BACKWASH Band History, Photo Journal, Part 1

BAND HISTORY PART ONE IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS GOD

AND GOD MADE A WHOLE BUNCH OF THINGS. THEN 3,987,095,875,538,398,123,041,993 YEARS 180 DAYS, 15 HOURS, 49 MINUTES AND 32 SECONDS LATER ... GOD MADE BACKWASH! AND GOD SAID, "IT IS GOOD! LET'S PARTY!" AND SO .... THEY DID.

In the beginning there was: George, Phil, Lang and Dave.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS FROM THE RECENTLY RELEASED BACKWASH BIOGRAPHY: "At a party in the summer of 1993, on the North Shore of Oahu, three surfers were thrashing out the few riffs they knew. Suddenly, some other freak surfer started screaming and running around to the sounds. The people at the party marveled at the spectacle, not knowing they were witnessing the birth of BACKWASH! East Coast collided with West Coast on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Like two waves crashing head on, the sounds of BACKWASH exploded into the Hawaiian underground music scene." . .

Bassist George Andrews, from Long Beach California, was highschool friends with the members of Sublime. He moved to Hawaii in 1987. As a member of "Kontra Ban" in the early 80s, he opened for the Circle Jerks and Dead Kennedys.

Lead Guitarist, David Elgas aka Boogie D, from Orange City California: Dave moved to the North Shore of Hawaii to surf in 1987. He started playing guitar at 12 with early influences being DRI, the Dead Kennedies and Social Distortion.

Drummer, William Sheppard, aka Lang, from Jacksonville, Florida. (Still waiting for Lang's info. Maybe if I say his early influences were The Carpenters and the Partrige family, it will help motivate him to send me the goods?)

Lead Singer and Primary Lyric writer, Phillip Gore, aka Phil, from St. Augustine, Florida. Moved to the North Shore of Oahu Hawaii to surf in 1991. First sang in Church from 1980 -1983 and began writing songs in 1984. Early influences include Black Flag, Agent Orange and Suicidal Tendencies.

(About these photos: Copyright 1993 by Wanda Hope Carter, all rights reserved. No duplication, downloading or other use without express written permission. Made in a recording studio in Pearl City, Hawaii during a practice session.)

SUNSET BEACH ELEMENTARY TENNIS COURT RAVE & BEAR BASH! A few months after BACKWASH was official, the search for venues became a big part of establishing their scene. One early evening on the spur of the moment, they threw their equipment in the back of their cars and headed for the one place on the country side of the island where they knew there was lights and power, the Sunset Elementary Tennis Courts. With help from the kids who happened to be at hand, they had their gear set up and plugged in within minutes. As they cranked up their first song, the word spread faster than the decibels they were jamming at the courts and people began arriving to witness the unbelievably nervy appearance of this new underground band. Illegal? Yes! With out any permission from the local law enforcement or the state school, they tore into their program the same as if they were the stars at a show in Central Park. IT WAS A RAVE in the truest sense of the word!

The local boys get some pit action on the courts.

In the middle of their song "SK8" somebody showed up with a giant overstuffed teddy bear and threw it at the band. Here, Phil takes action against the offending bear with his skate board.

A backside bear bashing.

The crowd joined in until the court was covered with teddy bear guts!

As the impromptu madness grew into a frenzy, suddenly the sound of a helicopter was heard. The copter appeared and hovered directly overhead. The immediate speculation was that it was the cops! It flew past the scene and began circling to line up for descending into the flat grassy lawn of the adjoining school yard. OH S**T!!!!! We're out of here, was the general call and everybody grabbed whatever equipment they could and ran to the parking lot and loaded the cars even faster than they had been unloaded. We pulled out in mass just as the helicopter touched down and didn't look back..... We never heard what the copter was all about but we did hear the elementary school wasn't too happy about the Rave leftovers and some of the good citizens who participated helped clean up the next day. This episode set the tone for the numerous wild and crazy events BACKWASH soon became famous for being involved in and the word got out that if BACKWASH was playing SOMETHING BIG was bound to happen.

THE END

Check back for the continuing story of the band BACKWASH Next: Phase 2, Nick adds another kickin' lead guitar sound. Phase 3, George leaves and Billy joins. (Learn why Billy got kicked off the islands for good) Phase 4, Wease replaces Billy . Phase 5, Lang leaves and Rocky joins. Phase 6, Rocky leaves and Lang returns.... Thus the existing band who is now recording their second album contains three of the original core members. (And George who is still a great friend, is always an influence at heart)

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