Sharky

August 25, 2005
Mike Stucka
Taunton Daily Gazette


Some of the experienced musicians in the band Sharky compare their performances to groups of guys that get together to play poker on Friday night. Few friendly poker games however, have been performed in front of 100,000 people.

"Never been serious about making anything of it," said Paul Dennis, 45, a Boston computer consultant that plays Lead Guitar in Sharky, "just like being with a bunch of guys." and that performance with the huge crowd at New Hampshire International Speedway? "Once in a lifetime," Dennis said. "That'll never happen again."

Singer Steve Gardner first worked with Dennis around 1980, but quit music for a while. His comeback was forced. "I had quit, and didn't do music for eight or nine years, and then my wife said to me, 'You don't do anything. Get in a band'," Gardner recalled.

Now the three-year-old Sharky has gigs that range from Antonio's in Taunton to "Booze Cruises" in Boston Harbor to the Brockton Fair to the famed racetrack performance. Drummer Dave Mall of Bridgewater, who founded Sharky about three years ago, said the band's nine shows in July may have been a bit much. "It's fun, the way we approach it," said Mall, a 45 year-old loss prevention analyst. "It's not rock star stuff. It's literally just for fun."

The band's laid-back attitude toward the music doesn't come out in the music itself. The band puts a hard-driving sound behind danceable classic rock and Motown songs such as "Superstition." Jimmy Peters, 45, of Taunton plays his Les Paul as the bands Rhythm Guitarist. "We're having a lot of fun performing," Peters said. "I enjoy watching people have fun on the dance floor." Peters plays a throbbing opening to the band's cover of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine." Dennis' guitar adds clarity as the rest of the band joins behind Gardner's vocals. At some point, the band realized it needed to come back harder on one verse.

Music keeps bringing back Guy Martin, a 39 year-old Braintree commercial plumber who joined the band after original Sharky bassist Mike White retired. "I've been playing since I was in fourth grade," Martin said. Ever quit? "For a woman, and then I sharpened up." The band's repertoire in a Bridgewater rehearsal included "Stuck In The Middle With You," Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game," The Church's "Under The Milky Way," Bad Company's "Movin' On," and the Black Crowes "Jealous Again."

Gardner won't apologize for the band's deep roots. When he was looking for a band, he said, he found plenty filled with 25 year-old musicians. "I could keep up with them, but I didn't want to sing 25-year-olds' music," he said. "I wanted to sing good music."
- Taunton Daily Gazette

By Tyler B. Reed/ Daily News Staff
Thursday, June 8, 2006 - Updated: 12:41 AM EST

They may all be in their 40s, but they’ve still got bite.

They are Sharky: five men who once dreamed of rock stardom, who now have full-time jobs, families and kids, but still pack enough punch to bring out fans 20 years younger.

"The bite part is literal," said drummer and founder Dave Mall. "When you hear us, you’ll see."

Sharky covers mostly classic rock and soul music from the 1970s and ’80s, but "we consider ourselves a little hard," said Mall, a 46-year-old from Bridgewater. "We just didn’t want to be like all those cover bands that play all the same songs."

They play together only once a week and stick to the fun philosophy, which they say prevents the ego problems, drugs addictions and fighting that doom other bands. Sharky has played most of their shows on the South Shore, but is breaking into MetroWest. They perform Saturday at JJ’s Sports Bar and Grill in Northborough.

"What the intent was when the band was put together was the five guys would be more of a ’hey, we’re pals, and this is what we do to hang out,’" said lead singer Steve Gardner, a 46-year-old from Franklin who is married and has an 8-year-old daughter. "I gave up the rock-star dream, if you will. But it doesn’t mean I don’t love to play music."

Adults in their 30s and 40s pack clubs to hear Sharky play songs like "What You Got" by Duke and the Drivers.

"If you play this song and our demographics hear it, they’re going to flip out," Gardner said. "It’ll take them back to high school."

People in their early 20s come to see Sharky because they grow up listening to their parents’ music.

Sharky is 4 years old. The band was born soon after Mall -- "kind of sick of all that stuff" typical bands deal with -- wanted to start an ego-free group.

"I just really wanted as little ego as possible and guys kind of like us to have fun," Mall said.

Gardner was the first to audition, and "I thought he was incredible," Mall said. It turns out the two were high school classmates in Brockton, but didn’t know each other.

"Together we kind of put together some players and we spent, what, a year in the basement just solidifying a lineup," Mall said. The groups rarely rehearses now.

The five-man band now includes Mall; Gardner; Paul Dennis, a 46-year-old single guitarist from West Roxbury; Jimmy Peters, a 45-year-old software engineer and rhythm guitarist from Taunton who is married with three children; and Guy Martin, a 40-year-old bassist from Braintree.

