[Strappado]

37

Artist: Waxwing
Release: Appetizer, Demo 1988 [25th Anniversary Reissue]
Genre: Heavy / Power / Glam Metal
Country: USA
Bitrate: 128kbps
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Requested by otcmetal.

This is the 25th Anniversary Reissue [digitally re-mastered by Snyder] that was shared on their old website for free. Previously only released on cassette.

Produced by Snyder. Co-produced by Gil Thrill.
Mixed by Rick "Runningboard", Snyder, and Thrill.
Recorded at Steve Lawson Studio, in Seattle, WA.
Mixed at London Bridge Studio, in Seattle, WA.
Mastered at Cassette Technologies Inc. by Snyder.

https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/W ... zer/109155
https://www.discogs.com/Waxwing-Appetiz ... e/14248778
http://thecorroseum.org/rev/waxwing-appetizer.html
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1. Pictures of You
2. Alone in the Night
3. Riding Out
4. Wet Spot

[Strappado]

Official Biography
Waxwing actually started in Miami Florida 1983 when I (Snyder) got tired of singing covers and thought it was time for a vocalist. Despite the drummer (Steve Twitchell) lobbying to take the spot, we auditioned Gil Thrill and I was sold on this guy fronting the band. He had attitude, a 4-octave range and promised a kick ass P.A. was on its way. He delivered and we began our journey. First things first we needed a name for the band. I was thumbing through the dictionary from the Z's to the A's when the name Waxwing jumped off the page at me. After reading the description I knew I had found the name for this band. The definition read as a red crested bird that was known to intentionally eat ripe berries in an effort to get drunk. I thought "how appropriate".

The lineup was set as myself (Snyder) on guitars and backing vocals, Gil Thrill on vocals, John Gillow on bass and Steve Twitchell on drums. We put together a song list of 40 covers that were way off the beaten path. We played several Priest tunes like "Tyrant", "Victim of Changes" and "Diamonds and Rust". We also played a few Scorpion tunes like "Loveddrive" and "Another Piece of Meat". This should be some indication of where we were heading. We attempted to jump into the Bar circuit. That turned out to be a dead end for a band with a song list like ours. At most gigs we got kicked out for playing too loud, drinking too much and not knowing anything popular or radio friendly at the time. We really didn't care as we were playing for ourselves.

It was apparent that we needed to get our asses somewhere where they dug the material we were into. SO, we had this harebrained scheme to head to Tacoma, Wa. OK, I am not even old enough to drink and we blow into town as the new kids on the block from Miami ready to take on the world. We put together some auditions and finally got our line-up. We had myself on guitar, Gil on vocals, Steve Norton on bass and Joey Hammerschmith on drums. We had for the most part the same song list but added some more Iron Maiden and other metal covers along the same line. Within a month of rehearsal we played a show. What a turnout we had! There were 400+ screaming maniacs stuffed in a small hall all front stage and just banging their heads off. I couldn't believe the support. After that show we ran into some problems with the drummer showing up to practice and started auditioning drummers. We also decided to audition a new bass player and found one of the most phenomenal bass players I had ever played with (Matt Mustafa). This guy was unreal on the bass. He brought in an old school drummer (Johnny Wazniack). This guy was a maniac in every sense of the word. He had the most fierce attack on the drums I have ever seen and could play the hell out of a single base 3 piece kit.

We decided to go to work on originals. We but together some hard/heavy material and were putting out some great music when Wazniack decided to pawn his kit. Well, this was pretty much how it went for the next several month until we said enough. We were tired of the rain and went back to sunny Miami with new material and a new plan. Once in Miami we paired back up with Steve and John Gillow. Once rejoined we started working on originals and covers. We updated our song list and started gigging. We played several gigs and did pretty well. As usual we drank more than we made but had a great time. For some unknown reason John Gillow decided to leave the project and go to school. This was a disappointment but life went on and we sent for Matt Mustafa to fill in. Matt did a great job and played several show with the band before getting homesick and heading back to Tacoma..

Somewhere along the line we decided to take a break from each other and regrouped a year later. Gil had bought a 6-track recorder and a drum machine and handed it over to me and said make some music for me to sing to and that is exactly what I did. I recorded 4 songs that would later be on our CD. Everyone was quite impressed with the sound so Gil and I decided to head back to Tacoma in 1986 to give this another shot. We had saved a few bucks, put together a massive PA and light show, had a recording budget and figured we couldn't go wrong this time. We got to Tacoma and had already lined up our old drummer Joey Hammerschmith and Matt Mustafa. After partying for about 2 months during one of the most awesome summers Tacoma ever had we got to work on our material. During the fall we recorded "Waxwing appetizer" a 4 song EP. We recorded at Steve Lawson's Studio in Seattle with engineer Terry Date at the helm. I actually learned a lot of my production knowledge from working with him on his approach to set up and little tricks he revealed. We attempted to mix the recording in LA and were so disappointed in the results so we remixed at London Bridge studio in Seattle. When all was said and done we had a kick ass 4 song EP, T-Shirts and a really good following. We were playing all over Seattle and Tacoma and beginning to get a great following.

At the peak of our playing a management company was looking at our band and another band called Diamond Lie. I was told that the firm had a solid relationship with a major label and one of the two bands was going to walk away with a record deal. Well to make a long story short, Diamond Lie got the attention and that was that. Diamond Lie later changed their name to "Alice in Chains" and I think the rest is history. That was pretty much the end of Waxwing. The band slowly imploded with the loss of the drummer to a Christian rock band (haha), the loss of the bass player (to who knows what) and I moved back to Miami and decided to head out on my own with a new name and a new plan. That was the life of Waxwing. Born in 1983 and died in 1989.

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