Crimes of Passion

After having left Mirrored Image I spent many months working with the bands drummer Rob Grosser, writing and playing in his home studio. Even though I had been tinkering with writing prior, it really set me off on that path. So much so I bought my own Tascam 244 Portastudio and started working on writing in earnest.

In 1990 I placed an add in a music store for a vocalist to work with, and Andre Javes answered the call. We started writing together quite a bit, to the point where he and his girlfriend moved into my apartment so that we could do more writing without having to ‘make the time’.

Shortly after that we decided to put a band together and I called on a friend, Damian Kennedy who was playing around town with various bands, including The Flying Emus, Shanley Del, and Dave Adams’ Red Not Blue. Damian did not hesitate, he joined right away.

Next we needed a lead guitarist and I forget how it came about, but a guitar player named Steve Vizesi joined the band after spending many months helping out with the demo’s Andre and I were creating. Steve was a student of Dieter Kleeman at the time and had great chops on the fretboard.

Next we needed a drummer, and I had auditioned for a band many months prior with a great drummer named Maurice Henler, and it just so happened that he answered the call for a drummer in the band. He was a brilliant musician and he sat on a click like no one I have ever seen before.

After many weeks of rehearsal and deciding on the name Crimes of Passion, we landed a gig supporting a friends band, The Last Stand Chisel Barnes Show at Promises nightclub in the Sylvania Hotel on March 15, 1991. Not sure what the audience thought of the show, but the rest of the band was not too happy with Steve Vizesi’s performance and called to replace him, which we did. This was a little harsh it has to be said, as he did so much for the songs, and I am forever grateful for his contributions.

So, we needed to find another guitarist, and somehow, I approached David Sparks whose playing I really admired after having seen him with Gyan many times. I sent him the demos we had, and he was happy to join the band. Rehearsals began once again for Crimes of Passion version 2, and Dave’s playing was the perfect fit for the songs and the band in general.

Having taken the demo tape of Crimes of Passion into Harbourside Brasserie to try and secure a support gig or something, I was surprised to hear the owner say they loved the songs and gave us three headlining gigs on Wednesday nights. We managed to fill the venue on the first night, and the crowd faded by the third who as friends and family members failed to fill the seats!

From there we had one more gig, supporting the Australian Madonna Show at the Dee Why Hotel on July 19, 1991. It was the usual shit deal, arrive at 3PM and lug in the PA, get paid a mere $250 and help lug out at the end of the night. A shit deal but we took it. We lugged in the PA, and after doing our set, the crew approached us as we came off stage and said: “What the hell are you guys doing supporting this shit, you were awesome”. Which was nice to hear, but even nicer was being told to not bother lugging out.

Sadly, I could not keep the band together as everyone became disillusioned with the lack of work and we seemed to be getting nowhere regardless of the positive responses from venue owners and crews. There was however one last chance, an offer to go into a studio and record.

Andre was friends with Michael Horn who was part owner of Trackdown Studios at the time and offered to give us a weekend to record. Trouble was, Maurice had pretty much vanished, so we needed a drummer. I happened to walk into a music store in the city to find John Prior from Matt Finish working behind the counter. I asked him if he would be interested in coming into the studio to record and he said: “Send me a tape and if the songs are good, I will do it”. So I sent him the tapes and he was in.

I wanted a good keyboard player to replace the keyboard parts I had sequenced for the live shows, and John Prior suggested a guy named John Mackay who was currently playing with Richard Clapton. So I went to see John Mackay at a Richard Clapton show and he was perfect. He agreed to do it based on John Prior’s involvement. So, we rehearsed a few times and Crimes of Passion version 3 went into the studio.

I cannot overstate the contribution both John Prior and John Mackay had on the songs, and I will be forever grateful. But that was the last thing the band Crimes of Passion ever did, it ended right there as I had run out of the energy required to keep it moving forward.

Band Members