In February of 2001 I needed a rhythm section for a show I was going to do for my Speech Team's Vaudeville night. It was a simple task: they were to play four songs. The person he had in line to play bass wouldn't, however; I needed somebody else. My friend Chris played bass, so I asked Chris to do it. Chris said yes. We needed a drummer, and Chris's brother Tim said he'd do it. Our original name was Jimmy Strutter and the Seven Strumpets, but we had to go with Jimmy Stutterer and the Seven Strutters because Strumpet means 'prostitute.' We were already showing our panache for picking out crappy names.

Who'd have know that band could screw things up so much? Looking back on it, it wasn't all terrible. Now that I think about it, all the members of the band were there for the second Vaudeville show. But the three of us really sucked things up. That was partially because I was singing and partially because we had one amp (my old Fender 75). Also, Tim had started learning the drums when we started practicing, so he had been playing for two weeks when we had our first show.

We played American Pie (which Chris kept getting lost on. Also, Ironically, Shawn helped sing backup vocals), Video Killed the Radio Star (Ironically, Cole sang backup), Cat's in the Cradle (Which Dave couldn't sing) and 21st Century Digital Boy (which had drum fills Tim couldn't play).

Being the ignorant fools that we were, we decided the show was alright and to continue playing as a band. I wanted an expanded sound, so I started looking for a second guitarist. I was still convinced I could sing. I knew this one kid, Cole, who had recently moved in a few houses down from me. I asked him to play with us one morning on the bus and we said yes.

They immediately decided I couldn't sing. So we started looking for a singer. We found one in a very unlikely place. John Wax, a friend from school. I'm not sure he was even into punk music. But that lasted for about two months, until we realized that we always showed up for practice and John never did. So we kicked him out. Guess who had to do it? Yup, me. John was a great singer, just not a good shower-upper. We played one show with him; it was our school's Teen Day show, we played like five songs with a couple of other bands, including the Lost Cause. We were gonna play at the Energy Plant opening for the Lost Cause, but they got shut down for selling crack out the back (The Energy Plant, not the Lost Cause, although they might have been doing it too).

With John kicked out we had to find a new singer. In another little weird 'inside connection' thing we considered Shawn as a vocalist but just decided on Cole because: 1. He knew how to sing most of the songs and 2. He didn't know most of the songs on guitar. So we switched from a five-piece to a four-piece in May 2001. Our new name was Killing the Hare; don't ask me about the name because I don't know. In that band we played a few shows, including several with a band called Horseshoes 'n Handgrenades who had a bassist by the name of Jerod.

The second Vaudeville we played had classic rock songs and Old People Scare Me. We were a lot more talented the second time around. I also played piano for two songs, which was fun.

In March of 2002 I wanted to start a side project that played songs in a major key. We asked Shawn to sing. Our original name was The Burnouts (hence the song 'Burning Out', it was gonna be our theme song) but that was taken. So we chose 'Nerds With Instruments.' I actually made that one up because I was sick of thinking up names. Strangely, everbody liked it. We recorded one EP under that name, you can buy it through Interpunk.

Chris got tired of playing in two bands and decided to merge them. He asked Jerod, who wasn't playing with Horseshoes and Handgrenades, to play secod bass. Cole switched back to just playing guitar, and we became a sextet (which is cool because we can say 'sex' more, even though it's a part of another word). We took the best songs from both bands (which I had written anyway) and mashed them together. And that's it.

Anyway, as a four-piece we recorded Dave Broke the Sega at Bevel Studios in Missoula. It is available directly from one of us, at the Music Box in Hamilton, and from Interpunk. Get it while it's hot, we won't make any more copies.

In June, Tim, Chris and Cole left. Jerod took over full-time bass duties and his brother Chance is sitting on the throne. What is it with the older-brother-on-bass-younger-brother-on-drums trend in Montana? Anyway, since the split we've been incorporating more ska and the like into our sound.

And, to add another twist to this seemingly endless story, Dave went away for college in Missoula, which limits practices to once every couple of weeks. Shortly after that Tim came on to play guitar, having given up his drumsticks. We plan to record a demo over Thanksgiving and an album at a real studio some time in the future.