The Pricks: Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox musical artist
{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Relative Degree
| name            = The Pricks
| image          = Relative Degree on Xero Tape.jpg
| image          = Brad Delson pink hair.jpg
| image_size      = 250
| image_size      = 250
| landscape      = yes
| landscape      = yes
| alt            =  
| alt            =  
| caption        = Relative Degree at The Roxy in 1996
| caption        = Brad Delson yearbook photo
| background      = group_or_band
| background      = group_or_band
| origin          = Long Beach, California
| origin          = Long Beach, California
| genre          = {{hlist|Funk rock|Rap rock|Ska}}
| genre          = {{hlist|Rap metal}}
| years_active    = {{Start date|1995}}–1996
| years_active    = {{Start date|1995}}
| label          =  
| label          =  
| associated_acts = {{Flatlist|
| associated_acts = {{Flatlist|
* [[The Pricks]]
* [[Relative Degree]]
* [[Karma]]
* [[Xero]]
* [[Xero]]
}}
}}
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* [[Mark Wakefield]]
* [[Mark Wakefield]]
* [[Brad Delson]]
* [[Brad Delson]]
* [[Dave Garrett]]
* [[Rob Bourdon]]
}}
}}


[[Relative Degree]] was a band Mark Wakefield, Dave Garrett, Brad Delson and Rob Bourdon played in before [[Xero]]. The group was active from 1995 to 1996 and only played one show before disbanding.
[[The Pricks]] was a band Mark Wakefield and Brad Delson played in before [[Relative Degree]]. The exact period the group was active is unknown.


==Story==
==Story==
Dave Garrett met Mark Wakefield while attending California State University Long Beach (CSULB). Dave was giving bass lessons to a girl in the dorms when Mark overheard him playing and asked if he wanted to get together and jam sometime. They played in Long Beach for a while with some people - which included a drummer named Scott Belsha<ref>[http://www.sucksbbs.net/threads/scott-belsha.257328/ Scott Belsha | SucksBBS.Net], December 25, 2006</ref> - but they decided it wasn't the sound they were looking for and started a new group.<ref name="DaveLPLive">[https://lplive.net/interviews/davegarrett/ Interview with Dave Garrett - Linkin Park Live], February 27, 2022</ref> Dave brought in Rob Bourdon, a drummer with whom he had played in [[Karma]], and Mark brought in Brad Delson, the guitar player from his previous band [[The Pricks]].
[[Brad Delson]] has been interested in music as far back as he can remember. He played trumpet in his elementary school orchestra, and started learning to play guitar with his guitar teacher, Keith,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010306061450/http://www.staindnet.com:80/~linkinpark/interview5.html Linkin Park Web], 2000</ref> when he was 12 or 13, taking lessons for about 5 years before he started teaching guitar and playing with friends in local bands.<ref>[http://delsononline.blogspot.com.br/2008/09/ucla-interview.html Brad Delson Online], September 09, 2008</ref> Mike Shinoda said, ''"When I was a kid one of my best friends lived right across from Brad, and all you could ever hear coming from his bedroom was Metallica, Metallica and more Metallica. If you were lucky you might hear some Exodus, or maybe some Sepultura, but that was it - the guy was an obsessive metalhead."''<ref>Rock Sound, August 2014</ref> In June 2020, Mike elaborated when asked about his first impression of Brad, ''"Brad lived next door to my friend Mark. And their bedroom windows were directly across from each other. And it was almost like a TV sitcom. He'd like play guitar in his room and you'd hear him shredding like Metallica. But it was always that really funny thing, you could look out Mark's window and you could talk to Brad. I didn't know Brad at that point, he'd just like yell out the window and talk to Brad. Mark would. He seemed like a cool dude, though."''<ref>[https://lplive.net/forums/topic/14226-mike-qa-summary-6232020/ LPLive: Mike Q&A Summary 6/23/2020], June 23, 2020</ref>


