After recording “For Sherry” with a band of mercenaries borrowed from other bands in my high school, I set about putting together a more permanent band of my own. I spoke first to guitarist and longtime friend Cliff Hall, and together we recruited drummer Chad Wood, bassist Jeff Wren and saxophonist Eric McLuen. We had some fun making music in my garage in the summer of ’86, and played at Chad’s sister’s wedding in October.

The following summer, Cliff and I regrouped with guitarist Steve Hudspeth, drummer Troy Gould, and bassist Josh Fisher. We had more fun playing classic rock covers in the summer of ’87 as Cliff, Steve and I prepared to leave for college. Before we closed up shop for the year, we recorded Busted as a scrapbook for our old high school rock band.

Unexpectedly, we got together again in early ’88 to record Home Turf, our first cassette of all-original music. We played more shows around Indianola and Pleasantville, settling into a fairly permanent lineup through ’89. Ray Yenzer and Phil Hudspeth eventually replaced Troy and Cliff, respectively, and singer Laura Galpin joined us in the summer of ’89.

In the spring of 1989, we began recording A Safe Place, an ambitious collection with elements of rock, folk, jazz, punk, alternative and rockabilly. The sessions, and the band, unfortunately began to break down by mid-summer. I left to pursue a solo recording career, and Sound System morphed into Velvet Picasso, an alternative cover band.

Steve and I eventually regrouped to operate Trifecta Recording Studio from 1992 - 2002. Justin and I currently work together in the band, The Grape Ape Trust.

Currently, Justin and I are laying down guitar, bass, vocal, drum and keyboard tracks to finally complete A Safe Place. We hope to get Steve and Phil (and possibly brother Aaron) to lay down guitar and vocal tracks and finally make this the project it was meant to be.