Our story begins with a flier. Doesn't it always? "My friend Claudia wanted to throw a party," says Dj FM. "She was attending the University of North Carolina at Asheville and knew several promotional groups, but no one up until that point had tried throwing a party independently. She was the first and I have to give her respect for going out on a limb like that. Anyway, she approached me about doing the flier design, and I said sure....it was about a week later that she invited Jason and I to be on the bill."

(The front and back of the "Rapture flier," ©1999 Treehouse Productions)

Then came rehearsals. "Jason and I really had no place to practice, so we approached our friend David about using a side room in his house, and he told us there was no problem. We mainly practiced on weekends, and I felt bad for the guys - they'd be hungover in the morning, and wake up to the sound of techno pushed by 1400 watts and a seven piece drum kit! I really didn't know from those rehearsals how we'd end up doing."

The day of reckoning was March 6, 1999. Accompanied by DJ Android (also slated to appear), Dj FM, The Avenga, and former SGO guitarist Danny Phelps headed up to Asheville (they would later be met in the club by producer Tom Mohbat and good friend Rob Logic from Logical Sound Discovery). The crew set up their gear in a dark corner of the club (Club Metro), hoping it would be far enough out of the way that people would leave it alone. No such luck.

"Our set kept getting pushed back due to scheduling conflicts, people showing up that said they couldn't, then did, etc. I spent most of the night keeping people from spilling water all over my keyboards and computer. When we finally did go on (around 5am), I don't think anyone had the slightest idea of what to expect. Jason did a 4-count on his hi-hat and we went straight into "Dreamstate." Half the people started dancing, and half gave us these looks like, "What the @#$%& is THAT?"

LISTEN TO DREAMSTATE
DREAMSTATE (30-second CD quality *.mp3 download)

"I think they'd figured out what we were all about after that. So we went straight into some of the new material - 'Other Roads,' 'Do You Miss Me?,' and 'I Believe.' During 'I Believe,' I accidently stepped on my guitar cable in the middle of the song - it pulled the cord out of the guitar and I nearly fell into my gear! Fortunately everyone was so mesmerized by Jason's playing that they didn't notice my screw-up. I guess they just didn't realize that a live drummer could actually keep up with a fast trance or jungle beat."

LISTEN TO OTHER ROADS
OTHER ROADS (30-second CD quality *.mp3 download)

LISTEN TO DO YOU MISS ME?
DO YOU MISS ME? (30-second CD quality *.mp3 download)

After that, the dynamic duo performed "Proton Girl" and the set closing "Empty Chair," the second drum & bass cut from the group's new material. Okay, show's over, lights out, everybody gets to go home and the roadies clean up, right? "I wish - we were there to see the sun come up when we were loading the last pieces of gear into our cars. Claudia had told us that one of her roomates would be at home to let us in so we could sleep. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case - I looked at Jason, he looked at me, and we said, "Let's just go home."

LISTEN TO PROTON GIRL
PROTON GIRL (30-second CD quality *.mp3 download)

LISTEN TO EMPTY CHAIR
EMPTY CHAIR (30-second CD quality *.mp3 download)

The group stopped at Denny's to grab some breakfast and COFFEE before heading back. "There was an old couple sitting behind us and they thought we were pretty strange. They kept making faces at us like we were hoodlums or something!" Once the crew got back on the road, it took quite a bit of willpower and a LOT of caffeine to stay awake. "I recall drifting off several times. Android kept asking me, 'Are you alright?' Looking back it probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I wanted to go to sleep in my own bed. I'm sure someone can relate."

And of course, once they got back to Raleigh, the "roadies" couldn't help them UNpack, either. "It was about two in the afternoon by the time I'd finished unloading my car. I was beat - I slept until about 10 o'clock that night, woke up and ate some cereal, went back to bed and had to be at work the next morning." So, do you still think the entertainment industry's all fun and games, kids?