Nothing Like Negative

By Troy Espera, Staff Writer
Thursday, October 23rd, 2003

If performance anxiety can be measured in billowing clouds of cigarette smoke, one might presume that the motley crew of rock band Nothing Like Negative, who stand puffing away at Phillip Morris’ finest at the front entrance of Roseville’s Shady Brady’s, could be suffering from the severest bout of stage fright known to man.
On a mild early October evening, outside what some describe as a hole-in-the-wall bar where newly formed local bands can get their performing feet wet, the Nothing Like Negative guys are getting psyched. Tonight marks their debut performance. They’ve worked out their musical kinks. They have their act down. They’re ready to go.
So is all the smoke indicative of nervousness? Nope. These guy’s just like to smoke. But more important, they love to perform.
“We’re wicked stocked,” proclaims vocalist Mike Shively. “Playing never gets old. Out of everything else in the entire world, this is what makes me happy.”
As the clove-scented smokescreen clears, Shively, along with band mates Jeff Hertzig, Brian Quinn, and Nicolaus Pletcher, can be seen coolly schmoozing with the carloads of friends, family and other well-wishers who stumble up to the bar from their parking spots across the street.
This week Nothing Like Negative took it’s excitement for performing to City College as competitors in the Battle of the Bands sponsored by DiverCity Records, the campus’ student run record label. The event is the organization’s contribution to the week-long, campus-wide Homecoming celebration.
For exposure-hungry talent like Nothing Like Negative, the prospect of playing for a college audience, which bassist Quinn insightfully recognizes as “definitely the crowd who we want to sell our music to,” was an opportunity they couldn’t pass up.
Formed just two months ago, Nothing Like Negative’s sound, which members describe as a high-energy, melodic, in-your-face kind of rock is an amalgamation of a “guesstimated’ 45 years of collective musical experience. Each member had his musical start as a child, and has grown to be skilled in multiple instruments.
According to guitarist Pletcher, it was after a couple of casual jam sessions last summer that he, Quinn and Hertzig, who had played together in a previous band almost three years ago, decided that the chemistry and vibe between then was so profoundly cohesive that “we just could not play apart. We had to play together. And then, [Shively] was the missing link.”
“Everyone in this band has been playing music a long time,” professes Pletcher as he tucks a stray piece of his thick dark hair behind his ear to prevent it from catching the flame of his lighter as he lights his clove cigarette. “The musicianship in this band is at a point where, it’s not like you have a weak link coming in trying to catch up. Everyone’s at the top of their game.”
“If we win or lose Battle of the Bands, it doesn’t really matter,” confesses Pletcher. “We’re doing this to get up in front of people who haven’t heard us yet.”
- The Express

Aime Althaea June 17th 2004

The opening band, Nothing Like Negative seized the night and the attention of the sleepy Thursday night crowd with a familiar, mainstream groove. Their explosive energy sparked into an ample set. "Walking Backwards" exposed the vocal talents of Mike Shively as he unwaveringly sustained while the guitar/bass team of Nicolaus Pletcher and Brian Quinn threaded some knotty riffs that complemented Jeff Hertzigs’ tribal drums. The penetrating guitar morphed from a metallic, crunchy grind into a smoother, rhythmic agility as they progressed. The band obviously felt a lack of audience enthusiasm, so Mike moved into the crowd and took a commanding stance on a chair as he continued to urge fan feedback. They tried on a couple of new songs for size, including "Face Front" and their finale, which was as yet untitled, but it involved some whistling and a palatable melody. Nothing Like Negative grasped the fundamentals necessary to make a show "work," despite the lack of audience interaction. There was sufficient intensity to keep the band in the hard rock vein. - Powerslave.com