The new band was called Relative Degree with Mark Wakefield serving as vocalist.<ref>[http://www.mtv.de/shows/1896-the-ride/staffeln/5390/folgen/64399-104 The Ride #104 - Shows - MTV], October 07, 2014</ref> Explaining the name of the group, Dave said, ''"Mark was really the guy who came up with it. I think it was just the cool idea of like “Hey, this is one degree away from like boiling point.” Because looking at the bands that we really followed and listened to a lot, there was a lot of this pent up, just like angst, almost. And I think sometimes just having that little bit just to push you over the top enough to go to boiling was kind of really the idea behind the band's name."''<ref name="DaveLPLive"/>
Brad's first band was The Pricks. He was neighbors with [[Mark Wakefield]] in high school and the two of them were in the band together.<ref>[http://www.angelfire.com/band/linkinpark/archive.html Linkin Park Web]</ref> Mike noted, ''"they were both in several bands before Xero. Mark and Brad were in one called The Pricks, they were this awesome rap-metal band. I loved their stuff."''<ref name="BrokenRecord">[http://podcasts.pushkin.fm/broken-record-mike-shinoda Mike Shinoda on Beats, Rhymes and Linkin Par‪k‬], March 02, 2021</ref> Their most famous show happened in June of 1995, during the summer, at Douglas Robb's parent's backyard. They played as an opening act for Hoobastank's very first show with around 150 people in attendance.<ref>[http://punk-nation.webs.com/apps/blog/show/20659298-get-to-know-doug-robb-of-hoobastank-with-punk-nation Get To Know Doug Robb of Hoobastank with Punk Nation!], December 03, 2012</ref> Members of both bands had been friends since long before The Pricks was formed<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130416011842/http://blog.musicinsidermagazine.com/2013/02/hoobastank-doug-robb/ HOOBASTANK’S DOUG ROBB | Music Insider Magazine], February 14, 2013</ref> and to prepare for the show they stole stages from their local high school in the middle of the night, set them up in Doug's backyard and hired security, charging a dollar for admission.<ref>[http://www.ticketmaster.com.au/Hoobastank-tickets/artist/807316 Hoobastank Tickets | Hoobastank Tour Dates & Concerts | Ticketmaster AU]</ref>


They had a dream of playing one show at The Roxy Theatre, a popular club for up and coming bands, located on Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood, California, so they set it as their big goal. ''"People laugh at me when I say this but my goal was - as a musician - to play a show at our local club, the Roxy, in L.A. in high school for my friends. I did it. Now I say this, and it may sound like bullshit, everything that's happened from that point on is all gravy. We're really proud of the music we've made, and for everyone that gets to hear it, that's more love for us. We're totally happy,"'' said Brad.<ref>[http://www.pauseandplay.com/linkin-parks-one-step-closer-to-the-big-time/ Linkin Park's 'One Step Closer' to the big time | Pause & Play CD and Music Site], October 29, 2000</ref>
[[Mike Giangreco]], a local promoter, met Hoobastank through Incubus and booked shows for them. Hoobastank then introduced him to The Pricks. Besides giving Brad jobs as a bouncer at The Roxy and Whisky A Go Go<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160401193840/http://mikeshinodaclan.com/2015/04/chat-summary-brad-delson-lpu-chat-20042015/ [Chat Summary] Brad Delson LPU Chat 20/04/2015 - Mike Shinoda Clan], April 20, 2015</ref> and as a waiter in his restaurant, Giangreco heard The Pricks' cassette demo and, although it was pretty raw, decided to work with them in the hope they would develop their sound and get better. The band played at many frat parties and he would let them borrow sound systems to play shows with the condition that they would carry everything by themselves and bring it back to his garage afterwards. The band would also spend a lot of time in local record stores searching for new releases and "showcasing their musical talents".<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hzZqG7_V60 Linkin Park - From  A Whisper To A Scream - A Documentary Film - YouTube], March 06, 2014</ref>
 
The band wrote 12 songs and rehearsed for a year<ref name="MTV">[https://web.archive.org/web/20080930135447/http://www.mtv.com/bands/l/linkin_park/news_feature_mar_02/index.jhtml MTV.com: Linkin Park: In The Beginning], March 15, 2002</ref> at Rob Bourdon's mom's house four days a week in preparation for the show. Mark was an art student at CSULB and designed the group's logo and promotional material.<ref name="DaveLPLive"/>
 
Brad had a neighbor down the street who owned a little recording studio in his garage where Relative Degree recorded demos into a DAT (Digital Audio Tape).<ref name="DaveLPLive"/> About their sound, Rob said, ''"Relative Degree sounded a lot like the band 311- it was rock with a funky incorporation of hip hop and rap elements."''<ref>[http://fyeahrobbourdon.tumblr.com/post/27427016621/the-roots-of-robs-beats-lpu-1-issue-2 Fuck Yeah, Rob Bourdon! - The Roots of Rob's Beats (LPU 1, Issue 2)], July 17, 2012</ref> According to Dave, Mark was a big fan of heavier music in the styles of System Of A Down and Deftones and tried to bring those sounds to the band. Influenced by the success of No Doubt, right before their debut show, Relative Degree recruited a brass section composed of two musicians Rob knew from his highschool's jazz band.<ref name="DaveLPLive"/>
 
