Jeremy Barnes' band

Q: Did you jam with any folks who went on to be pro musicians?
A: A few. I'll give you one example. There was a band in high school playing at the same time as Extreme Delusion. We had an awesome Earth Day concert at school in 10th grade, in which members of the bands mixed and matched. These guys were wicked good. The band featured Jackson Kelly on guitar and voice. Jackson was one of my best friends during 10th grade. He had an intuitive feel for guitar tone and skill, a keen vocal range, and a wry wit. While the other guys in the band gravitated towards punk and harder rock, Jackson had one foot in the acoustic classic rock camp, like me.

Then there was the other guitarist, Mitch Marzec. Mitch was the main punk proponent, real serious about his Johny Rotten impression and acerbic tone. Mitch had me up in arms sometimes with his outspoken harsh words for the Beatles.

Finally, there was Jeremy Barnes, the drummer. Jeremy had a hard-driving Keith Moon style of playing and the crazy sense of mischief to go with it. Jeremy wound up playing with Neutral Milk Hotel from 1996-1998 (indie rock fans will know this band), and now he's in the band "A Hawk and A Hacksaw" with Heather Trost. Jeremy got away from his hard rock roots and now plays an eclectic brand of Eastern European folk music and has incorporated Romanian musicians into the band's lineup. This fascinates me because I am originally Romanian. Over time Jeremy and I switched influences: I got more into the Who and blues-based rock, and he got more into the music of my homeland!