drinking.coffee.from.counselor.troi's.head
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troi bio:
drinking coffee from counselor troi's head (otherwise referred to as "counselor troi" or just "troi") began as an un-named 2 man instrumental guitar noise recording/jamming/messing around project featuring Jared Butler and Cory Thrall - in the wonderfully early-90's year of 1993! they would clear space in Jared's bedroom, squeeze in the equipment and toys, and then prop the mattress sideways up against the wall so they could ram and jump and otherwise crush themselves into it while playing.
soon enough, and after many recordings done this way, the duo was turned to a trio with the addition of Joe Gibson (1994), and the group moved to the shed in the backyard of Joe's house. in this shed many recordings were made, tons of cups of coffee were drunk, and eventually people started trickling in to view the jam sessions. these sessions were increasingly louder and more abstract as time went on, and it became a common occurrence to see a visitor slapping their hands to their ears in blind, deafening panic. this would become the calling card of what would later form together as counselor troi.....
one day, in 1995, as Jared was roaming Piner High School, he was approached by the Student Body. they were filling spaces in an upcoming "Cultural" festival for the school's lunchtime quad, and they were wondering if Jared had a band that he'd be interested in having perform. thinking devious thoughts about the noise jam group that had been growing more and more expansive, he smiled and said "yes!". at this time Piner High didn't care about a demo or any sort of pre-proof of your sound or performance, so the project easily slipped into the rotation of the days-long Culture Fair!
the group searched for more members to add to the performance, and found kindred souls in the likes of Ken Lantz on drum machine and gadgets, Gerry Stumbaugh on guitar and vocals, and Karen on keyboards. with the now "band" filled out, a trip to the mall for batteries and toys was necessary! it was on this trip that the mascot, the figurehead, the very essence of what the band would become, was found - the coffee mug. the Star Trek's Diana Troi coffee mug, found at a media store and laughed over. "drinking coffee from counselor troi's head!" one of us said. and it was done: troi was born! and what a birth it was.....
so it came to be that the very first time this new line-up got together to play was live, on the quad stage, during the Culture Fair! assembling all the goodies they could, troi took the stage and began a blast of feedback, distorted-beyond-belief guitars, a drum machine, rumbling keyboard blurts, a bullhorn with manic vocals and screams emitting from it's blaring front.....the things of magic, mayhem, and noise! eventually the crowd (read as: the PACKED High School Quad!!!) began yelling, cursing, throwing food, money, water balloons and other fun stuff, but the band played on. the school reps ran to some of them yelling things such as "play a real song or get of the stage!", so the band began to scream lyrics to popular songs over the mess of noise and mangle (featuring such timeless classics as Hootie's "Let Her Cry", Gn'R's "Patience", and the Beatles' "Hey Jude"). at one point the school turned the power off to the stage, only to turn it back on quickly afterward - causing a huge rush of feedback and chaos as the band had not yet turned their instruments off! the school panicked as troi continued on. as a result of troi's set, it is now required that you turn in a CD of your music before you are even considered for a spot live at the High School........
after the Piner High fiasco, troi played a "moving away" party at Joe's house, playing a noise set to a group of their peers. at this point the band was a bit slimmer in the members area, having worked down to just Ken, Jared, Joe, Karen, and Cory. the set was fun for all, and many a fun time was had. following the party, troi entered a long time of regularly jamming and recording jams and versions of the then growing-into-near-songform jams "Milk of the Gods", "Happy Widdle Lub Song", and the MST3K inspired "Deepsand Hurtingstorm". Jared got the band car, an '85 Ford Escort he named "LaToya", and this became the main source of travel and fun. after months of jams and tunes, Karen left the band, and troi entered a studio - with Jared's experienced father at the recording/engineering helm. in this studio (frequented by Steve Miller, Norton Buffalo - whose kids played synth on some of the jams recorded that day, and more!) they recorded what is now known as "the demo", featuring classic versions of the songs listed. the demo also introduced the song "Goin' to Roswell" (about the band's dream to go on a UFO Quest throughout the USA, but mainly to Roswell, NM), and the Jared & Cory ditty "Error Not Curative". the demo ends with a normal troi instrumental jam ("Ash's Chainsaw").
troi continued to jam and record throughout 1995 and into 1996, with the line-up of Ken, Jared, Joe, and Cory. in late '96, Cory moved to Denver, Colorado, and his position was taken up by his then-13-year-old brother, Travis. they went on this path for a bit, but eventually Ken left the band, too. his spot was filled by what eventually became 2 drummers in the likes of Joe 'Ringo' Fess and George Wasley. this version of troi became what is now called "Troi 2", and more recordings were done. the band started to work more on actual songs (though still retaining the improv/jamming aspects of the earlier troi), and they worked into early '97, when Cory returned from Denver. Cory did not re-join the band at this point, but he did visit during some of the recordings/jams, which he enjoyed "muchly".
in late Jan. '97 Troi 2 was ended for good, and Jared, Cory, Travis, and George started the troi-inspired noise rock band "Jeremy Irons" (which later became "the Jeremy Irons Project"). troi was dead, at least for a bit.....
then, in 1998 - disaster struck! LaToya, which had still been somewhat jammin' along the streets of Sonoma County, suddenly burst into flames in front of Jared's house. the burning and destruction of LaToya wasn't the main problem - Jared, who had been attempting to compile a "Best Of" collection of troi songs, had been keeping and listening to just about EVERY troi recording in LaToya while traveling to and from a nearby city where he worked. so, the bulk of troi's legacy was destroyed with LaToya, and to this day only a very few old troi recordings exist.
1999 rolled around and suddenly the original 1st 4 members of troi felt a calling, an urge, the magic of troi pulling and tugging on them, begging for worship! so it came to be that they got together finally again and, with the line-up of Ken, Jared, Joe, and Cory, they recorded once again. these recordings were followed by much more in 2000, and the best of these recordings were compiled into the album "theemployee handbook is followed like scripture" (released online in 2005). after these jams troi took another break, this time for over 5 years..........
troi has once again reformed and recorded - this time in the line-up of Ken, Jared, and Cory - in October 2006. they plan to keep a regular recording/jamming schedule and, although Joe has moved out of the area, there is a good chance that he, too, will come record with troi again. also, Cory's brother Travis visits, as well, as drinking coffee from counselor troi's head enters their 15th year (2008)!!! they hope you're there, too...........still.......
...........thEND !