An Ad hoc-Freeform noise band with an initial lineup of William Herrera on synths and Alex Hood (Formerly of The Drills) on Guitars, (this would be the first time he plays with his younger brother William.) Also starting with the band were two "Lesbian-Hot-Chicks"; bass-playing, runway models. Inger was our Platinum blonde lead singer/screecher/poet. The other a raven-haired beauty named Marianne, who sported a Siouxiesque - bob cut. I had puppy love for that Marianne....but alas it was not meant to be. (Insert sad music) Did I mention they were hot? They could play Bass Guitar to, and were very Arty.  I liked having chicks in a band-- future note- Chicks in Band OK!

First Gig Recollections: Vince's House

Our 1st and only Gig was the best, Alex was doing a favor for a friend named Vince. Vince was/is an artist who lived in an old large Florida  2 story vaguely Cracker-style Mansion in Downtown Miami. It was on bay side near the water  just north of the Omni and was called Artifacts. You knew it was the Artifacts house because the name was painted, graffiti-style , in  10 ft high letters across the entire vintage, bermuda shuttered front. Rising up from the lawn were garishly painted old cars and motorcycles half buried in ground. Inside, it was even more bizarre, as the entire house was a live-in museum project filled with huge metallic cyber-insects, and places like the "Phone Room"- small upstairs bedroom that had dozens of old telephone handsets dangling from the ceiling. (Perfect place for a Psycho-killer movie) There was all kinds of madness and the house open and closed at strange hours. Needless to say it was the most distinctive house in Miami in the 80's and it was eventually bulldozed...

1989-1991: Jesus in Neon 2.0

Jesus in Neon was later resurrected as side project with Static Opera Bass-player Karine Juban. Under the 1989-1991 version I was very prolific in taped output but no gigs. A lot of "Sonic Sketches" but few really solid compositions. Still it really gave me a chance to have fun with my gear. In the first phase of Jesus in Neon I used:

• Casio CZ 5000 - King of my collection and all around work horse- I reprogrammed the hell out of it.
• Yamaha CS-01- Tiny Analog Wonder in Red plastic. Super PHAT bass in tiny package. No presets only sliders and knobs.
• Roland TB303 bassline --Cool Noises- later sold when I was desperate for money- The biggest mistake I ever made
• TR 606 Drums -Ditto Bought as a set in Montana with the CS-01 and eventually a CZ-101
• EMU systems Drumulator
• Ibanez AD 202 delay I traded it for the DRV 2000 which was a fair trade but I miss it alot..
• Roland RE-201 Space Echo Tape delay- a Cantankerous beast that ran on a huge looping spool of 1/4 tape, yet beloved for its warm sound and retro look.
• Various noise pedals. 
• Fostex 4 track recorder.

It was on the occasion of Vince's birthday that Alex got asked to hang-out and play background stuff, drink beer what ever. Alex Called me and somehow the hot chicks, Inger and Marianne,  got involved and the next thing I knew I was setting up my gear in the corner on this weird house. Alex setup his Marshall Stack and I with my Casio and other toys. The girls stood to our left next to each other and played off each other and the TR 606 drum machine. They just kind of rumbled along and were hot and did their own thing with Inger belting out Stream of Consciousness, improv "stuff". Then Alex would Riff away on top of that and I would provide trippy pads, atmospherics and assorted electronic bleeps and blips, with lots of echo and tape delay. And lots of regenerative feedback on the Ibanez . We just played in the corner not paying any attention and as loud as we possible could. We were part of the Art project and were in close proximity so patrons actively surveyed us as opposed to just watching a band. In the end it was a cool fun evening of glorious noise-making. Feeling the momentary stillness of between the sounding of our last note and the beginning of the applause was beautiful thing and  I knew I was hooked on this band/music thing.

The End

We had a few practices at  another old house in Coconut Grove (SE Corner of Bird and Macdonald, also now gone/gentrified) and so Alex and I started to look for gigs. Then the bad news --"Bye bye William can't do the Gig Marianne and I got contracts in Europe, and we fly out in 2 weeks. It was really cool doing the band thing and your really cute and all that. But Marianne and I are Hot for each other right now and it could get... complicated. See you when we get back!" Inger and I recorded one crazy "Song" in my bedroom called .."It's almost over" and that pretty much is all that is recorded by the original lineup... All Subsequent Jesus in Neon songs came from the 89-91 period.

You are visitor