Factor
(1996-1997)

Members:

Ben Pony: Vocals & Rhythm Guitar
Cory Thomas: Drums
Jimmy Marnoch: Guitar
Andrew Neville: Guitar
Michael Grale: Bass

Factor was the high school band I was in. The stupid music teacher never changed the name of the band even though the lineup was different every year.

I clearly remember the auditions. I was debating whether to audition for guitar, or for lead singer. I figured that there's probably going to be many guitar players going for this, so I decided to try out as the singer. I competed against 3 other people (there were 8 guitar players who tried out). The songs we needed to learn were "She" by Green Day and "Santa Monica" by Everclear. I wrote out the lyrics for them, while the other singers tried to memorize them. I was the only one who brought lyrics to the audition, and the other three were borrowing them off me for the audition.

I nearly fell over when I read the list of people who made the auditions and saw my name on the list.

This band was only together for the one year, but it was the first real exposure I got (besides karaoke bars).