Mall wanted "normal good guys first" and "great musicians" second, he said.

Mall considered naming the band Uncle Sharky, but decided on just Sharky. "I know it’s really corny," he said. "I wanted it simple. I like the fact that it’s kind of a tough word -- Sharky -- with bite."

In four years, the band has found surprising success, Mall said. "We’ve built up a lot of momentum. We turn down more clubs than we accept."

Gardner said he often goes and scouts out new clubs, and talks to owners and managers to see if Sharky is a good fit. Sharky is even the official band for NASCAR’s annual July race at the New Hampshire International Speedway.

They would always like to be more popular, but Mall and Gardner said they won’t abandon their once-a-week schedule. Family is too important, they said.

"We wanted to get bigger, but we could only get so big," Mall said.

Tyler B. Reed can be reached at 508-626-4423 or treed@cnc.com.
- MetroWest Daily News

RocklandNews.com
Horace Kelly
Staff Writer

Every once in a while a rock and roll cover band that can do justice to the tunes they cover pleasantly surprises you. Friday night at the Odyssey in Weymouth was just such an occasion. A friend had told me to check out this group of forty-something rock and rollers who have been pleasing music connoisseurs from Bridgewater to Boston.
We paid our five-dollar admission fee and settled in for some rock and roll. On the stage warming up I immediately recognized the 6' 6" Bass player from the Boston club scene of the 1980’s, Mike White. Whitey, a former Rocklandite was a mainstay in the punk rock scene of the 1980’s. White’s band the Outlets were considered the Godfathers of the punk craze of the 1980’s and made several successful recordings. Tonight it appeared as though White had cleansed his musical pallet and put aside his pogo jumping, slam dancing, ways of old. I will always remember him clearing lanes in the mosh pit at the Channel with the Bartlet brothers. But anyway...
Sharky consists of five band members, lead singer Steve Gardner, who reminded me of a blend between David Bowie and Jim Morrison with a dash of Mellencamp. Jimmy Peters and Paul Dennis on Rhythm and Lead guitars, traded lick after searing lick back and forth as they mastered one classic hit after another. Dave Mall on drums is a no-nonsense heavy-handed expert. He and Bass guitarist, Mike White kept a solid foundation on every song. All five guys were obvious musical professionals who were enjoying their work.
The only thing more impressive than these guys' talent was their song list. Sharky has an incredible selection of classic rock and roll standards. Clapton, Stones, Al Green, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and on and on and on. With nearly a hundred years of combined Rock and Roll and experience, Sharky is the real deal if you still love your fathers “kick ass Rock and Roll”. - Rocklandnews.com

Members of Sharky band play for fun on weekends

By Robert Knox, Globe Correspondent | August 7, 2005

Five 40-something guys with busy lives have found a hobby that doesn't cost any money, take up too much time, or require new clothes. And when you're finished having fun, people stand up and cheer.

For the members of Sharky, rock music represents a once-a-week night out. They devote the rest of their time to work and family, just like the neighbors. ''Professional careers and families by day, and rock 'n' rollers on the weekend," said lead singer Steve Gardner.

The band coalesced in the basement of Dave Mall's East Bridgewater home about two years ago. Instead of getting together to play poker or go bowling, the guys decided to make some music.

''My wife suggested I do it," Gardner said. ''She said, 'You never get out of the house, you're always working, and you need something else to do.' What better thing to do than go play music?"

While playing music functioned as a night out with the boys, these ''boys" weren't just fooling around. All had played in rock bands earlier in their lives. Once the amps crackled and the guitars wailed, the old know-how came right back.

''It was like riding a bike," said Gardner.

Sharky soon took its act to regional clubs, wowing the younger audiences and sometimes teaching skeptical younger musicians a thing or two about the rock trade.

''We're pros," said Gardner. ''We still know what we're doing."

They're pros by day, too. Mall, 44, is a specialist in helping retailers prevent losses to theft. He is married and has one child. Another East Bridgewater resident, Mike White, 44, is a manager at Toyota of Weymouth. The band's bass guitarist, he is married and has two sons. Jimmy Peters, 44, grew up in Quincy, has been married for 25 years, and has two children. He's a software engineer for Nokia.

Gardner, who grew in Brockton and Weymouth, is a vice president for sales and general manager for Continental Wall Decor in Sharon. He's married, and has one child. And lead guitarist Paul Dennis, a longtime friend of Gardner's from West Roxbury, teaches computers, and is the band's only single member.

Mall, the band's drummer, hosts the practice session in a soundproof room in his basement -- a valuable amenity for a group that rehearses at stage volume. He put the group together by searching for good guys first, great musicians second.

