Slychosis is the progressive rock recording project of Gregg Johns, Todd Sears, & James Walker. This site features details of our self-titled progressive rock cd release. Our influences include the Beatles, ELP, Genesis, Alan Parsons, Pink Floyd, Rush, & Yes.
TODD SEARS - I was born in Jacksonville, Florida and currently reside in Mississippi. My current musical projects include: Slychosis and A Bitter Sunday. My equipment primarily consists of Pacific drums, Sabian cymbals, and Ahead drumsticks. In the past, I have played in a variety of groups which have included Street Legal, Paradox, Poverty Hill, Jason Lee & The Converse Cowboys, University of Mississippi Jazz Ensemble, University of Mississippi Orchestra, Final Spin, Naked Sunday, Slychosis, A Bitter Sunday, The Walking Wounded, Fuzzy Logic, & Philosopher Stone. I started playing drums upon receiving my first kit at the age of 12. Many years, & many broken sticks later, I'm still trying to figure it out!!! Drumming did not interest me until I saw Keith Carlock playing bongos in a third grade musical (Yes, he was incredible even then!). In turn, my life has never been the same. Keith Carlock got me started and John Bonham, Stewart Copeland, & Steve Smith got me hooked. However, it was 80's hair metal drummers, like Tommy Lee, that taught me about the animalistic, stick twirling type of drumming that I embrace today. People that have seen me often ask about my odd facial expressions. They also like to ask, "Who are you mad at?". I am known as a very aggressive player. When events in my life try to crush me, I crush the drums. So, when I play, it looks like I am about to let go of my emotional control. It's fun to listen to & watch!!! I currently play drums in a metal band called A Bitter Sunday (www.myspace.com/abittersunday).
I continue to play venues with this group of great musicians. As you probably already know, I am also a part of Slychosis. I was thrilled when I got the call to be a part of this event. James Walker, Gregg Johns & I were all members of a band called Final Spin. This time around, there was no classic rock to cause us to want to shave our heads, get rid of all our gear & go screaming in the streets, singing the words to the song, The Boys Are Back in Town!! It was a blast recording with these guys. I can not repeat most of the things discussed in the studio. But for the record, the laughs came at just the right time in my life. I must include some important stuff now. I like to work out. I like Waffle House food anytime of the day. I am losing hair on my head, but growing more on my chest. I get told often that I look like Dr. Green from ER. I made the Mississippi All State Band two times... Playing the tuba!
I love University of Southern MS football (I'm an alumnus). I hate lead singers who sound like they are whining when they sing. I enjoy horror movies. Last, but not least, my dream job would be roadie-ing for the all girl group, The Donnas. Girls, if you are reading this...You freaking rock!
In closing, I have played many types of music - rock, country, top forty, pop, hair metal, metal, metal light, metal with a hint of lime & metal with extra pickels on the side. Slychosis stands out as a definite highlight in my musical journey. I learned a lot about recording & the overall healing properties of music. "Ya know, a little man from India recently said something to me that hit home hard - "She comes with a price, a very heavy price." If I have to get around the crap to play music, the price is truly worth it.
JAMES WALKER - At the age of 15, I borrowed an amp and guitar from a friend. I sat in my room for hours, listening and playing along with my favorite albums. I bought my first bass guitar at the age of 16 which led to my first live experience in a high school musical production called Falcon’s Follies. After high school, I spent a semester at Mississippi State University along with my bass and jammed with other guys in the dorm. As time passed, I played in a few garage bands. Then the musical part of my life took a turn for the better in 1980 when I met Gregg Johns while attending Hinds Jr. College. I joined a local band with Gregg called Nemesis. Nemesis, Smokin’, (quick change over) then took short break from working with bands. Later, I got back with Gregg in a group called Arrival. I took a ten year break - to work and raise a family. One night (Christmas Eve), I called Gregg to wish him Merry Christmas….my kids were grown by that time…..and Gregg had returned to the Jackson area. I asked if he was playing and needed a bass player. He was and he did. So, I was back in the music scene. On the first gig, with Final Spin, I had practiced with Gregg for one night. The scheduled gig was the next night. I was surprised how it all came back to me. The natural chemistry with our respective insights and influences while playing allowed us to play off each other easily. Time spent in Slychotic Studios with Gregg and Todd (Sears) composing and recording our original sounds and music has been especially rewarding from a personal standpoint.
GREGG JOHNS - I have played guitar since age 6 and began playing piano at age 8. Even as a toddler I could be seen dragging a toy Roy Rogers guitar around. My world changed at age 7 when my grandfather gave me my first used Silvertone electric guitar and amplifier. This was also around the time that he bought me my first "real phonograph" with a stack of used albums. The Rolling Stones' Green Grass and High Tides greatest hits soon became my closest boon and my father's auditory bane. So the Stones and Beatles were early influences as well as the Ed Sullivan and Dick Cavett shows. Growing up in Pearl, MS was an interesting paradox. Pearl is one of those enigmas in a sea of media propagated unrealistic stereotypes, put-downs, and bias toward Mississippi. This town has had a strong interest in hard and progressive rock for sometime and has spawned such notable musicians as Tommy Aldridge (Ozzy, Whitesnake, Pat Travers, Black Oak Arkansas, etc.), Jimmy Henderson (Black Oak Arkansas), Ty Tabor (King's X), and country/pop crossover vocalist, Leann Rimes. Interesting trivia, I jammed with Ty Tabor a couple of times while in high school, King's X's tour manager, Jay Phebus, is a childhood friend, and Ty Tabor's first cousin, David Tabor, was our soundman in Arrival. In addition, the town spawned several other excellent musicians who did not pursue music professionally.
