88mph
From TNL Wiki
88mph is both a former username of Josh and also a punk rock band in which Josh played bass and sang. Formed in late 2000/early 2001, it initially included Corey Vs. Corey drummer Mykozo on bass and vocals. Mykozo left the band shortly after it's inception due to time constraints. The names roots stem from a love of the Back To The Future trilogy, in which 88mph is the speed necessary for time travel, coupled with a power requirement of 1.21 Jigawatts. Mykozo, coiner of the bands name, thought he was being clever in naming the band as such until a brief internet search yielded more than 6 bands by the same name. With both Mykozo and Josh being known members of The Maryland Pirates, the consesus was that no one cared and the name lived on. Other members also include Rich Siomporas on guitar/backup vox, Jason Adams on bass/vox, Type Ryan on drums, and Paul Przyborski on bass.
88mph's music could be characterized as early to mid 90's pop-punk with some minor emo elements. Songs composed by Josh tended to lean more towards the Chuck Taylor punk variety (Screeching Weasel, the Queers, the Heroin Addicts), whereas songs composed by Jason tended be the ones that were more of the emo variety (Alkaline Trio); songs by Mike were mostly retreads of material he had played in prior bands, songs by Rich held a closeness to early/mid Jawbreaker and Nirvana, while Type Ryan's songs were influenced by early Alkaline Trio and Fat WreckChords bands of the early 90's. Lyrical content was provided by several composers, and even a few songs of the early Mykozo era stayed in the set for years, despite his inability to write anything coming close to a decent set of lyrics.
88mph recorded a 3 song demo at Blue Room 808 in the Baltimore area sometime around 2002-2003, which included the tracks Burn, Walking Backwards, J-Slash, and two unnotable songs. From July, 2003, to March, 2004, a record titled 88MPH Sampler Platter was produced, featuring an appearance by Hubbitron on the track Everything About You. A three song collection of the completely self produced material was assembled and 150 physical copies were manufactured and distributed at the band's second-to-last show at the Ottobar in Baltimore.
The antics of 88mph are many and varied, much of which originated from the original 88mph practice spot, which was a Shurgard Storage facility that a 10x15 unit was rented from and converted into a rehearsal room, much to the dismay of the facilities owners and the residents of the apartment complex at the far end of the lot. A summary of the crimes committed at the Shurgard include countless acts of Theft, Destruction of Private Property, Public Urination, Public Intoxication, DUI, Posession and use of Controlled Substances, Narcotics Trafficking, and numerous other forms of debauchery. The practice spot featured a sit-down arcade cab in which a Dreamcast was installed and featured 2D fighting games as it's main platform.
88mph later moved operations to Baltimore's Hour Haus rehearsal facility, in which the debauchery continued. The band tracked drums and bass in this facility for the planned discography (listed above), comprised of 16 originals and 5 covers, and it was also used for the drum tracking for Corey Vs. Corey's self titled album, with Josh as engineer and Mykozo on drums/beer/drugs. Less than a year after moving into the new facility Josh joined Corey Vs. Corey, who were residing in South Padre Island, TX, which mostly spelled the end for 88mph.
In early 2007, after a two and a half year hiatus, band members Josh and Rich began work on finishing the recording project that lay dormant on dust-covered hard drives in a closet. After a month and a half of steady work on the project, 4 originals and 2 cover songs were brought to recording fruition, being 80-100% complete, sans mixing and mastering. Both Dave Wolf of the Cheaters and Hubbitron contributed heavily to the project, as did Mykozo, being an instrumental part to the sound of the original scores. Unfortunately, Jason Adams was unable to contribute to the project, and several songs remain uncompleted because of this. In addition to the six (mostly) completed tracks, 7 songs were completed instrumentally, and partially to none vocally. The style, feel, and theme of the music has changed drastically since the early days of the band, being much more mature and darker. Hopefully Josh and Mykozo can fit some time into their schedule to complete the last recording project sometime in the future.
