Post by thomasallencummins on Apr 18, 2007 7:28:08 GMT -5
Multiple Choice
By Tom Cummins – Vocals, Songwriter, Guitars
Carol Jones - Bass, Vocals
Aaron Levin - Drums, Vocals
All of what I'm about to relate will be from my own perspective and imperfect memory. Since there were 3 other people involved, each of them will likely have a different view.
After the demise of Nerve Center, heralded by the departure of Mark Frierson –leader and founder, the remaining members had a decision to make. Do we quit or continue on as a trio? None of us wanted to quit but there were questions to be answered. Who would lead? Who would sing?
Near the end of Nerve Center I had written a song that I had tried to sing on occasion. Without You. The song was catchy but my vocal performance was timid and sonically weak. Frankly I’m not the sort of person that sings, but since Aaron and Carol were each trying to boost my confidence by recommending that I assume Mark’s place at the front I eventually conceded.
First of all we wanted to establish ourselves as a different group than Nerve Center. NC had played around a few times and we all felt a new identity was in order. Band names were kicked around until we settled on Multiple Choice. Seemed appropriate at the time. The immediate difference between NC and MC was obvious from the beginning. Mark had a colorful personality that tended to both attract and somewhat repel potential fans. I always thought Mark's vocals were best suited for the kind of music he went on to make after NC. With his departure the band took on a more subdued feel though the new songs seemed to reflect a more spontaneous energy. My lyrics, at that time, were more cryptic than Mark’s clearly stated commentary on life and relationships and my singing was far less bombastic. Early on we drew from the existing NC material to fill our song catalog. Mark gave his blessing to use the NC songs. I found it strange to sing Mark’s lyrics but since the music was mine it wasn’t completely alien. As time went on I managed to write a variety of new songs (even going so far as to write new melodies and lyrics for some of the music we had used for Mark’s songs.)
MC went on to record and perform even more than NC had. Multiple Choice songs included Without You, I know, Love Scrambles, Rotten Feelings, Take Me Home, Run Me Through, Unbeliever, The One, Oh Don’t Go, Tell Them, I’ve Got To Be, The Prize To Fit The Crime, My Dreams and others. One of the highlights of MC was the three occasions that we went to a local recording studio. On our first visit we recorded Rotten Feelings, which was weak even for our first effort. The song itself was clumsy but my vocals and guitar work was so uncomfortable and haphazard that the effort seemed pointless. The second trip was a huge improvement over our first experience. We managed to record three songs, The One, I’ve Got To Be and Run Me Through. The performance and recording quality was adequate by today’s standards but at the time all three of us were thrilled, we had never heard ourselves sound so good. On our third trip to the studio we recorded only one song, Tell Them.
Multiple Choice was essentially an enjoyable experience for me and a different experience than Nerve Center in that I felt a large amount of responsibility as leader, singer, songwriter and guitarist. Multiple Choice as a group was fairly tight knit. We were friends as well as band mates. We celebrated each other’s birthdays and were part of each other’s lives.
Though MC lasted longer than it’s predecessor, it also suffered an untimely demise do to the departure of a member. Carol Jones was forced to leave the group after joining the U.S. Air force. Though she visited from time to time when her schedule permitted, Aaron and I were motivated to move on without her forming a new group with my long-time friend Dan Southard taking over on bass.
I could have never predicted that I, being such a shy personality, would have ever placed myself in the spotlight—performing my own music in front of groups of strangers and yet I did but only with the help of my friends and family.
The link below is to the original studio recording of The One.
www.mediamax.com/clearfrontier/Hosted/08%20The%20One%20%28studio%29.mp3
See Cockpit
By Tom Cummins – Vocals, Songwriter, Guitars
Carol Jones - Bass, Vocals
Aaron Levin - Drums, Vocals
All of what I'm about to relate will be from my own perspective and imperfect memory. Since there were 3 other people involved, each of them will likely have a different view.
After the demise of Nerve Center, heralded by the departure of Mark Frierson –leader and founder, the remaining members had a decision to make. Do we quit or continue on as a trio? None of us wanted to quit but there were questions to be answered. Who would lead? Who would sing?
Near the end of Nerve Center I had written a song that I had tried to sing on occasion. Without You. The song was catchy but my vocal performance was timid and sonically weak. Frankly I’m not the sort of person that sings, but since Aaron and Carol were each trying to boost my confidence by recommending that I assume Mark’s place at the front I eventually conceded.
First of all we wanted to establish ourselves as a different group than Nerve Center. NC had played around a few times and we all felt a new identity was in order. Band names were kicked around until we settled on Multiple Choice. Seemed appropriate at the time. The immediate difference between NC and MC was obvious from the beginning. Mark had a colorful personality that tended to both attract and somewhat repel potential fans. I always thought Mark's vocals were best suited for the kind of music he went on to make after NC. With his departure the band took on a more subdued feel though the new songs seemed to reflect a more spontaneous energy. My lyrics, at that time, were more cryptic than Mark’s clearly stated commentary on life and relationships and my singing was far less bombastic. Early on we drew from the existing NC material to fill our song catalog. Mark gave his blessing to use the NC songs. I found it strange to sing Mark’s lyrics but since the music was mine it wasn’t completely alien. As time went on I managed to write a variety of new songs (even going so far as to write new melodies and lyrics for some of the music we had used for Mark’s songs.)
MC went on to record and perform even more than NC had. Multiple Choice songs included Without You, I know, Love Scrambles, Rotten Feelings, Take Me Home, Run Me Through, Unbeliever, The One, Oh Don’t Go, Tell Them, I’ve Got To Be, The Prize To Fit The Crime, My Dreams and others. One of the highlights of MC was the three occasions that we went to a local recording studio. On our first visit we recorded Rotten Feelings, which was weak even for our first effort. The song itself was clumsy but my vocals and guitar work was so uncomfortable and haphazard that the effort seemed pointless. The second trip was a huge improvement over our first experience. We managed to record three songs, The One, I’ve Got To Be and Run Me Through. The performance and recording quality was adequate by today’s standards but at the time all three of us were thrilled, we had never heard ourselves sound so good. On our third trip to the studio we recorded only one song, Tell Them.
Multiple Choice was essentially an enjoyable experience for me and a different experience than Nerve Center in that I felt a large amount of responsibility as leader, singer, songwriter and guitarist. Multiple Choice as a group was fairly tight knit. We were friends as well as band mates. We celebrated each other’s birthdays and were part of each other’s lives.
Though MC lasted longer than it’s predecessor, it also suffered an untimely demise do to the departure of a member. Carol Jones was forced to leave the group after joining the U.S. Air force. Though she visited from time to time when her schedule permitted, Aaron and I were motivated to move on without her forming a new group with my long-time friend Dan Southard taking over on bass.
I could have never predicted that I, being such a shy personality, would have ever placed myself in the spotlight—performing my own music in front of groups of strangers and yet I did but only with the help of my friends and family.
The link below is to the original studio recording of The One.
www.mediamax.com/clearfrontier/Hosted/08%20The%20One%20%28studio%29.mp3
See Cockpit