605

By LISA R., HOWELER
Evening Times Reporter . Sayre

The only way to describe the sound heard in this small room, between the steady drum beat and wailing
guitar, is "a rockscream." The raw, raunchy , yet somehow melodic scream, is coming from Rick Johnson
of Nichols. He is standing in the center of a room holding a microphone and wearing a grungy baseball cap.
He leans forward, puts the mic to his mouth and sends sound, something like wail mixed with a scream,
bouncing around the room. One might say he is the perfect picture of the lead singer of a so-called garage
band.

Only this garage band does not rehearse in the garage. Instead, the members of the Sayre-based band
rehearse in a building which once kicked out printed programs, business cards, posters and other printing
projects.

Johnson is joined at the rehearsal by guitarist Marcel Lamb, drummer Vachel Mitchell, and bassist Richie
Satterly. They are all men with families and have been at this business for more than a few years. “We’d
like to be the oldest new artist winners at the Grammys," Lamb jokes.

The former location of the Murelle Print Shop is the perfect location for a down-home rock band. The walls
are faded green and chipping. A few old pieces of the press are pushed to one side, covered in two-inch
layers of dust, ceilings hang low and hold in the sound to keep neighbors from being disturbed by the noise,
and old signs hang declaring safety messages of how to operate the equipment hang precariously on the
aged walls. Amps and sound boards are scattered around the building, mixed in with former printing
equipment and a couple cobwebs here and there.

The group members do not have specific prospects for fame, because they know the difficulties of breaking
into music at an age older than “twenty-something” . These four guys simply enjoy playing rock music,
whether it is covers of bands like Alice in Chains, Godsmack, Led Zeppelin and Ozzy Osbourne, or-and
especially originals.

They enjoy rehearsing, but they also enjoy performing for appreciative audiences at bars in the Northern
Tier of Pennsylvania and the Southern Tier of NewYork. The story behind the reason for the group's name
is almost "not a story" Lamb said. The band began several years ago as "Five" and then a band member
dropped out and they found the name was being used by a British boy band. Still wanting to keep with the
numbers theme the band chose “605”, a rather interesting sounding mix of numbers.

While having similar tastes, each member also has their own style of music they like to perform and listen
to. Mitchell's style is a little bit of Motown, and he also likes progressive jazz from the Brecker Brothers to
SpyroGyra, as well as Santana, Police, Rush and Zappa. Lamb is the self~described "Led Zeppelin nut." He
also doesn't mind a little Black Sabbath, Yes, Steely Dan, or U2. Satterly and Johnson traditionally go for
the harder stuff such as Kiss, Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, Metallica and Skid Row

It is originals which fill the band’s self titled album, re1eased this spring. It was recorded by Kevin Murray
at Twin Tiers Studios in Breesport, N.Y. It is something the group has been working toward for years and
finally decided to do. “Everyone else has albums, so we figured we had better get one, too.” Lamb stated.
Another album is being planned for 2005.

It isn’t only local residents who have heard the group’s music now, thanks to the album . An album release
party was held at the Canton Grill this past Friday and another will be held at Maley’s in Corning, NY. The
band’s music can also be heard at www.garageband.com - a Web site where fellow band members critique
each other.
By clicking on the site and scrolling down to the band’s name, one can read quite a few positive comments
from some unusual places, such as Brazil and New Zealand, as well as from fellow American bands.

The group’s song “Hanging By A Thread”, written by Johnson, Lamb, Mitchell, and Satterly, has the most
positive reviews and finished as high as 75 out of 1500 reviews. The song can be heard by clicking on a link
on the sight.
.
“C-Cry if you want to, it's all right ” the lyrics flow over the grind of a rhythmic guitar, “Everybody's
scared in the middle of the night. Try if you want to, it aint doing no harm We all need something to do
with the time on our hands Love if you want to it makes for an interesting ride Don’t expect it to be smooth
or always sublime Every morning its a gamble when you get up out of bed and all the thoughts and hopes
and fears and dreams collide inside your head. And it's nevergoing to let up, never end, until you're dead.
With every breath. you take you're hanging on. You're hanging - by a thread.”

"Vocals are strong and have that classic sound," a listener from Georgia writes about the song. "Melodies
are catchy. The groove to this song is great. That's a sign when I start nodding to the beat.” “Guitar riffs are
very original and really make the song fun to listen to. Usually that much soloing would get old, but this
doesn't. It's not just shredding, but is actually memorable and nothing shy of impressive." A listener from
California can hear influences of B1ack Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne and likes it. "Good clean straight
ahead, no frills rock 'n' roll," he calls it "Good stuff. Solid performances by everyone." Reading those
words, one can almost here the proverbial rock and roll follow up messages to the band, "Rock on, brothers.
Rock on”

Lisa R. Howeler can be reached at lrhoweler@evening-times.com
- The Evening Times