a call; however, Randy proved difficult to pin down, so that didn't work out. Regarding bassists, we were in a beggars-can't-be-choosers position. You have to remember, Mike Davis, HOPKINS, and I had a LONG history together going back to 1981 and 1982, and here we were about 14 years later. Whomever we found to fill the bassist position would probably feel like the outsider. That was a discouraging concern. Mike Davis and I didn't want to feel like we had to take any bassist that just came along, but given the almost-zero response to our "Bassist Wanted" flyers we were being forced to take that route. We weren't sure if the first bassist to come along would necessarily be someone we could get along with, too. Then another problem occurred. On August 25, 1995, HOPKINS was in rehab. On August 27, 1995, HOPKINS was out of rehab, and I dropped him off at a train station. He wandered off to FLORIDA, U.S.A.
DOMBROVSKI: Given the problems with finding a bassist and the problems with our now-very-tentative drummer HOPKINS' deteriorating physical and mental health, Mike Davis and I decided in late August 1995 to simply become a recording band in my home project studio. It was the cleanest, most pragmatic, and a relatively hassle-free way to produce something musical. Mike Davis would cover the majority of the guitars, including lead guitar, plus bass, and vocals. I would cover the drums, rhythm guitars, keyboards, and backing vocals. Mike Davis and I had been writing lots of original songs since January 1995 [SEE introductory paragraph above to "DAMAGE: 1995" section], so having original material to record wasn't a problem. We began recording in September 1995.
The first outcome of Mike Davis' and Dombrovski's musical tribulations and travails was a recording produced and engineered by Dombrovski containing four tracks. Oblivion: (Opus One) by DAMAGE was recorded from September 1995 through November 1995 at Dombrovski's TOXIC STUDIOS in Stanton, DELAWARE, U.S.A., and contained the tracks: "Praeludium," "Gas Rag," "I Am God," "Arms of Oblivion" (Mike Davis alluding to HOPKINS' unstoppable, oncoming demise), and "Computer Lover." Dombrovski and Davis were the only musicians on the recording.
DOMBROVSKI: Mike Davis and I had written a lot of songs beginning in January 1995, and we whittled down our growing song catalog to the four we enjoyed singing the most and accompanying with acoustic guitars in my living room. We wanted to pick the songs that spoke well on their own and then enhance them with studio production.
DOMBROVSKI: "Praeludium" is exactly that. It's a soft, acoustic prelude and contrast to prepare the listener for the maniacal, sonic blitzkrieg of "Gas Rag." "Gas Rag" is the musical equivalent of SCOTT JOPLIN piloting a German Messerschmitt BF-109 and aiming straight for your skull.
DOMBROVSKI: "I Am God"--This is an acoustic one about living the vicarious life as our Lord and Saviour whilst applying to the secular world the moral truths of the property-trading game Monopoly by PARKER BROTHERS.
DOMBROVSKI: "Arms of Oblivion"--Mike Davis was alluding to HOPKINS' worsening condition in an Adult-Oriented-Rock fashion, as this is primarily Mike's song. The substances HOPKINS was ingesting were getting harder and harder. HOPKINS was back from FLORIDA, U.S.A., and on October 11, 1995, HOPKINS was back in rehab. I let HOPKINS live with me for two weeks when he got out. On October 23, 1995, HOPKINS found a place to live in Wilmington, DELAWARE, U.S.A., right in the city; however, by October 25, 1995, he was back in rehab. All this was going on while Mike Davis and I were recording. HOPKINS was looking really bloated and some of his behavior was really strange while he was living at my apartment.
DOMBROVSKI: "Computer Lover"--This one's a bluesy-rocker about messages of love sent via two coffee cans attached by a really long string and nothing in the messages getting lost along the way.
DOMBROVSKI: Overall, I would describe the sound of Oblivion: (Opus One) as underground-alternative rock. It was pretty satisfying getting something recorded, although the recording wouldn't be mastered until November 15, 1996, about a year later. Anyway, from January 1995, until the time this recording was finished in late November 1995, a lot of crap went down.
