The Beat Common

Von “Crutchfield” Mosely—singer, guitarist, and architect of the band— is the son of two Transylvanian immigrants and a direct descendant of the bloodline of Dracula. Throughout his life, he has always been exposed to music; if he wasn’t spending countless hours spinning vinyl, he was on the road with his parents’ garage/psych band, The Third Eye. He developed an obsession for music, especially the blues, which later spawned his love for hip-hop, soul, and funk, as well as countless mainstream and underground bands from the 60s. He parlayed this infatuation into music performance, and as a teenager would go on to form the genre smashing, socio-political band, Ghostfield. The band enjoyed mild underground success with their two albums, Enter the Ghostfield and Beyond Ghostfield, but would later break up for undisclosed reasons.
Novak Laincaster—drummer and sculptor of the band’s sound—was orphaned as a baby and to this day is clueless as to his parents’ identity or whereabouts. Although little is known of Novak’s past, we do know he has spent most of his life as a gypsy and claims to be “the son of Mother Earth.” He has a deep knowledge of pagan rituals and is a practitioner of the Black Arts, especially the forbidden Ishkabibble, also known as “The Dance of the Demon.” His travelling experiences and astute knowledge of worlds beyond ours seems to be a direct influence on his drumming. Although they never released an official album, Novak’s first band, the gypsy/folk/funk/punk influenced Cunt Tree Fish & the Silver Spoon, were a successful live act. Unfortunately, in 2005, nine of Cunt Tree Fish’s ten members died in a gunfight after a show in Mexico.
Leonard Hensly—percussion/illusionist—was born to an aristocratic London family; early on it was evident that young Leonard was not the socialite his parents desired. Never one for high society, Leonard took a devout interest in street magic, as well as social politics, claiming “it’s only my skin that makes me white.” At the age of 20, Leonard escaped to America on a two-dimensional translucent ship, or so he says. Shortly after arriving in the States, he became known as “Duke the Illusionist” and enjoyed several successful years as a street magician before disappearing without a trace. It is speculated that “Duke the Illusionist” is actually Duke Hensly, leader of the underground social-realist organization Propaganda Worldwide. It is also speculated that Novak and Mosely are brother members of Propaganda Worldwide, though all potential informants have been silenced.
The band is currently writing and rehearsing as well as working on individual projects. Mosely is currently writing a Transylvanian opera entitled Black Mosely. Novak is compiling live audio tracks for a Cunt Tree Fish retrospective entitled Live Tonight Like a Mexican Gunfight. Duke has disappeared.