Music career
Muendel began playing in cover bands at age 18. In 1991, he moved to Hollywood, California, and he began playing music with neighbor and bass player Roger Deering. Deering had previously been in a Florida punk band called The Drills. He and drummer Kerry Furlong had moved from Miami to Los Angeles to start a new band. The three musicians added Brendon McNichol on guitar and the band was established.
Punk rock is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in 1960s garage rock and other forms of what is now known as "proto-punk" music, punk rock bands rejected perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock. They typically produced short, fast-paced songs with hard-edged melodies and singing styles, stripped-down instrumentation, and often political, anti-establishment lyrics. Punk embraces a DIY ethic; many bands self-produce recordings and distribute them through independent record labels and other informal channels.
Brendon McNichol, is a lap-steel/guitar player, who has played with bands including Queens of the Stone Age, Masters of Reality.
The Drills
The early shows were performed under the old name, The Drills, because of the reputation they had developed with that name, including one album release. The group was "discovered" by producer Dave Jerden, who is also credited with discovering and developing Jane's Addiction, Alice in Chains, and The Offspring.
Dave Jerden is an American record producer, engineer, and mixer who has worked with artists in various genres including alternative rock, punk rock and metal. However, Jerden has stated that he dislikes the term "producer," preferring to refer to himself primarily as an engineer.
Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Chris Chaney.
Alice in Chains is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne Staley. Starr was replaced by Mike Inez in 1993. William DuVall joined the band in 2006 as co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, replacing Staley, who died in 2002. The band took its name from Staley's previous group, the glam metal band Alice N' Chains.
Rattlebone
The group was signed to Hollywood Records, and at the label's request, the group changed its name to Rattlebone. With Jerden at the helm, they released a 5-song EP in 1992 and recorder a full-length LP in 1993/94 that was never released. McNichol left Rattlebone in 1995 when the record label dropped the band in response to the grunge movement. The remaining group split in 1996.
Hollywood Records, Inc. is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records label. Founded in 1989, its current roster includes artists such as Jordan Fisher, Zella Day, Queen, Zendaya, Ocean Park Standoff, Dreamers, Bea Miller, Martina Stoessel, Breaking Benjamin, Jorge Blanco, Sabrina Carpenter, R5, Olivia Holt, Sofia Carson, Forever in Your Mind, New Hope Club, Joywave, Maddie Poppe and In Real Life. The label also releases Marvel Studios's soundtrack and compilation albums in conjunction with Marvel Music.
Rattlebone was a punk/hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1992. The group was signed by label president Peter Paterno at Hollywood Records that same year. They recorded two albums with veteran producer Dave Jerden, who has also worked with bands such as Jane's Addiction, Alice in Chains, and The Offspring. Only an initial, self-titled EP was released to the public.
Backbiter
Muendel went on to briefly join a version of Circus of Power and then spent three years in the L.A. punk group Backbiter. He played on one release by Man's Ruin Records.
Circus of Power is a rock band formed in New York City in 1986.
Backbiter is a protopunk band from Los Angeles, California that has received national recognition. They played their first show October 23, 1991, at the Shamrock Bar in Hollywood, CA on a bill with Dicktit, the Jack Brewer Band and The Drills. Singer/guitarist Jonathan Hall had been playing in Texorcist and the Angry Samoans with and bassist Heath Seifert. They jammed with drummer Bob Lee and the power trio came together, playing local clubs such as the notable post-punk hangout, Raji's.
Man's Ruin Records was an independent record label, owned and founded by Bay Area artist Frank Kozik. After the 1994 release of Man's Ruin's first record, entitled Experimental Audio Research (EAR): Delta 6, Kozik worked with artists who he wanted to release; he also designed all of the sleeve art for the releases. The catalog of Man's Ruin is vast, including relatively famous bands such as The Hellacopters, Nebula, Kyuss, High on Fire, Entombed, Turbonegro, Queens of the Stone Age, and The Sex Pistols, to less known bands such as FuckEmos, Soulpreacher, Angelrot, and Los Cowslingers. The last record released was by Begotten, and the label was officially gone by 2002.
The Motor Primitives
From 2006 - 2009, Muendel played organ and guitar in The Motor Primitives, a band based in Madison, Wisconsin featuring former members of Tar Babies and The Appliances SFB.
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Dane County. As of July 1, 2017, Madison's estimated population of 255,214 made it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 82nd-largest in the United States. The city forms the core of the Madison Metropolitan Area which includes Dane County and neighboring Iowa, Green, and Columbia counties for a population of 654,230.
Tar Babies was a band from Madison, Wisconsin, that released several albums on SST Records. Critic Steve Huey of Allmusic describes them as a minor player on SST, with an intriguing sound rooted in hardcore punk but touching on "bits of psychedelia, jazz, and avant-noise skronk" and open-ended jamming reminiscent of George Clinton's P-Funk groups.
Ixnay on the Hombre is the fourth studio album by American punk rock band the Offspring, released on February 4, 1997 by Columbia Records. After the massive commercial success of their previous album Smash (1994), the band entered the studio in the middle of 1996 to record a new album. The title combines Pig Latin and Spanish to convey the message "fuck The Man", as in "fuck authority".
Wisconsin was settled largely by European immigrants in the late 19th century. This immigration led to the popularization of galops, schottisches, waltzes, and, especially, polkas. Classical composers and conductors from Wisconsin include Hans Balatka, Hugo Kaun, Eugene Luening, Theodore Steinmetz and Sarge Boyd. Among Wisconsin's contributions to rock music were Les Paul, an electric guitar pioneer known as the "Wizard of Waukesha". The Steve Miller Band, with Milwaukee's Steve Miller, had three #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 from 1973 to 1982. The Chordettes from Sheboygan, Bon Iver from Eau Claire, and Garbage from Madison all had albums on the Billboard 200.
