sĭz′ə-jē
In the fall of 1983 (between the 2 versions of the band Story) Chuck Fulcher and I got together with guitarists Tom Lynch and Greg Heneman to form the band SYZYGY. Tom had been the sound man for Story and a good musician in his own right. Greg was an acquaintance from Billings, Montana who spent much of his time doing things like learning all of Edie Van Halen’s parts on the Van Halen album 1984 immediately after it came out in January of 84. The guy was incredible.
We “practiced” (partied) quite a lot on the weekends in an old warehouse on the outskirts of Bozeman. Although we have no band pictures and never played a gig, I did manage to design a logo and had a few shirts printed. We also managed to put together a few songs for a demo tape that I don’t think anyone ever heard. I’m very happy to have that!
The only time we ever played in public was in the winter of 84′ at a night club in Bozeman where some friends of Chucks were playing from Great Falls. I think the band was Fender Benders (lead by Jeff Christiansen) and they asked if we wanted to get up and play a few songs. So we did.
I think we played three songs. One of them might have been “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” by Night Ranger, and another I’ll never forget was “Overature/The Temples of Syrinx” by Rush, from their album Rush: 2112. You never forget playing a Rush song on stage. And I’m pretty sure we pulled it off without complete catastrophe. I think we got the attention of the other band, along with 20 or 30 other people in the club that night. As a drummer (and this site is all about the drummer, in case you hadn’t noticed) I remember vividly the fact that I was playing a Rush tune on someone else’s drum kit. The song itself is intense, to say the least. But, playing it on a kit you’ve never sat down at before is nothing short of insane. All I can say is that I did the best I could and somehow made it work. I sure wish we had smartphones back then. Then again, it’s better that we didn’t. This way I can remember this experience as a win.
SYZYGY band members were:
Chuck Fulcher – bass guitar and lead vocals
Greg Heneman – lead guitar and vocals
Tom Lynch – rhythm guitar and vocals
Mike Turnbull – drums and vocals
These are the demo songs we recorded live on a 4-track cassette recorder in that old warehouse. Good times.
This tape was in rough shape.