Around 9 years of age, music took a back seat to Little League Baseball and motorcycles. Despite this, The Midnight Special, ABC's In Concert, and Don Kirschner's Rock Concert began strongly influencing me with the progressive and hard rock artists featured. I became a Deep Purple fanatic around this time and yes I immediately picked up the now staple opening to Smoke On The Water (hot stuff for an 11 year-old!!). Around age 14, I began taking guitar very seriously and studied classical guitar as well as picking up chops from everything I was exposed to at the time - Black Sabbath, Foreigner, Jethro Tull, Kansas, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rush, Yes, etc., etc., etc. I formed my first band, Stonehenge, at age 17 and played teen centers, school events, and private parties. This followed with several bands through college years - Nemesis, Smokin', and Arrival.. We played a zillion bar gigs, frat parties, school homecomings, outdoor festivals, and wedding receptions across Alabama, Louisiana, & Mississippi. We played everything from Genesis, Saga, Rush, & Zeppelin to R&B, Motown, & Funk. My constant across all of these bands was James Walker. We met in college and have played together off and on for 25 years. James and I have that special musical chemistry in that we anticpate each other musically and creatively draw from each other on a preconcious level.
I initially majored in music at the University of Southern Mississippi and studied classical guitar with Giovanni DeChiaro. These were also my Arrival years and I grew as a musician with all of the daily academic practice and the evening gigging. During my senior year, I switched majors and minors and wound up with a B.S. degree in Psychology with a minor in Music. After the familiar Spinal Tap band conflicts and Yoko episodes from sigificant and not so significant others, Arrival came to a screeching halt for James and me. I took a hiatus from music and went on to receive an M.S. degree in Counseling Psychology.
Subsequently, this led to employment in a large inpatient clinical setting as an associate psychologist. Lo and behold, Tony White, the vocalist for Arrival, started working in support services. This led to recreational jamming and performing for events at the hospital. Another musical hiatus was taken with parenthood and domestic intranquility. After a few years of employment at the master's level, I enrolled in the School Psychology doctoral program at Mississippi State University. There, I befriended David Morse (older brother of Steve Morse and a helluva musician in his own right) and his wife, Linda, who were both professors in my program. Dave and I threw together a musical group, ReBand, with a fellow professor and graduate students. This was a great vehicle to let off academic steam and stress reduction. And what an eclectic arrangement it was! We practiced at a Presbyterian church, had a Thai Buddhist bass player, and a Catholic Church organist on keyboards!!! We played some bar gigs and private parties which were great fun. Strangely enough, through Dave's arranging I got to meet his brother Steve and Deep Purple at the House of Blues - New Orleans and hang out backstage with my teenage musical heroes on the weekend that my Ph.D. was conferred!!! I was like a kid with the key to the candy store.
I returned to work at the clinical inpatient hospital and formed Final Spin with Tony White, James, Todd Sears, and Martha Murray, M.D. (who went on to become my wife). All of us, with the exception of James, worked at the hospital and we began playing hospital events regularly and this generated many offers for outside gigs. Martha is a phenomenal keyboardist and doubles on sax. We were getting a great sound and began taking the band seriously. We composed, recorded, and performed several original tunes which received favorable feedback. This musical ride lasted 3 years and we burned out as the frequency of gigs were becoming a strain on the day job as well as tempers and egos. It was also during these years that I began publishing psychological research and book reviews in Contemporary Psychology, Crtitical Thinking, Journal of Behavioral Education, Journal of Creative Behavior, Journal of Experimental Education, Psychologist-Psychoanalyst, and School Psychology Quarterly.
The end of Final Spin led to James and me deciding to pursue our lifelong goal of composing and independent production and recording of original hard and progressive rock on our own terms. James and I began priming the pump by bringing some old and new ideas for tunes to fruition. This also involved the exploration of different incarnations of software and digital soundcards in conjunction with our tried and true rack of live outboard gadgetry. After some soul searching and exploring musical directions, we pulled our good friend and former Final Spin drummer, Todd Sears, into the mix and formed Slychosis. We focused on melding our favorite prog and hard rock influences into original compositions. Although our primary intentions are as a recording project, we would love to perform our originals live at international settings for mini tours/vacations if the promotional opportunities ever arose. We have several side players on standby who could fill out the lineup for live performance.
In addition to our prog music interests: James; friends, Gina & Tiffiny; and I became interested in evp work after all of the hype we were catching on the tellie. Being somewhat skeptical (especially having a doctorate in an empirical social science discipline!!!!!), we decided, that with our recording gear and a handheld digital Sony voice recorder, if it's there, we should be able to pick it up. After picking up "get out of here", a hundred or more other evps stating personal references, anomalous photos & videos, and temperature readings.; our skepticism has greatly diminished. Be sure to check out some of this stuff at our paranormal portal. The song, EVP, contains some of these evp soundbytes.
We hope you enjoy our music and paranormal goodies. Keep prog alive!
http://www.slychosis.com/
MVD Audio and Secret Records are pleased to announce Desmond Dekker – In Memoriam: 1941 – 2006 for North American distribution on CD.
