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About Shabutie
Before Coheed and Cambria, there was Shabutie. Claudio Sanchez: Vocals/Guitar Travis Stever: Guitar Michael Todd: Bass Nate Kelley: Drums When a band called Toxic Parents, featuring Travis Stever and Claudio Sanchez, dissolved around the same time as Nate Kelley's project, Moe & The Boogie Cats (who disbanded after their lead singer left New York to join a UFO cult in Arizona), the members came together to form a new band. In March 1995, Travis Stever (lead vocals, guitar), Claudio Sanchez (guitar), Nate Kelley (drums) and Jon Carleo (bass) came together to form a band called Beautiful Loser. The band was short-lived, however, as in June of the same year they broke up, due to an argument over gas money. Stever left the band, and Kelley was initially kicked out, but came back when asked by Sanchez. Without Stever, the band became a trio, and Sanchez took control of the lead vocals and guitar. Renaming themselves Shabutie, the band spend nearly a year experimenting with a multitude of different sounds: punk rock, indie rock, acoustic rock, funk and heavy metal to name a few and purportedly wrote as many as 100 songs, few of which were kept. Carleo, on bass, left the band in August 1996. Kelley knew Mic Todd from an acoustic side project the two had together, called Esme 9, so he recruited Todd to take Carleo's place. Being a guitarist, Todd picked up the bass specifically for Shabűtie, and excelled rapidly. Following this near-final formation of the band, they entered their most productive and mature period. According to Kelley, the band sometimes wrote up to seven new songs in one five or six hour sitting. Also during this period, the band's first public release, Plan To Take Over The World, was handed out at live shows as a CDR demo. This was followed by the band's first proper studio release, the Penelope EP, in 1999. (Note: Numerous demos and recordings exist, but the Penelope EP and Delirium Trigger are the only readily available public releases and both are virtually impossible to find a tangible copy anymore). Stever rejoined the band, on second guitar, around this time, making them a four-piece once again. Around 1999 and possibly before, the band members were all drinking too heavily, and the concerts were not going as well as they should have. During one of these streaks, when Sanchez allegedly screamed the lyrics through the song "Life Without You", a Cassiopeia-esque ballad, Kelley left the stage and started packing up his drum set in front of a packed audience. Thus, on February 19, 2000, one of the last two of Shabutie's original lineup, Kelley, was gone. Kelley and the rest of the band chose current Coheed and Cambria drummer Josh Eppard, then of the band 3, to take his place. Serving as a wake up call for the band, they finished out the year and performed halfway through 2001 before they changed their name to what they are known as now, Coheed and Cambria. Delirium Trigger was released, featuring songs that would make their way onto The Second Stage Turbine Blade, and the history of Shabutie was finished. Here is a list of unconfirmed but suspected Shabutie demo recordings from in and around 1999: Have You A Little Fairy In Your Home 'Punk' Song Sarah Lawrence Sarah Lawrence Strikes Back Sun Blue Untitled Elf Tower, New Mexico Nauraushaun Sister Christian (Night Ranger Cover) Ambassador Johnson Bloody Brit Song Zut Courtesy of http://www.myspace.com/shabutieeeee