The idea for the shinji ikari came about early on in 1998. It had been about 6 months since the tragic break up of the band Forthwright (the result of a very bad wreck on the way back from TOM fest in which our singer Lee Davis suffered massive injury and we lost our bassist and dear friend Kevin Glass). After Lee moved back to Birmingham to be with family, we [Jon Gann (drums) and Charles Clifton (guitar)] decided to start work on a new band. After months of playing in a garage, we had about 3 songs written and still no other members. For awhile it looked as if we weren't going to find anyone else interested in the project we were working on. Finally Ronnie Marler (of Clownhouse fame) agreed to help us out on bass. So we were a three piece. We practiced in a greenhouse for awhile (thanks to Amber and her grandparents) and taught the songs to Ronnie. Soon there was talk of Clownhouse reforming so Ronnie decided to pursue that. Not too long after that we went to a show in Pensacola, FL and met up with some friends of ours from Ft.Walton and Niceville (namely Will Whittenburg, a bassist, and Travis Groo, a guitarist). Before the show we asked them if they were in any bands at the moment. They weren't committed to anything so we took them out to Will's truck to show them a tape we made of our new songs. We asked them if they wanted to come up and try playing with us and they agreed. They came up about a week later and we practiced in Amber's house (thanks again Amber). Everything clicked really well and Travis and Will decided to join us. That's about it. we are no longer together but the memories remain . . .
love, jon