Dust: (Opus Two, 1996) by DAMAGE was recorded from July 1996 through November 1996 at Dombrovski's TOXIC STUDIOS in Stanton, DELAWARE, U.S.A., and contained the tracks: "College Town," "Skunked," "Roses Are Dead," and "She's a Dick." Dust: (Opus Two, 1996) contained guest appearances from recording artist Mario Padovani (piano, backing vocals, keyboards) and the late JOHN KEVIN HOPKINS (laughter and mayhem backing track on "Skunked"). Other than these two guest appearances, Dombrovski and Davis were the only musicians on the recording. The previously-mentioned gold-and-platinum-record chief mastering engineer Peter Humphreys mastered both demo recordings (Oblivion and Dust) at MASTERWORK RECORDING, Inc. in Philadelphia, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A. Both DAMAGE recordings were released in December 1996.
DOMBROVSKI: As soon as our first recording, Oblivion, was completed in November 1995, Mike Davis and I continued writing more songs. HOPKINS' condition wasn't getting better. On December 16, 1995, I let HOPKINS stay with me; however, the next day he wanted to return to Newark, DELAWARE, U.S.A. Mike Davis and I continued writing throughout December 1995.
DOMBROVSKI: The new year 1996 came, and on January 6, 1996, I hung out with HOPKINS in Newark, DELAWARE, U.S.A., on Choate Street in an apartment he was temporarily occupying and watching for someone on vacation. HOPKINS seemed OK. I didn't notice anything drastically different about his generally deteriorating health; that is, I didn't notice any great acceleration in the rate. That was the last time I ever saw JOHN KEVIN HOPKINS alive. The next day, DELAWARE had a 1-in-13,000 snowstorm, or rather, a record-breaking blizzard. I had three feet of snow on my apartment patio. On January 8, 1996, DELAWARE was under a state of emergency. On January 12, 1996, Mike Davis and I were writing more songs. On February 1, 1996, JOHN KEVIN HOPKINS' mother called to inform me JOHN KEVIN HOPKINS was dead at age 28. I immediately called Mike Davis. Mike Davis wasn't surprised, but the news still had a very somber effect. HOPKINS' official date of death was listed as January 31, 1996.
DOMBROVSKI: It took some time before the finality of HOPKINS' dying hit me. It started to dawn on me that we were as close as brothers in high school, and we did a lot of growing up together. I knew at age 28 I could never go through the things I went through in those teenage years growing up with HOPKINS with anyone else ever again. It was too late for that. Those years were gone forever, and no one gets too many close friends. It was a real loss for me. The next day, on February 2, 1996, I visited HOPKINS' mother. Oh man, that was very, very, very sad.
DOMBROVSKI: On February 3, 1996, Mike Davis, Tony Panaccione, and I had a dinner in HOPKINS' remembrance. On February 4, 1996, Mike Davis and I went to HOPKINS' "viewing," although it was closed casket. When HOPKINS' body was found it was in pretty bad condition. One thing I remember about that February was it was very, very cold outside. At night, the temperature was between minus-three-degrees Fahrenheit and minus-ten-degrees Fahrenheit. On February 5, 1996, I went to JOHN KEVIN HOPKINS' funeral. I gave a little speech on the podium for those in attendance. Again, it was just an extremely sad day.
DOMBROVSKI: On February 11, 1996, Mike Davis and I were working on, arranging, and rehearsing songs for our next DAMAGE recording, which was to become Dust: (Opus Two, 1996). On February 23, 1996, I went to a Catholic Mass for HOPKINS at ALL SAINTS CEMETERY in Wilmington, DELAWARE, U.S.A. On March 10, 1996, I learned HOPKINS died of liver disease.
DOMBROVSKI: March 1996 was when Mike Davis and I began recording again. This continued until April 13, 1996, when my TASCAM DA-88 8-track digital recorder began dropping information like mad, meaning whatever Mike Davis and I recorded digitally would not play back correctly. Everything we recorded in March 1996 and April 1996 had to be scrapped. Mike Davis and I continued writing more songs. I sent my TASCAM DA-88 back to TEAC FACTORY SERVICE on June 24, 1996. Mike Davis and I began planning for our next attempt at our second recording on June 23, 1996. From late June 1996 through July 1996, I worked on drum parts for our various songs. By July 19, 1996, my TASCAM DA-88 8-track digital recorder was back from factory service, and Mike Davis and I began recording the tracks for Dust. We finished on November 28, 1996.
DOMBROVSKI: JOHN KEVIN HOPKINS made a post-mortem cameo appearance on the track "Skunked." Going back to October 22, 1994, HOPKINS and I recorded a raucous laughter-and-mayhem piece entitled "Shits and Giggles." That was incorporated in two sections of the more raucous track "Skunked."
