Part VI... There was a Boy Band (i.e. Nsync, Backtreet Boys) that was going by the name Caught in the Act. So, we decided to use CITA instead. Well, they used CITA as well. Now, this band was HUGE in Europe. They were signed to an enormous record label who had endless amounts of money and power. We were handed a cease and desist lawsuit before the next CD, titled One. So after many years of being Caught in the Act/CITA, we were forced to change our name. Now, handing this responsibility to us 4 jokers was not a good idea! We came up with some stupid names. Sack Magic was our funniest! YOU WANTED THE BEST, YOUVE GOT THE BEST... THE HOTTEST BAND IN THE WORLD...SACK MAGIC!!!! Ugh... After so many years with our identity, it was so damn hard to come up with a name. So, we somehow settled on the name Order of Power. I think our agent Kenny Turner said something about an order of power and we were like...what did you say??? We liked it. Bobby and the label hated it. It wasnt to be. Bobby liked the word Guild. He though Guild of... something would be cool. We were lukewarm with that idea. Christ, we liked Sack Magic for Petes sake! We settled on Guild of Ages. We released One as Guild of Ages. Now, bear in mind, this was many years before social media. The only way to get the word out about a name change was thru print or radio. Neither hit the target. Our record sales were cut in half. Both in Europe and Japan. Some people didnt like the name change or didnt figure out we were the same band, but it KILLED our momentum. We managed to squeeze out another, smaller tour in Europe. We co-headlined with Axe in May, 1998. This tour wasnt as big, but we tried to reach any fans we may have lost. We returned home and began writing another cd. Bobby and the label wanted us to get something released as soon as possible, as to try and make up what we had lost. We were rushed. The songs werent as strong. It wasnt our best effort. We released Vox Dominatus soon after. It wasnt received well, but we knew it wouldnt be. No tour. The chance to go to Japan was fleeting at this point. We started writing, what would be our last cd. We co-wrote a few tracks with a singer from Germany, Michael Bormann of the band Jaded Heart. This mother- trucker could sing! He was badass! Good writer too. We came up with some really good stuff. We put these tracks together and we thought we had something again. The magic was back! To this day, the Citadel CD is my favorite. Very proud of the songs and the performances. We released what we thought was our return success, but by this time people thought CITA was long gone. They still had no idea we were the same band. Sales were soft. It was frustrating. We had tasted it, wanted more, but it was just beyond our reach. Later that year, it proved to be not enough to keep us together. Antz had brand new, twin boys and a wife to support. Our cover gigs wasnt nearly enough income to support a brand new family. It really wasnt enough to support any of us. We switched to only playing weekends. That only went so far. Antz had to leave the band. That was a kick in the crotch. That was particularly tough for me. Antz and I had played together since I was 17. We wrote so much together, but we all understood he had to do what was best for him. We hired Brian Mesa from WishDoctor. Brian is a world class guitar player. I was always a big fan. Hes truly one of my favorite guitarists. He flat out shreds! I always felt bad for Brian. He came into a band that was in flux. We had plans to continue recording, but creatively we had all moved on. Guild lasted another year, then it all drifted apart. I said to Steve, Lets move to Vegas and write another record. I was half serious, half kidding. The next week, Steve sold his house and was moving to Vegas. I didnt move with him and that was the end of the band. Our producer/manager Bobby moved to New Orleans, Steve to Vegas, Antz was gone, Jim joined the band Russia here in Denver and I took a sabbatical from music. It was a hell of a run though...
Posted on: Sat, 12 Apr 2014 17:24:39 +0000
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