History " What does the future behold for '80s Combat?"

How did we come up with the name?

It all started in July of 1998 when me and Brian were playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Tournament Fighter). I was Donatello, and he was Leonardo, and right in the middle of a match, Brian yells: "Eighties Combat!" I dropped the controller and said: "What are you talking about?" He said: "That's what the dude said on the game." So I waited, and then the Turtle yells: "Lightning Thunder!" Brian says: "There it is again!"

Who were the originals?

The next month, me and my friend Brandon were standing in my driveway complaining about how there aren't enough bands in Lubbock. I proposed that we form a band, so that night, I spent the night at his house. We decided that the first thing we should do is come up with a band name, so we went to brainstorming. Brandon came up with some pretty lame names such as: Twenty-Four/Seven and others I can't, or don't want to, remember. I somehow remembered the game and came up with: Eighties Combat. And that is how we got our name...(About a week later, when we inducted Brian into the band, we kicked Brandon out because he couldn't, and probably still can't, play guitar or sing).

How did our first live attempts pan out?

The first song I wrote was 'Shane Stole My Pants' which was about these white camo pants that I wore to school, and the next day, this dork named Shane shows up with some white camo pants, which made me mad. Well anyway, me and Brian heard about the Mikey Likes It decision to split, so we went to their very last show ever, which was at Renaissance Coffee House. That was when we made the decision that we really wanted this band thing to work out. About 3 months after that (March/April '99 I can't remember which), my friend, Geoff, had a band called Talking Donkey. They were going to play their very first show at Lakeridge Methodist Church and me and Brian figured that this would be a great place to sneak some exposure to a live crowd. The one problem was that we didn't have a drummer, so we asked around, and our...friend....Craig Meritt practically begged us if he could do it, so we said: "Sure, why not?" His dad came to pick him up right before we were supposed to go up on stage, so we were stuck. Our friend Tyler also decided that he was in the band, too, so all 3 of us got up there. Without a drummer. Me and Brian bust out into some MxPx in perfect timing, but we hear a faint whisper of Lynard Skynard in the background....it grew louder, and me and Brian stopped to find Tyler completely off in his own world doing 'Sweet Home Alabama.'

How did Mr. Tempermental Bandy react?

The next day, I wrote 4 songs in fury of what had happened the night before: Long Live the Queen, Obsessor, Songs that Repeat, and one that no longer exists. Since I had written a song about a girl that I liked, Brian thought he should write a song about the girl he liked: The Goddess; the song with no chorus...just plain rhymin'. I ended up writing most of the song, but I still gave him credit until he quit the band; I felt he didn't deserve credit for something that he was no longer a part of, and he got pissed.

But back to the story...We then decided that it was time to find a drummer....no screwing around; but we had NO luck.

How did our drummer search go?

One day in late April, Brian remembered that our friend Matt Cochran (Kid 16 guitar) played drums. However, I had always thought that Matt hated my guts, so I let Brian do the talking. It worked! Matt became the 1st official drummer of Eighties Combat. It took us a while to practice with Matt, though. In fact, it took us until 2 days before our first scheduled show....Matt had forgotten about us, and we almost didn't get to do it. (by this time, '80s Combat had become an obsession of mine; which still hasn't left me) We did 5 songs, and we did great; considering the time we had to do perfect it in.

How many friends did Evan have in the summer of '99?

That Summer, Brian was gone. All summer long, which witnessed the birth of this very website, and a newfound grudge between me and Tyler....which I still don't know where it came from. I heard from Brandon that when Brian was actually in town, he was leaving his bass and amp at Tyler's house and going over there every day. This really made me mad....Brian was slipping away from '80s Combat. And I don't think he realized how hard I worked on this web-site only to have him quit just like that. That was the main reason that I got so upset; all that hard work for nothing.

What is the whole story with Brian?

When school started in August, Brian finally admitted that he wanted out, and I was reluctant to accept the fact that he had changed. I blamed it on Tyler (and still partially do) and I was stubborn to see his side of the story. This is why we are no longer even friends anymore....because neither of us would listen to what we had to say. Anyway, I had no friends at all for about a week. Then I noticed Brad in my Geography and English classes wearing punk and skate clothes. Around that same time, I discovered Marisa in 3 of my classes and her and Brad got to talkin', and yadda, yadda, yadda, she became our #1 fan. Anyway, I figured Brad must be pretty cool, and then I remembered that he was in my 3rd Grade class at Posey where our teacher fell off a stool and broke her ankle. Then I started hearing that Brad was awesome at guitar, and I was like....cool. About the same time, I started to get in contact with Eric and Carl on the Internet about filling the missing places in '80s Combat. They all joined the band in about 1 week's span, and we started to practice.

How well did the newcomers learn the songs?

First, Eric came over and I gave him a thick tab book of every possible song we might do. Then Eric and Brad came over and that didn't go as good as when Eric came over. Then we went to Carl's house and we were officially a band. I got a drumset from my grandma, and all the rest of '80s Combat practices were in my room, and then our garage.

For Christmas, I got a PA system, and then, all the Local bands wanted to be our friend. We played our first show at Precinct 1 with: Kid 16, Mistaken Jamaican, and CTP. It was awesome. Then we played with Kids with Guns, Mistaken Jamaican, and CTP. It was awesome. Then we played a show with Link 80 and it sucked (we were horrible). Then we played a show in Evan's garage and it was awesome. And then, we recorded our first EP called "Verbal Attacks on our Enemies." and bla-de-bla and so forth. You get the point by now. It was awesome.

Look for us at the local shows and some mercandising stuff soon. As of August 1st, 2000 Brad left the band, and we're now a 3-Piece, and have been for quite some time now. We've played tons and tons of shows (at least 150, probably more) and we won't stop until we're old. The end.