A story by Mike Laskey from 1978
Mike Laskey opening for the Ramones
The Same Band formed in 1977 when John Etnier opened his Brunswick recording studio, Planet Of The Tapes. The studio provided a space for John and his friends, including me, Joe Wainer, Bart Gross, Ozzie Gross, and Mike Guimond to play music together, and opened opportunities for John to hone his skills as a recording engineer.
Punk and New Wave music were trending at that time and we were very taken by the attitude and rawness of the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and Generation X. We started writing and recording songs with themes ranging from environmental concerns (Disposable World, Radiation) to baby boomer angst (Mad as Hell, End of the World), Mideast war protests (The Desert is a Bitch), and science fiction fantasy (Seaquimp, Okto). Our love of 1960s jazz music led to several improvisational instrumental tunes such as Alley-Pre-A-Toric, I Tried to Stop but Erupted, and Land of Cotton.
As the possibility of playing in front of audiences emerged, we had numerous discussions about the band name. The consensus was that we wanted something to reflect how different the music was from anything we’d played before. There was something appealing about the tongue in cheek contradiction of calling the band, The Same Band, that stuck.
Our live performances included numerous wardrobe changes, stage props such as costumed mannequins, elaborate backdrops made of Modigliani posters, Radiation Hazard signs, American flags, Bonanza restaurant advertising banners, and all manner of ephemeral clutter.
The Same Band played a dozen or so live gigs, most notably opening for the Ramones at the Loft in Portland in 1978, and an appearance at the Maine Festival. The band recorded ten hours of material over a three-year period and finally spun itself out of existence in late 1980.
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