Excitebike | nl

There were several band's named excitebike during the late 90's this is about the one from Newark Delaware...

Excitebike AKA (Exbike) hailed from Newark, DE and existed for about 3.5 glorious years during 1999-2002. - The band played about 40 shows (that's being generous) during its brief tenure. The original lineup formed when the following chaps, including yours truly, met during their Freshman year at the University of Delaware:

Mike Garcia (not so good sounding vox, future bands: Signal Static, Hello Nurse)
Tom Allen (the guy who screams "Yeah" on the later recordings and plays guitar)
Jeff (Junior) Harris (future bands: Rainboy Case & Her Last Words - never recorded a damn thing, but played bass at our first 3 shows and at one show in Long Island)
Jeff D'Amato (insane drummer with ADD, housemate of Garcia in college)
Mike D'Allesandro (guitarist, song writer, scholar..."ahhhhhh")

The original lineup played exactly 3 shows together, all on the UD campus. On the 3rd performance both Junior Harris and Tom Allen announced they would not return to UD the following semester (too many video games). Crestfallen, the remaining members hit the studio (errrrr...garage) of Brandon Reilly (Rookie Lot, Movielife, Nightmare of You) to record their very first 4 song demo (Backpack Girls, 2am Train, Shake Hands with the World, and Lucky 22). The demo was engineered/mixed by Brian Lane (Rookie Lot, Hometown Hero, Brand New). As Junior Harris and Tom Allen opted out of recording, due to committments to their other band "Powersurge", the remaining members enlisted the help of Jake Schultz (a long time friend of D'Allesandro) to record bass tracks on Exbike's first 4 songs, including the international sensation "2 Am Train"....it wasnt so much an International Sensation...and probably sold about 20 copies...Other bass parts were performed by D'Allesandro.

Returning to UD in the fall of 1999 Excitebike began a frantic search to discover its next bassist. At the suggestion of its buddies in Power of IV, Exbike signed star bassist Dan Lyons (Power of IV, Marlon Spike) to take over the bass spot left vacant by Junior Harris. Dan fit like a glove and contributed to much of the songwriting in the 2.5 years he was a member of the band.

While the band played 4 or 5 shows as a 4 piece, they briefly tried out a rhythm guitarist, Anthony Mead, but the relationship was short lived and limited only to several practices. There was something missing and that something was hating his life in Long Island and attending SUNY Stony Brook. You guessed it, Tom Allen quickly realized the error of his ways and announced his plans to return to UD, wanting to pick up where he left off with Exbike. The return of Tom heralded the time period when Exbike wrote its most memorable songs (Story at Nine, Rubber Legs, Missed by Inches, Fingersnapping). These songs, again, were recorded with Brian Lane in Long Island where the sonic quality is markedly better (for a demo). The band then started on its most productive live performance period. Playing to 10's of people (at times 20's of people) The band played as far north of Delaware as Long Island (home base of 3 of its 5 members) and as far south as Baltimore, MD.

Tragically, during the Winter of 2001 early 2002, Exbike decided to call it quits. The guys played a very memorable reunion show in May 2003 with Brand New in Delaware and had a grand old time in the process. Currently, all members remain in touch and are still great friends...even with Junior (the one that got away).

Exbike played shows with the following notables: Q and Not U, Brand New, The Movie Life, The Rainboy Case, Power of IV, Game Over...

We didnt change the world, but we sure had a great time trying.

Yeah...I wrote this because I was feeling nostalgic, and to give the guys a good laugh. All of its pretty true, and I apologize for the over-embellishments.

M.G.

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EXCITEBIKE (Charlottesville, Virginia) 1997-2001

This Charlottesville, Virginia emo-core quartet provides the perfect mix of melody and intensity. The band rocked with an intense live show, featuring dual guitars and vocals, funky basslines, solid drumming, striking good looks, and rudimentary Nintendo playing abilities. Take Sunny Day Real Estate, Portrait, Planes Mistaken For Stars and mix them with a dash of In Flames. The end result is comparable to On The Might of Princes. Members went on to play in Olde Ghost, Gregor Samsa, and The Silent Type.

Nathan Altice - guitar/vocals
Will Cole - guitar/backing vocals
Steve Lank - bass
Champ Bennett - drums





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