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The Band
 A conversation
on Lake View Dr. between Craig and Brooks, about getting
together to drink a few beverages and play some music,
was the first step. Recruiting fellow neighbors, Tom
and Jeremiah was next, and a call to Shaun from Brooks
was the final.
Initially meeting in Tom's basement, the band has since
moved to a regular practice facility.
All members participate in song selection and each gets
the following two things:
1. A franchise song - gets to pick a song that they
want to play and each other member must agree to play
it.
2. A veto - gets 1 veto for a song, and this veto can
eliminate any song from the play-set, except for franchise
songs.
We play what we want to play. If you like it great,
if not T.S., there are no refunds. Other than this there
are not many rules.
Each member of Toast contributes/writes their part to
each song. So, all Toast songs are written by Toast.
Band Members
 Brooks Martin
Brooks was born to a musical
family in Waverly, Iowa. His grandfather was a travelling Jazz singer, drummer
and piano player during the depression. His mother sang for the church choir
and his aunt was a professional singer. Brooks currently lives in Cedar Falls,
Iowa and is an entrepreneur by day. His musical influences include Oscar
Peterson, Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Neil Young, Pink Floyd, The Sex Pistols,
Metallica, Stone Temple Pilots, Green Day, and Nirvana.
Brooks' favorite
part of being a member of Toast is the song writing process. To him there is no
greater feeling than coming up with an original song that makes the cut with
all five band members. We all have a picky ear, so when that happens it's a
rush.
Want a little peek into his head... then check out
http://www.mises.org
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vikings/runes.html
http://www.cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/notebooks
 Craig Lars
Larsen
Raised in a small town during the 70's and 80's, Lars spent much
of his early childhood dressing up as Gene Simmons with makeup, spikes, and
fake blood, pretending to rock the world. In the early 80's, Lars picked
up a beginners drum set which he beat beyond recognition while playing along
with great hair bands such as Whitesnake, Motley Crue, and AC/DC. Lars attended
his first concert at the
Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, where Joan Jett and the
Blackhearts rocked the house during the "I Love Rock-n-Roll" tour. Things would
never be the same. His next concert proved to be one of the best he had ever
witnessed. Taking the stage in Des Moines were Night Ranger, Accept, Ted
Nugent, Motley Crue, and Ozzy Osbourne. Lars proclaimed himself as Ozzy's
biggest fan.
One of his rock highlights took place in the
early '90's when he was invited to a party with an
unannounced live band. Quiet Riot played for a very small crowd of
approximately 100 people. He's still not sure how the building remains standing
since the foundation seemed to be
shaking all
night long.
Interesting Lars quote: "Writing music is easy. Just
listen to all those
voices in your head, and write down the good stuff." He
claims that there is no better feeling than performing a song for an audience
that you wrote while lying in bed one night, and watching their
response.
Not a minute has passed where Lars' head has not been filled
with music, dreaming of rockin the stage. At age 38, he realized that he may
have missed his prime, but the passion still burns just as strong. There comes
a time when you realize that if it all ends, you may have denied yourself the
one thing that God had truly designed you to do. He's gonna rock like there's
"No Tomorrow".
 Jeremiah Longnecker
On lead vocals and
seldom-used keyboards is Cedar Falls native Jeremiah Longnecker. The youngest
of six children, he grew up in a family full of musical talent.
Easily
the largest influence was his older brother, Jim, who has played in clubs
across the country in his three decades of entertainment. His father still
strums the guitar and sings for church services in Arkansas.
Jeremiah's
favorite band is Rush but Toast does not possess anyone near the talent level
of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson or Neal Pert to cover the Canadian trio's music.
Other favorite artists (that also don't appear on the set list) are Elton John,
Journey Styx, Duran Duran and Kansas.
A big fan of ballads, Toast
appeases him a couple time each show by slowing it down a little. Before
playing with Toast, most of his public musical appearances have been at
weddings or funerals.
The last time he played in a
band was when he was in junior high, performing such classics as "Stray Cat
Strut" by the Stray Cats, "White Wedding" by Billy Idol and "World of Fantasy"
by Triumph.
 Shaun Courbat
Almost born a sweetheart,
Toast bassist, Shaun Courbat emerged on the scene nine minutes before
Valentine's Day in 1974. A natural, inborn
curiosity led to a childhood full of seeking and exploring
which has continued to this day.
His first musical influence was his
Grandma Devee and her brother Warren's recording's of folk songs. The influence
wasn't so much musical, but more that DeVee & her siblings would get
together to play and record music…
His dad's 8-tracks of
The Beach Boys and especially the Doobie Brothers,
China
Grove completed the soundtrack of his youth.
Every Breath You Take
was the first record he ever owned, a vinyl 45 purchased when he was 10 with
his allowance for taking out and burning the garbage.
Fast forward to
the release of Oliver Stone's movie,
The Doors. This changed everything for Shaun
His
musical influences are:
Pink Floyd
The Beatles
The Grateful Dead
Stone Temple Pilots
A Self-taught bassist, his style
is a blend of the songs that he likes and
hack-type
experimentation...
 Tom Kremer
Tom Kremer (Drums) was born and
raised in Eastern Iowa. Growing up in the 80's, his musical foundation was
built with 80's hair band rock. He cut his
teeth on
the drums in a High School Band with a group of friends, and has been playing
ever since.
Early influences were bands that played in-your-face rock
such as: Kiss, AC/DC,
Aerosmith and Van Halen. Throw in some Poison, Motley Crue,
Cinderella and
Guns n Roses and you've created a rocker for life!
Now, with musical interests from Alternative and Punk Rock to Classic
Rock and Modern Music, Tom brings an ecclectic style of rock to
ignite the sounds of Toast. |