DOMBROVSKI: Mario Padovani, a guy I've known since childhood going back to 1977, also appeared on three tracks. Mario performed backing vocals on and played the piano in the middle section of "College Town" on August 26, 1996. Mario performed backing vocals with me on "Skunked" on September 10, 1996. Mario arranged the keyboard strings for "Roses are Dead," and on October 28, 1996, Mario recorded those keyboard strings.
DOMBROVSKI: Other than those two guest appearances, Mike Davis and I performed everything else on Dust: (Opus Two, 1996).
DOMBROVSKI: Dust: (Opus Two, 1996) opens up with "College Town," a fast-paced, folksy-ish ditty with drums about the scene in those party towns supporting institutions of higher learning.
DOMBROVSKI: From there it's on to "Skunked," which is a rockin' shuffle about couth and suave creatures of the night.
DOMBROVSKI: Next we encounter "Roses Are Dead," an acoustic tune about ending up on the scrap heaps of love.
DOMBROVSKI: Finally, we end with the ode to joy "She's a Dick," reminiscent of THE GO-GO'S in sound and lyrically about sexual equality, or a JEFF SPICOLI-ish reaction to the feminine dismissal of "Let's just be friends." Another amazing thing about the song is it's simultaneously about a very nasty woman detective who lets the ends justify the brutal .44-Magnum means, like a "DIRTY HARRIET." In a sense, it's a musical MOBIUS strip or ESCHER picture. People's heads have exploded listening to this song.
DOMBROVSKI: While Dust: (Opus Two, 1996) was being recorded, I went to Philadelphia, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., on November 15, 1996, to have our first recording Dust: (Opus One) mastered at MASTERWORK RECORDING, Inc. by Peter Humphreys. That recording was actually finished almost one year previously in November 1995, with the exception it wasn't mastered at that time.
DOMBROVSKI: Our second recording, Dust: (Opus Two, 1996), was finished on November 28, 1996, and was mastered at MASTERWORK RECORDING, Inc. by Peter Humphreys on December 5, 1996.
DOMBROVSKI: That was it for DAMAGE. On December 26, 1996, I announced I was leaving DELAWARE, U.S.A., to return to Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A. On December 31, 1996, I began packing for Los Angeles and tearing down my home recording/project studio. I left DELAWARE on February 11, 1997, for CALIFORNIA. I was traveling across the country in a truck. I was going to San Diego, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., first for a short visit, and then I was moving back to Los Angeles. I arrived in San Diego on February 17, 1997, and I was back in Los Angeles on February 20, 1997.
DOMBROVSKI: DAMAGE ended partly because HOPKINS died, which left only Mike Davis and me with the option of trying to find another drummer and finding the bassist we never had. Mike Davis and I were 29 as of December 5, 1996, when Dust: (Opus Two, 1996) by DAMAGE was finished. At that point in our lives, I think the two of us had other major commitments outside the band that were more important at that time in our lives. If we were 18 again, the two of us would've probably pushed a lot harder; however, DAMAGE began when Mike Davis and I were 27, and by that time a lot of stuff in our lives had already been set in motion years before that could not be ignored, nor neglected, to put forth the effort to turn DAMAGE into a viable group. There wasn't enough time or money to make that kind of sacrifice now.
DOMBROVSKI: DAMAGE tentatively began in January 1995, and I told Mike Davis on March 31, 1995, I was giving the band one year. I'd been in enough bands by that time that I realized if something's not happening in one year, then it's just not meant to be no matter what the circumstances. Well, when March 31, 1996, rolled around one year later, our drummer HOPKINS was dead. I'd known Mike Davis and HOPKINS since I was 13, and I always wanted to be in a band with people I grew up with because there's a certain understanding and rapport you have as a result of that. Well, with HOPKINS gone, that idea was dead in the water. Also, on October 5, 1995, I told Mike Davis while we were in the midst of recording Oblivion: (Opus One) by DAMAGE that even though we're making this recording, the band has no future unless we find an audience and play live. Well, our drummer died, we couldn't find a bassist... I don't know. There were just a lot hassles associated with being in a band Mike Davis and I didn't want to deal with at that point in our lives. Unless people are giving 100% with a band, it ends up just becoming a time-and-money-consuming hobby.
DOMBROVSKI: Given all that, DAMAGE ended, and I decided to take my chances outside DELAWARE, U.S.A.
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