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The story begins in the foggy coastal city of San Francisco around the middle of 1995. Three old friends Mike Crowell, Jim Martinez and Glen McHenry got it in their minds to try and do something productive with their lives. Not being the brightest bulbs in the pack, the boys decided that punk rock would be a worthwhile endeavor. They decided to get a band going and then went about the task of assigning who would do what. Since Mike had been plunking around on the bass guitar for a good number of years he was a shoe in. Jim, it was decided, would be the lead crooner and Glen would try and wrap his deformed hands around a guitar neck long enough to give the appearance he new how to play the thing. They then went about the task of seeking the elusive drummer.
Along came a fellow S.F. compatriot by the name of Toby Bitter, a well-known drum warrior of no small repute. After much coaxing, pleading, money exchanging hands and a particularly large amount of cheap beer being purchased, Toby agreed to join the rag tag crew. After finding Glen 's malformed hands were not capable of doing much more than triumphantly strumming bar chords, the boys scratched their chins and decided they'd better start looking for a good lead guitarist. Having always been big fans of bands with a good melodic lead guitar work, such as Cock Sparrer and Chelsea, they took out an advertisement in the local paper seeking someone who was capable to fit the bill. The search would not be easy at first. There were many polite, and not so polite, meetings with guitar players who knew nothing of the sound being sought after and only wanted to jump around and do stage shows in a dress. One after another these frauds were swiftly shown the door and all hope was lost until a call was received from someone who sounded like they might just work.
"I really thought I had walked into the wrong house" states Kevin Doherty on the subject of meeting the band right off. "The house stunk like a beer towel that had been stuffed in some barfly's armpit for a month and I was sure there was no way these guys could actually play any sort of instrument (still under scrutiny)." But Kevin actually knew the sound of which the Reducers spoke and he knew how to play. So after the door was secured behind him, after hours of blaring many punk and Oi classics and yes more cheap beer, the Reducers had acquired a lead guitar player.
The Reducers, as they were known as then, began getting shows set up with local bands such as the Swingin' Utters and terrorizing such classy establishments as the Purple Onion in North Beach and The Nightbreak on upper Haight Street. The band began burning themselves in as a San Francisco standard by playing semi-regularly at some of the cities drinking holes. They eventually decided to put their sound on vinyl in order to see just what the hell they had been doing for the last year or so and were offered a split single deal along with the Lower Class Brats. Toby had known some of the Brats through the years and soon "We’re Strong Enough" was released on Pair O' Docs records. Soon to follow would be the bands second release also on P.O.D. entitled "We Are The People" which fell into the groove of the bands alcoholic obsession with soccer. Before the second single could be released Toby discovered he was to become a father so that immediately took precedence in his priorities and immediately left the band without a drummer. As luck would have it good friend and fellow musician Greg McEntee from the Swingin' Utters had enough time on his hands to fill in for a recording session with the band and even play a gig at the Edinburgh Castle in the Tenderloin.
Soon after the recording was finished Jim unfortunately had to move out of the city on personal matters and would not be returning for over a year. After much thought on the matter it was decided that Glen would take over on the vocals and for many months he was heard trying courageously to sing in key. Soon afterward a permanent drummer arrived on the scene from the Southlands of California by the name of Scott Nicol. Scott's unique drumming style fit right in with the bands sound and in a short time the band began playing gigs in earnest around S.F. and the bay area.
As their live set improved and their sound became more defined they were eventually noticed by an S.F. Entrepreneur by the name of Mark Rainey. "Yea, they had bad posture, they were butt-ugly and their drunken between song jokes left many people scratching their heads but they could make a great noise" states a befuddled Mark. And thus the Reducers S.F. were signed to a new and burgeoning record label by the name of TKO records. Around the middle of 98' a 45 entitled "Don't Like You" was released and would be the bands first deal with TKO records. The Reducers S.F. immediately began writing for a full-length release and finally in April of 99' TKO records released "Backing The Long Shot". Since the release of their full length the band has been touring up and down California. While jumping on to any coattails they can get their hands on, they have gotten the chance to play bills with many fellow punk rock bands along with some of the older legends of the scene. With trusty road manager Joe Perez at the helm, the band will continue to reach out and annoy and confuse people in other states and, luck bearing, other countries. That's the story so far, so to catch the next chapter ya gotta make it to the shows,
See ya out there. |
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