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HYBRID 23,
JAY AND KRISTINE'S FIRST BAND TOGETHER. |
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Christian, Benji, Justin, Jason, Jay,
Kristine
HOW THE BAND CAME
TO BE
After Esoteric lost Nick as a singer, the band
didn't want to quit. They searched for a replacement.
Christian, a good friend of Jay's since grade school, had
already been in a Smith's influenced band called London, and
was itching to do something with music again. The two had
always talked about being in a band together, and the
opening for a singer in Esoteric seemed like the perfect
opportunity to finally work together. Christian decided to try out for Esoteric. Around the same time
Kristine had responded to an ad placed by Esoteric, but she
was told they weren't really looking for a female singer.
However, the band told her they would consider her as a backup singer if she wasn't a child
sounding, little girl voiced typical chick band singer. The guys in Esoteric weren't really fans
of any female lead bands, specifically shit like THE CRANBERRIES or VERUCA SALT. If they could find a powerful singer like a Pat Benatar, an Annie Lennox, or a Stevie Nicks, COOL!!! But the la di da nursery rhyme- thin- frail Lilith Fair type females of the day were shit as far as the band were concerned. They didn't want to go that route-thinking a band should be like a gang of friends, a guy's club with uncensored behavior and fart and boob jokes. lol.
They didn't want some easily offended chick coming in and screwing that all up. It would be like having your mom or girlfriend around to tell you what you're doing wrong all the time. An outdated politically incorrect attitude, sure, but the truth at the time. Kristine says she got that reaction from alot of the bands she called about singing for. So she was used to it.
Jay was
tired of Esoteric's direction ( not because he felt it sucked, more
because it had been 8 years of the same thing, the same
sound-he felt like he was standing still, and not moving forward ) and wanted to evolve into a harder, more pounding
sound. Christian also wanted to be aggressive, and the
others in Esoteric weren't ready for such a drastic change. Christian's voice, while thought good by the band for what it is, was simply too overpowering to them.
Christian wasn't picked as singer. Jay and Christian decided they
would make a band anyway, from scratch. Esoteric's days were numbered at this point, and Jay knew it, saw it coming. He didn't believe they'd find a singer, and it would end. Christian and Jay plotted and schemed, and
thought a guy girl team of lead vocalists could work well.
Yeah- it's been done, The Human League and Fleetwood Mac did it-but not that often, and not in the way
they envisioned it. Instead of harmony, they wanted
dissonance. Show the reality of relationships, and the anger
that breakups can bring. The two also wanted to inject some
reality of what was going on in the world around them, and
it wasn't always pretty. Esoteric wrote great pop songs that
tell you everything is alright. Don't worry, just dance the night away. Hybrid23 would tell you the
truth, it's not always gonna be alright. Esoteric played
their final show in February after a 5 month search for a
singer. The show was played with an "auditioning" singer.
That night, everything went wrong, tensions were high, and
the band broke up for good. Kristine was at that show, and liked what she
heard. Jay told her about his plans with Christian, and if
she could sing, they would do this new band with 2 lead singers. She
was up for it.
LAYING THE GROUNDWORK
Things clicked
really fast between the 3. At first, a couple of guys from
Esoteric were gonna be in the new band, but after a few
practices, they fell off the tree. The 3 of them wrote tons
of songs without a band. During this time, Jay had begun
playing in an 80's cover band to make some money. The
drummer from that band, Benji, was interested in hearing
Hybrid 23. He came to a practice, and joined the band. Benji
brought an interesting flavor to the music, he was more into
Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, classic rock. Somehow, it
just fit into Jay's creepy music and Christian's angry raps
and screams. Kristine's smooth vocals also went well with
everything going on, even if on paper it shouldn't. At a bar
Jay met Sid, who joined in on guitar. He was into the Beatles, and classic rock, but open minded enough toward all music to try anything that sounded good. Sid brought in Justin,
a punk BAD RELIGION influenced bass player from his work. Things were
coming together naturally and quickly.
The band did the usual thing-gigs, gigs, and gigs. Countless shows. The most memorable being opening up for FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD! That stands out, due to the fact that not one original member of the 80s FGTH was in this version. Not the OG singer, not the OG drummer, not the OG guitarist, not the OG bassist, not the OG keyboardist, not the OG triangle or cowbell or skinflute player. They were good, very tight, it was a great show-but how the hell did that shit happen? lol.
Definitely a WTF Twilight Zone moment, but a good memory for the band.
This lineup of Christian, Kristine, Jay, Benji, Justin, and Sid recorded 6 songs. After this, Sid left, and Hybrid23
carried on without him. The band used session player friends for live
shows and recordings. Mainly a guy named Donny, who was a metal guitarist who played in various cover/tribute bands around LA. He might have joined the band permanently if he didn't live so far away. Hybrid23 never had a permanent guitarist after Sid,
until Jason, but by then the band was on it's last legs.
Hybrid 23 recorded twice more, the second recording doing
7 songs, and the last one doing 10. 23 songs total in 2
years. More shows followed, including a tour that took the band as far as Wisconsin. That was the first time anyone in the band had played outside of California, Mexico, or Vegas.
ACCORDING TO JAY: "Hybrid 23 pre- dated things like Evanescence's 'Bring
Me To Life' by 4 years. When that song hit radio, we were like 'HOLY SHIT! THAT'S THE SOUND WE WERE TRYING TO DO TOO!' It was good to see our idea of what
a band could be, crossing genres- realized by their success in the mainstream.
Even if it wasn't us reaping the commercial rewards, it was cool to know we were not alone in our vision, that we weren't crazy after all. lol. There WERE others like us out there, we weren't aliens from another planet. The mixture of rap, harsh screaming,
soft singing, guy/girl vocals, political lyrics mixed with poetic
lyrics, gothic, industrial, pop and punk might have been too
soon for people to grasp. We were constantly told 'it will never work, you can't mix all that shit together as one'. Ahead of our time??? Perhaps....Never will
you find a more diverse group of people than the ones in
Hybrid 23. By all accounts, by the 'rules' and boundaries-we should have never gotten
along musically or personally. No one in Hybrid23 liked the same things, the same bands. What I was into, Jason despised. But that's what made it unique, each person imagined they were in their own favorite band! Justin played as if he was in Social Distortion, Benji was up there doing John Bonham Led Zeppelin fills, I'm playing shit like I'm making 'The Phantom of the Opera part2' musicals, etc...We were a bunch of misfits
from totally differing backgrounds who somehow made
different shapes fit the same puzzle. Hybrid23 was an awesome time in my life, and it re- lit my fire to keep doing music, after feeling really burned out and like I'd hit a brick wall. It opened up a world of ideas, and anything was allowed musically for myself and Kristine from this band on. So thanks to all who participated in this band, ya fucking bastards." lol. Hybrid 23 splintered
into 2 more bands, Butchershop Candy,
and Rebels of The Neon
God. But that's another story!
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