The Story of TUBEFREEKS
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Back in 1992, a barstool meeting between two rivals
launched the creation of one of the rowdiest, most powerful band to ever come out of
the suburban Maryland area…TUBEFREEKS. Both
from leading area bands, axeman /songwriter Shawn Vickers from Miriah, and
frontman/lyricist Paul van Valkenburgh from Bad Penny / Borealis, formed the
nucleus of a band that would rip through the 90’s into the 2000’s and
beyond. With influences Black
Sabbath to Aerosmith, the writing naturally fell into a similar genre as newly
created grunge heavyweights Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, STP and Nirvana.
With the addition of combo drummer Geoff Burrell and Mike Stehr from
Maximum Force, the initial lineup was set in stone.
Tubefreeks rapidly gained popularity to become the most
recognized and followed band in their local area. “Out of Control” would be a subdued way to describe the
crazyness that would ensure each time the Freeks hit the stage. The combination of well thought out, tasteful yet powerful
original tunes, combined with an all out high energy assault of a live show,
gave Tubefreeks that attraction fans began to latch onto.
In 1993, the group hooked up with renowned Baltimore area
producer Drew Mazurik and legenday bassist frontman Brad Divens from Wrathchild
America / Souls at Zero to record Tubefreeks II. It was a group of raw recordings that propelled the band to
another level and included banner song Crimes, a fan favorite for years to come.
The ever popular band’s reputation for crushing power groove rock sound
and disgustingly wild shows soon landed them a feature story and cover of Rox
Magazine, the Washington / Baltimore areas guide to rock music.
On the back of these recordings, publicity and continual
packed house gigs, Tubefreeks was asked to play the American Noize Fan Forum in
Los Angeles. With a National Tour
to support the trip to LA and back, the band hit the road playing Austin,
Dallas, El Paso, LA, Las Vegas, Albequrque, Kansas City, Des Moines and
Minnesota on a month long 18 show tour. While
in LA, the band was introduced to Joey Valvo, who became the groups long term
manager. In 1995, Valvo brought in
world renowned producer Beau Hill to provide the group direction.
The Valvo/Hill management team signed Tubefreeks to a multi year
management contract.
The Band went on to record several demos for Valvo/Hill
whish were released as EP’s locally and were shopped to labels by Valvo/Hill.
Drummer Geoff Burrell left the group in 1995 to pursue a studio career in
New York and was replaced by George McNeil from Virginia band No Saner.
Continuing to push forward, the recordings went forward with McNiel and
followed the same Tubefreeks tradition of innovativeness, power and style.
In another change late in 1996, the group added van
Valkenburgh’s friend and Bad Penny groupmate drummer Bill Betteker,
who played a series of east coast gigs with the group.
In 1997, after coming very close with several deals and
continuing to record and play live, the grueling pace caught up with the group
as original bassist Mike Stehr and Betteker left the group.
Soon after, pals bassist Matt Prieto and
drummer Wayne Smith (teammates from earlier bands Bedlam and Neurotic Twitch)
joined Tubefreeks to form a combination which would deliver another group of
classic compositions. An EP released in 1997 contained 8 crushing songs with Prieto and Smith.
Citing a desire to keep longterm friendships in tact, and
after 6 ravaging years, the group needed a break. Prieto teamed with Vickers as Sole, releasing a full length
CD in 1999 and touring the local area. van Valkenburgh joined
friend and former Bad Penny bandmate guitarist Sean Hill to form Smart99.