Memories of The April Skies

By Mark Tritico

I was in a band in 1990 called Falling and Laughing.  We were almost solely influenced by the Smiths.  The name of the band came from the song “Falling and Laughing” by Orange Juice.  We did covers by Aztec Camera and The Railway Children among others of that ilk.  I quickly adopted the nickname “Human Drum Machine” because of my super-fast, sixteenth note, propulsive rhythms.  This was something like my fifteenth band.

Falling and Laughing was falling apart. Jake and I were both students at Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC).  Jake lived in Hershey – I lived in Mechanicsburg.  My band was on a bill at a festival with Jake’s band, The April Skies.  I remember the bottom line was they needed work but the singer Cary Brown, was charismatic and the songs had potential but it seemed kind of countrified.

Jake and I met at the student Center at HACC and started up a conversation.  I know for a fact that it was about Roddy Frame, of Aztec Camera.  The guitarist from Falling and Laughing had met him and to him, it was like meeting Clapton. Jake and I decided to get together and jam.  He worked as a short order cook at the Hershey Italian Lodge.  They were kind enough to let us use the dining room for an audition.  I brought the singer from Falling and Laughing.  It was the three of us.  Jake, Steve Spahn and me.  It was fantastic.  Jake and I really communicated musically.  I was thinking “finally a guitar player who’s on the same exact page as me musically.  This was to be a new Falling and Laughing, with Jake on guitar,  Steve on vocals, and me on drums; but fate would see things differently.  Jake brought Cary the singer from The April Skies, and newcomer Eric Reilly Moore, bassist, a tall lanky guy with a mullet haircut.  When we played it was total magic.  We locked in perfectly.  We took songs that had previously sounded clumsy and gave them a gliding, rhythmic drive.  With this new lineup, the songs grew wings.

I had never worked with a bass player like Eric before and haven’t since.  He was all over the bass.  Playing up and down the fret board; playing counter melodies; he was amazing.  I know he played some brass, much like John Entwhistle, did so there may be some connection to playing brass and that kind of bass playing. My mom’s basement soon became the epicenter of the Harrisburg alternative music scene.  The band consistently had an audience during each rehearsal. So with the four indispensible components in place, things began happening fast.  Lots of shows, parties, etc.  We hooked up with Ed McKeon & Daniel Howard – our managers in NYC, who were  trying to get us a record deal; putting us in the CMJ music conference; setting us up with Mitch Easter of REM and Lets Active fame.

Cary was a very ebullient kind of person.  He was all about drawing energy and enthusiasm out of people.  That made him one of the best front men I’ve ever witnessed.  Being a very introverted person, I somehow found communicating with band members difficult.  Perhaps, I alienated people.  While the other guys did the town after a show, I went back to wherever we were staying and watched television. I could only communicate through music.  I only knew people through music.  Music has always been my raison d’être.

During its heyday, The April Skies played all the cool clubs like Maxwell’s Hoboken in Hoboken; 9:30 club in Washington, DC; CBGBs in NYC, and everywhere in between.  Our live shows were freaking awesome.  Fast and energetic like the Ramones, we got on stage, played a frenzied set, and were gone in a flash.  I didn’t care much for drinking in those days.  Before shows I would load up on stimulants.  This is why I played twice as fast live.

Early on, the band finessed their way into an opening slot for the English shoe-gazer band Ride  At that point I realized the band was on its way.  The members of Ride were very snobby.  Only the bass player talked to us and I think it was because he had no choice.  The other guys abandoned him after the show.

We would all climb into Cary’s 1970 VW microbus, which had no heat, and start chain smoking and drinking.   After a few miles, we would stop at Food Lion and buy peanut butter, jelly and Wonder Bread.  This is what we lived on at the time.  Jake ate a lot of refried beans cold, right out of the can.  After about a hundred miles, we would be headed towards Reading.  As we passed the Coor’s brewing plant we all saluted the brewery.   A few miles down the road, we would come to a stretch of highway with a tall sound barrier.  This was always our “pit stop.”

I also remember that right before a show was a huddle.  Hand on top of hand, we said something, I don’t remember what exactly, then broke the huddle and went on as if off to battle.

At some point, Eric left the band. We struggled to find another bassist but couldn’t Perhaps it was a result of our hubris.  Also Eric’s basslines may have been too daunting for most.  So The April Skies relied on our friend “Butsy” from the Sociables, another local band who often shared a bill with The April Skies.  “Butsy” was a guitarist not a bassist, but we soldiered on.  We pissed each other off at various times and occasionally, we all threatened to quit at various times.

We went though a lot.  I even caught pneumonia coming back from Mitch Easter’s studio in North Carolina.  The trip in the minivan was an eight hour ordeal in sub-zero temperatures.  We had a show and I remember Jake playing the CD for some other musicians, and we all felt really proud of ourselves.  The show bombed however, as the band was too ill to perform and, in retrospect, should have cancelled.  I arrived at many shows completely frozen and unable to thaw in time.  I think we could have stayed together longer, but it seemed egos were growing too big, to the point that we lost respect for each other.  Eric had rejoined the band, but I felt we were becoming too volatile a mixture.  Being who I was at 22 years old it was too much.

Flash forward 13 years – I was home one day listening to a Stone Roses CD, thinking about past glories with The April Skies, when the phone rings and it’s Jake.  He wanted me to join his current version of The April Skies which up until then, had him as the only original member.  I joined and stayed on for three more albums and lots of shows.  The spontaneous magic just wasn’t there for me.  Albums took six months rather than three days and my drumming just sounded mechanical and soulless to me.  It was time for a new start.  In 2008, I met my future bride Donna, aka “Habiba”, a popular teacher of  Middle Eastern Dance in upstate New York, and moved to Albany.

Currently, I perform with a couple of bands. One a blues/funk band in which my wife sings backup. I also provide accompaniment to my wife’s dance classes and troupe performances playing Middle Eastern percussion.

As far as the 2010 reunion show is concerned, I am nothing if not completely enthusiastic.  Will lightning strike twice – you bet it will.  Time can’t hinder that.  My drumming is better than ever so watch out Harrisburg

2 Comments

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  By Tom, April 25, 2010 @ 8:27 pm

  This is fantastic, thanks!

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  By andybucher, April 26, 2010 @ 3:07 pm

  Great write up!!!

  Looking forward to the May 14th show!!!!!!

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