Who are they?

Bound For Nowhere was a four-piece Hard Rock / Blues / Indie band that spawned in the basement of the residence of long-time drummer Brandon Perlin. They were based out of Chestnut Ridge, NY in the quaint county of Rockland. The band consisted of Dave Ganin on Bass, Zak King on guitar, vocalist Mike DeModna and drummer Brandon Perlin Together, these four artists revolutionized the already powerful Rockland County music scene and won the hearts of all those lucky enough to witness one of their electric live performances.

History

In 2001, Brandon Perlin and Zak King got together to feel eachother out and see what they could create. The two felt from early on that there was a chemistry between them, and decided to pursue adding a bassist to the mix. The band asked their friend Mat Malden if he would try playing the bass for them. Mat was beginning to learn how to play the guitar, taking lessons from guitarist Bryan Nash (of N.A.S.H). Seeing as Brandon and Zak had a need for a bassist, Mat decided he would take them up on the offer. He borrowed a bass and a small practice amp, and headed to Brandon's house to see what would happen. After a very brief period, one rehearsal, Zak and Brandon realized that Mat could not keep up on the bass and the two decided to look for a better musician.

After some time, Zak was told of a talented bassist from Suffern, NY named Oren Brecher and he decided to ask Oren if he would rehearse with them. The trio jammed mainly on covers including "Californiacation" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Blurry" by Puddle of Mudd, "Santeria" by Sublime, and "When I Come Around" by Green Day. After a few rehearsals, Zak composed two original pieces that the trio began to rehearse under the band name Crossing My Mind.

Oren decided to leave the band after a year. It is speculated that he left because the band was not very active, however it must be noted that at the time, Zak had only just entered high school, and Brandon and Oren were still in middle school. During the last few months that Crossing My Mind existed with this lineup, Zak began to experiment with other musicians in Hillsdale, New Jersey. The group consisted of Zak's long time friend Dave Ganin on Bass, and Dave's friends Sydney Weiss (drums), Brian Wang (guitar), and Rajiv Venkataramanan (Vocals). This group rehearsed in the same house as local legends The Superspecs as their current drummer was Sydney's older brother. They mainly playing covers ("Aerials" by System of a Down) as well, and due to creative differences between Zak and Brian, they decided to split before anything materialized.

Shortly thereafter, there was word of a possible music talent show to be held at Spring Valley High School in Spring Valley, NY, where Brandon and Zak were both students. Zak asked Dave if he would rehearse with him and Brandon, and Bound For Nowhere was born.

The Saga Begins

Although the talent show never came to be, Dave, Zak, and Brandon played well together and decided they would work towards playing some live shows. "Drowning" was reborn, with new lyrics and tougher riffs. It would become their first popular hit with the local crowds as well as their staple opener to their live performances ever since. The band also rehearsed a variety of cover material from artists across a large spectrum. These included songs by Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Pearl Jam, Lit, and even an Oldies medley.

The Famous "Olive's Incident" (#1)

Bound For Nowhere would play their first show in the beginning of 2003 at Olive's in Nyack, NY. On Sunday afternoons, Olive's would refrain from selling liquor and open up to a younger crowd, allowing teenage bands to come in and perform for their friends for a small cover charge. They played their first show under these circumstances and immediately left their mark. Included on the bill were their peers Silence the Feedback which at the time consisted of Miles Strand on guitar, Timmy Moynihan on bass, Joey Ventura on drums, and Mike DeModna on vocals.

Zak, Dave, and Brandon took the stage, announcing that they would play under the name Tonic only to be told that there already was a band who used that name. They responded by telling the audience to call them whatever they wanted, and opened with a strong rendition of "I Can't Explain" by The Who. The only original to be played at this show was "Drowning" as it was the only original composition they had prepared at the time of the event. The crowd was extremely into their set and communicated that they wanted the band to continue their performance. Knowing that they were strapped for time, and already having been told by the show promoter that it was time to leave the stage, the band began their rendition of "Baba O'Riley" by The Who. Mid-way through the song, all amplification was powered down by the show promoters, and to everyones suprise the band continued to play though the instruments could not be heard. Dave continued singing the song and the band ended together shouting the song's famous last words, "They're All Wasted!." They rushed off the stage into a crowd of ecstatic listeners and realized that they had been received quite well despite their forced ending. This gave the band all the confidence it needed to continue on to greatness.

What's in a Name?

Shortly after their epic first performance at Olive's, the band settled on the name Bound For Nowhere, which had been brought up by Zak previous to the Olive's gig but had been shot down by the two other band members. After learning that Tonic was already taken (which they should have already realized due to the real Tonic's hit that was currently popular, "If you could only see")Dave and Brandon finally saw Zak's vision of a band not constrained to any genre or any previously set path of musical creation, and they agreed on Bound For Nowhere.

Catholic Schoolgirls

Their second performance was at Imaculate Heart Academy, a private Catholic, girls only high school. The night before the show, all bands were asked to report to the school's auditorium to have a run through of the event so that all things would run smoothly the following evening. It is at this runthrough that BFN met the other bands that would form a close-knit group with eachother, becoming its own force in the local music scene. (Dying Breed, Three Balls Left, 5FI)

At the runthrough, opening act Three Balls Left which featured Koby Has on guitar performed their cover of Stacy's Mom. When it was their turn for a runthrough, Bound For Nowhere expressed that they felt they could do Stacy's Mom better than Three Balls Left and invited their guitarist Koby to join them in playing the song. From here on out, the runthrough became a giant jam session and nothing was accomplished in preparing for the following night.

Right before their set, BFN crowded into a small hallway underneath some stairs in the school and rehearsed "My Own Worst Enemy" by Lit without using any instruments. There are known photographs of the BFN performance, as well as a VHS recording of their set that was done by Zak's father from above the stage. These items were only shown to a very small number of people and still remain exclusive today.

The show went quite smoothly for all the hbands despite one group who continued their tradition of screwing everyone on set times by showing up late to every show.

Early Recordings

Bound For Nowhere realized their local success after just a few live performances and decided to take some time to focus on writing their own material. While performing sparingly throughout this period in order to spend the most time possible on writing, they would begin to incorporate their newly written material into their live setlist. Using their crowd's reaction, they decided what songs were liked most and used this in deciding what songs they would record for their demo.





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