''We have a good core group of guys," Gardner said. ''We'll probably be friends and pals till the day we die."

Gardner, 45, was at the tail end of a ''wannabe career" as a musician 15 years ago, playing in a band called the Condition, when he met his wife, Tracy. He and Dennis played together in a band called the Gulf Boys, named after a gas station. The group still exists, and Dennis still plays in it.

Peters, who has been playing the guitar for over 30 years, also performs throughout the region as an acoustic rock solo act.

White has the most big-stage experience in the group, after performing nationally with a Boston band, the Blackjacks.

Sharky plays no originals, as the group emphasizes connecting with audiences by offering ''classic rock and soul" music they already love. Gardner recited Dick Clark's ''American Bandstand" formula: ''It's got a nice beat and it's easy to dance to."

But unlike many cover bands, Sharky doesn't seek to perform classics ''exactly like the record," but tinkers with the dynamics or arrangements of songs to give them a new spin, he said.

Among the band's favorites are ''I Got a Line on You" by Spirit, and ''Jealous Again" by the Black Crowes. Their signature tune is ''Get Ready," a Motown classic by the Temptations. ''We do a very good version; we get requests for that," Gardner said.

Sharky has performed in some 20 clubs in Eastern Massachusetts, including Sean O'Toole's and the Black Raspberry Pub in Plymouth, Hajjar's Bar and Grille in Weymouth, Joe's American Bar & Grill in Hanover, and venues in Hull, Weymouth, Abington, and Brockton.

Branching out this summer, they played recently on the Mass. Bay Lines Music Cruise, out of Boston, and for the NASCAR audience in Loudon, N.H., after a July 17 race.

And after playing out every weekend this month, Sharky's next local date will be Aug. 20 in a return engagement at Joe's American on Route 53 in Hanover, starting at 10 p.m.

More information on the band and its schedule can be found at www.sharkyrocks.com. Robert Knox can be reached at rc.knox@gmail.com.
- The Boston Globe

The Scene
Speakers is tucked into a corner of downtown Marlboro between Rt 20 and Main St. Its front windows are blacked out, leading me to believe that Sharky had invited me to a gig at a gentleman's club, but, sadly, it was not to be. As I entered, I noticed a placard out front that had a young girl's photo on it along with some birthday wishes, leading me to believe that Sharky had invited me to a child's birthday party gig, but gladly, that also was not to be. Apparently it was someone named Marcia's 40th birthday party. Luckily for Sharky, they started their gig with a built-in crowd of 40ish year olds who were already in the mood to party.

Despite it's camouflaged appearance, Speakers is actually a pretty big venue. Its high ceilings and open floor plan give it decent acoustics and sightlines. There are several video screens around the club that were showing 80's videos, anything from Tony Basil ("Hey Mickey!"), to Dexy's Midnight Runners (I won't remind you of their hit song or it'll be stuck in your head all day), to the Muse's favorite artist of all time, Terence Trent D'Arby.

The Show
Sharky is a professional band, very tight, and all very competent players. And it's clear from early on in this gig that they like to play to their crowd. Marcia and her birthday party are on the dance floor from the first note, and Sharky keeps them out there throughout.

Sharky is serious about putting on a good show, but that doesn't mean that they're not having fun. Frontman Steve isn't afraid to interact with the crowd, and maybe get a little crazy while he's at it. The band keeps rockin' clean and steady behind him and lets him do his thing. He puts his wireless mic to good use: At one point, he dances his way through the crowd, finds a spot on a secondary stage, and is quickly "Stuck in the Middle" of a couple of well-dressed ladies dancing up a storm on either side. At another point, he invites Marcia up to the stage and proceeds to spank some birthday wishes - and a Sharky sticker - onto her derriere. He's a great showman, and he likes to get the crowd into the show, and they're happy to oblige.

The Music
Sharky mainly covers classic rock, with some soul and R&B mixed in. They don't exactly stick to the classic rock staples, though, so it makes for an interesting mix -- anything from John Butcher Axis to The Stones to Stevie Wonder to The Church to The Foo Fighters. Despite the wide variety, Sharky keeps it all flowing well. They have a particular sound - a soulsy-rock sound that you'd expect from a band that started in a garage, got polished up through years of playing, but never forgot their roots. That's not the case with Sharky, as the members all cut their teeth in previous bands, but they gel so well that it seems like it could be. Sharky are also good at putting their own stamp on the songs, by altering arrangements, the parts within the arrangement, or just letting guitarist Paul rip (which he can really do).

Sharky is a seriously fun band. If you're in the mood for some good ol' rock and soul, then check them out!
- Finn Maguire - South Shore Muse