Racer Cafe was a band that was formed in June of 1993
by 4 guys who had common musical tastes in cover songs to play. Here is a brief timeline of important events that happened during this bands existence.
June 1993: My best friend, Joe, and I had the idea
to start a band after playing a high school talent show together with a
makeshift band. We met Aaron through a mutual friend and Jack was in a
couple classes of mine and we also skated together a few times. The line
up = Aaron Massari -bass,vox Jack Sterbis -drums Joe Ancona -lead guitars,vox
Nutz -rhythm guitar,vox. No band name and no set singer. Played all covers.
May 1994: Howard Howen joins the band as lead singer.
Band officially becomes Racer Cafe and starts to focus on writing original
material.
September 1994: After about 6 gigs, Aaron quits the
band to attend ASU. Joe quits to move to Florida (he eventually moved
back). Jack leaves as well. Howard and I ARE Racer Cafe.
March 1995: Long time friend and sk8 pal,Chris Alexander,
becomes the new lead guitarist for Racer Cafe.
April 1995: Keith Hancock becomes the new drummer
for Racer Cafe and, despite the distance, Aaron re-joins the band. Line
up is AARON -bass,backup vox CHRIS -lead guitar,backup vox HOWARD -lead vox
KEITH -drums NUTZ -rhythm guitar, back up vox
October 1995: Band releases first recording titled
"Brainstorm" on tape in front of over 150 fans and friends. 11 songs released and 13 recorded at Allusion Studios in Tucson.
Early April 1996: Racer Cafe plays it's last show with Aaron at the Reid Park
Bandshell for Teenfest '96. One week later, the last Racer Cafe show is played at Coffee Etc. in the Park Mall with
Chris and Joe Ancona switching off lead guitar and bass duties. A very successful show with emotions high. No one really knew it was going
to be the last show.
Late April 1996: Racer Cafe breaks up. Though it was a tradgedy, the most
important thing, to me anyway, is that ALL ex-members are still friends. Chris is now in the Navy attending flight training
and will soon be protecting our freedom from the cockpit of an F-14. Aaron has graduated from ASU with a Bachelors in
Chemistry and a Bachelors in Spanish and is now attending Northwestern College in Chicago for his PHD in Chemistry. He and
I will be doing a long distance project together sometime within the next year or so. Howard is a professional paintball
player and now lives in Phoenix. Jack graduated from L.A.M.A(Los Angeles Music Academy) in Pasadena, Ca. and is now going
to the UofA pursuing music. Joe and I worked together for over a year at Fitzgerald Home Theater before I left to try
something new. He used to sit in on some of Th!nkAdectOmy's shows, usually unplanned and very unpracticed. He was a ton of
help whether it was helping us load or unload the equipment, talking to sound guys to get us a better sound, taking pictures, doing lights
or just plain showing up to support.
NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR RACER CAFE: Well, we played
on live T.V. at T.C.C.C. which is a public access cable company... Played
live on radio at 91.3 KXCI...."Now", a song from the Brainstorm release,
was played for 3 straight weeks on 92.1 KFMA's New Music Test Dept. No
big deal to a bigger band but a very big deal to us. We also wrote and
performed 21 songs together.
Click here for more Racer Cafe pics.
