Amir Derakh, Matt Thorne & DDR MUSIC GROUP are at it again…and this time with the former lead vocalist of BLACK BAMBI, Steven Ray…
It was 1992 in Los Angeles when guitarist Amir Derakh and bassist Matt Thorne were in the band JAILHOUSE, which was nearing the end of their road. At the same time, the band BLACK BAMBI was dissolving after losing their deal @ Atlantic Records, and lead singer/guitarist Steven Ray started searching for new inspiration. Steven & Amir had known each other since the early days in San Diego and had kept in touch over the years. Actually, every now & then Amir would pop into a BLACK BAMBI show and end up running the soundboard or light show just for kicks.
Steven & Amir hooked up and began doing home demos at Amir’s apartment, with thoughts of creating a brand-new band. They needed a bass player, so of course, Matt was quickly brought into the fold. The demos ended up being a lot of fun to do, and sounded pretty good, so the next logical step was to form an actual band. Now, they needed a drummer. A friend of Amir’s happened to have a brother who was a drummer, who had recently left his previous band, so an audition was set up for the following week. Enter Scott Marcus, who the guys immediately nicknamed Stoney. All it took was the one audition, and Scott was in.
After tossing around different names, GRASS was chosen as the band name, and they set about playing shows around Hollywood and the surrounding areas. GRASS was well received by their audiences, and quickly formed a small but loyal following. Producer Beau Hill (RATT, WINGER, WARRANT) who had produced BLACK BAMBI’s album, took an early interest in the band, but as we all know the times were changing and it just didn’t pan out. As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Sadly, due to personal reasons, the band fell apart after only a year.
Towards the end, the band had decided to change their name to BLACKLIGHT, which was the title to one of their favorite songs. This 13-song collection is a compilation of home demos, as well as recordings done @ The Sandbox, a studio owned by Rick Parker of the L.A. band, LIONS & GHOSTS. After 30 years, BLACKLIGHT’s music is finally being released for the first time.
This album has been digitally remastered and is packaged in a 12-page booklet with a full set of lyrics.
This CD is silver pressed, officially licensed from the band, and exclusively available from DDR MUSIC GROUP.
This album is also available as a full album download through Bandcamp.