Shelton Hank Williams, known as Hank Williams III and Hank 3, is an American musician, singer and multi-instrumentalist. Williams' style alternates between country, punk rock and metal. He is the principal member of the punk metal band Assjack, the drummer for the Southern hardcore punk band Arson Anthem, and was the bassist for Pantera singer Phil Anselmo's band Superjoint Ritual. He has released eleven studio albums, including five for Curb Records. Williams is the grandson of Hank Williams, the son of Hank Williams Jr., and the half-brother of Holly Williams.
The Sonics are an American garage rock band from Tacoma, Washington that formed in 1960. Their aggressive, hard-edged sound has been a major influence on punk, garage, and hard rock music worldwide, and they have been named as inspirations to Nirvana, Bruce Springsteen, the Fall, and other major artists.
Hüsker Dü was an American rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist/vocalist Greg Norton, and drummer/vocalist Grant Hart. Hüsker Dü first gained notability as a hardcore punk band, later crossing over into alternative rock. Mould and Hart were the principal songwriters for Hüsker Dü, with Hart's higher-pitched vocals and Mould's baritone taking the lead in alternating songs.
Old Skull was an American punk rock novelty band formed in the late 1980s in Madison, Wisconsin. The band was started by ten-year-old J.P. (Jean-Paul) Toulon and his nine-year-old brother, Jamie Toulon, with encouragement from their father Vern Toulon, a longtime member of the Madison punk scene who had spent time in New York City, where he was a guitarist for the industrial band Missing Foundation.
Midtown was an American pop punk band from New Brunswick, New Jersey. Midtown was formed in November 1998 by three Rutgers University students, but soon became a quartet. The group released three full-length studio albums and three extended plays before disbanding in 2005. In early 2014, Midtown reunited to play three shows, the first as a secret show at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, and the two remaining at the Skate And Surf Festival.
Steve Marker is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as a cofounder and guitarist in the alternative rock band Garbage.
Red Rockers were a musical band from New Orleans, Louisiana, active from 1979 to 1985. Originally formed as a hard-charging punk rock band, they changed their style to a smoother, more melodic sound and released two albums in the new wave vein of their record label, 415. They are best known for their 1983 hit single "China".
Scared Of Chaka is a punk rock band based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, which was formed in 1993 by guitarist/vocalist David Yanul Hernandez, bass guitarist Dameon Waggoner and drummer Jeff Jones. Jones was later replaced by Ron Skrasek. The band played a Dickies-inspired mix of garage and pop-punk, following in the footsteps of local Albuquerque act the Drags. The band released a number of full lengths, 7" EPs, and split records throughout its career for labels including 702 Records, Empty Records, Dirtnap Records and Hopeless spin off Sub City Records. Following the 2001 release of Crossing with Switchblades the band dissolved. The band played a number of reunion shows in 2008, including Music Fest NW in Portland, Oregon, and FunFunFunFest in Austin, Texas. On September 20, 2008 they performed with Dillinger Four as part of the inaugural year of Forward Music Fest in Madison, Wisconsin.
Johnny Socko was an American third wave ska band formed in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1990. It was founded by Dylan Wissing. Originally signed to BiB Records and later Asian Man Records, they later started their own record label, Triple R Records. They were known as a band that toured heavily, having performed over 2,000 shows since their inception, but are currently not working. One of their songs, "Full Trucker Effect", is used in its entirety as part of the introduction to the Bubba The Love Sponge show on Sirius Satellite Radio. The band takes its name from Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot, a 1960s Japanese action television show.
Couch Flambeau is an American punk rock band, formed in 1981 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band is known for the biting wit of their lyrics. They have released four full length albums: Mammal Insect Marriage (1983), The Day the Music Died (1985) and Ghostride (1989), and a self-titled CD (1998). They have also released two tapes, Curiosity Rocks and Rock With Your Sock On (1987), as well as an EP, Models (1987). And, finally, a 37-song career overview entitled I Did a Power Slide in the Taco Stand: Anthology 1982-2001 was released in 2004.
Rosaline was a six-piece post-hardcore band from Chicago, Illinois that formed in 2005. The group modeled their sound from early 2000s post-hardcore groups, citing influences from Thursday, Underoath, Hopesfall, Taking Back Sunday and The Bled. Over the span of their career Rosaline released three albums on various independent record labels.
Tommy Henriksen is an American musician from Port Jefferson, New York, best known for his work as a guitarist, bassist and songwriter with Alice Cooper, Hollywood Vampires and German metal band Warlock. He has also fronted punk rockers P.O.L. and released several albums as a solo artist. In addition, Henriksen is a songwriter, arranger, producer and mixer who has worked with artists such as Lady Gaga, Meat Loaf, Lou Reed, Halestorm, Kesha, and Daughtry. Henriksen is currently based out of Zurich, Switzerland where he lives with his family.
The Angry Samoans are an American punk rock band from the first wave of American punk, formed in August 1978 in Los Angeles, California, by early 1970s rock writer "Metal" Mike Saunders, his sibling lead guitarist Bonze Blayk and Gregg Turner, along with original recruits Todd Homer (bass) and Bill Vockeroth (drums).
The Purple Gang was an American rock band from Los Angeles, California who were active from 1965-1967. They recorded a handful of singles for the MGM label, of which "Bring Your Own Self Down," composed by Tandyn Almer, is the best-known. Their work has appeared on compilations such as Just for Kicks Volume 1, which was issued by Misty Lane Records in 2004.
