About 4 years ago, in 1995, two friends started to play instruments together. One, Justin Shapiro, played the drums like a madman. The other gentleman, Mike Donkin, played guitar. They came up with such concept songs as “Fishy,” and it goes without saying that the songs were not particularly stupendous. They also played many Offspring covers, terribly. Unable to sing and play, they decided they needed a singer. One day they approached Jon(athonian) Ehrens, and asked if he could sing. “I can play guitar, and bass,” he replied.
“We just need a singer,” replied Justin.
“Who plays bass?” Jon asked.
“No one, we’re playing Local H (a song without bass), and we need a singer!” said Mike. Jon accepted the job, not sure why they didn’t have a bassist. Sucking horribly, they were unable to make the talent show. Under the name “Java,” the three adopted a singer, Tyler Abrams, and let Jon play his bass. The band was OK, and played many covers. Jon did not like playing bass, so they added Josh Machiz to the lineup, as a bassist. They played many Weezer covers, together. Jon was now rhythm guitar. They were still the worst band to compete in the battle of the bands. Realizing that Tyler had no commitment to the band, they let him go.
Java was a group of four now. Under the name “The Creamsicles,” Jon accepted the position of temporary singer , which changed to a permanent slot. It was time to write songs. This was a complete disaster. Such 1 progression songs as: “Man on a Mission,” “I Can’t,” “Latin Bar,” and “Phunkafobia” came about. Once they wrote about 5,000 stupid easy songs, they changed their name to “Discobone.”
“Discobone" played together for about a year. They played many parties where their music was not appreciated. They all, unspokenly, realized that this was going nowhere. They tried to write more complicated songs, which all turned out horribly. There were clearly some creative differences, and tensions relevant. Everyone was bad mouthing each other. And Discobone was ready to split up.
In the late summer of ‘99, the band was ready to call the quits, until
Mike started to play football. This lead to Jon, Josh, and Justin to start
having “songwriting sessions” which later turned into band practice. They
wrote many good songs, and all without Mike. It was time to let Mike go.
Now, the indie/punk trio goes by “What to Do With the Children.”
And this is where they are now: still in Justin's basement; and still playing
lame parties, holes in the wall, and dives.
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