The show at The Roxy finally happened on [http://lplive.net/shows/db/2000andearlier/19960517 May 17, 1996] and was captured on Mark's camcorder in video format with bad quality audio.<ref name="DaveLPLive"/> After their goal was reached, the band stopped practicing and lost focus, eventually leading to a break up and a separation of ways.<ref>[http://mikeshinodaclan.com/2011/04/rob-lpu-chat-summary/ Rob LPU Chat Summary - Mike Shinoda Clan], April 14, 2011</ref> ''"The stuff that we were goofing around with Mike at near the end part of Relative Degree was honestly more like where the band was trying to go anyway. We definitely weren't trying to be like a ska band for sure. So I think that's kind of why,"'' explained Dave.<ref name="DaveLPLive"/>
 
Mike Shinoda, who was a classmate of Brad's and Mark's, was making beats for local MCs at the time, but would watch them practice sometimes. Mike developed a strong friendship with Delson, and, although he never joined the band, he would occasionally put samples in their songs.<ref name="MTV"/> Dave said, ''"He was almost like a quasi member of the band. We definitely want to collaborate with him and we had a lot of fun doing some jam sessions and stuff together too when we were Relative Degree."'' Towards the end of Relative Degree, Mike brought Joe Hahn to watch a couple of their rehearsals, but Joe never played with them.<ref name="DaveLPLive"/>
 
That Summer, Mark and Mike recorded the first demos for what would become [[Xero]] at Mike's house. A photo of Relative Degree performing at The Roxy was used on the artwork of the first publicly available Xero demos in 1997.
 
==Band Members==
;Former
*Mark Wakefield - vocals (1995-1996)
*Dave Garrett - bass (1995-1996)
*Brad Delson - guitar (1995-1996)
*Rob Bourdon - drums (1995-1996)
 
;Touring
*The band had two saxophone players whose names are unknown.


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 01:12, 10 August 2022

Template:Infobox musical artist

The Pricks was a band Mark Wakefield and Brad Delson played in before Relative Degree. The exact period the group was active is unknown.

Story

Brad Delson has been interested in music as far back as he can remember. He played trumpet in his elementary school orchestra, and started learning to play guitar with his guitar teacher, Keith,[1] when he was 12 or 13, taking lessons for about 5 years before he started teaching guitar and playing with friends in local bands.[2] Mike Shinoda said, "When I was a kid one of my best friends lived right across from Brad, and all you could ever hear coming from his bedroom was Metallica, Metallica and more Metallica. If you were lucky you might hear some Exodus, or maybe some Sepultura, but that was it - the guy was an obsessive metalhead."[3] In June 2020, Mike elaborated when asked about his first impression of Brad, "Brad lived next door to my friend Mark. And their bedroom windows were directly across from each other. And it was almost like a TV sitcom. He'd like play guitar in his room and you'd hear him shredding like Metallica. But it was always that really funny thing, you could look out Mark's window and you could talk to Brad. I didn't know Brad at that point, he'd just like yell out the window and talk to Brad. Mark would. He seemed like a cool dude, though."[4]

Brad's first band was The Pricks. He was neighbors with Mark Wakefield in high school and the two of them were in the band together.[5] Mike noted, "they were both in several bands before Xero. Mark and Brad were in one called The Pricks, they were this awesome rap-metal band. I loved their stuff."[6] Their most famous show happened in June of 1995, during the summer, at Douglas Robb's parent's backyard. They played as an opening act for Hoobastank's very first show with around 150 people in attendance.[7] Members of both bands had been friends since long before The Pricks was formed[8] and to prepare for the show they stole stages from their local high school in the middle of the night, set them up in Doug's backyard and hired security, charging a dollar for admission.[9]

Mike Giangreco, a local promoter, met Hoobastank through Incubus and booked shows for them. Hoobastank then introduced him to The Pricks. Besides giving Brad jobs as a bouncer at The Roxy and Whisky A Go Go[10] and as a waiter in his restaurant, Giangreco heard The Pricks' cassette demo and, although it was pretty raw, decided to work with them in the hope they would develop their sound and get better. The band played at many frat parties and he would let them borrow sound systems to play shows with the condition that they would carry everything by themselves and bring it back to his garage afterwards. The band would also spend a lot of time in local record stores searching for new releases and "showcasing their musical talents".[11]

References