Pencey Prep was born from the rubble of Sector 12, a band which Frank Iero started when he was in high school. Sector 12 had done their final tour and asked old friend John Hambone Mcguire to play bass because at the time the drummer had been kicked out and bass player Bruno Rocha needed to switch to drums. PS. This was before Hambone had even aquired the name Hambone, but that’s a completely different story. So Pencey Prep originally was going to be named “Whatch you talkin bout willis” until Hambone gave Frank the challenge of either naming the band by the next day or using the name he had come up with. So looking to Catcher in The Rye Frank came up with the name Pencey Prep, the school in which Holden Caulfield was kicked out from. Next came Shaun Simon a local skater kid that was also a best friend. They weren’t quite sure how but they knew they wanted to fit him into the band. Grabbing an old keyboard out from under the bed and teaching Shaun a few simple riffs was the beginning of a keyboard master in the making. Next came time to look for a drummer because although Bruno was great for a few punk shows they needed a substantial real drummer. It was at a party the members of Pencey Prep asked around if anyone knew a drummer and they introduced to a friend of Tim Hagevik’s and from there the band was born. They had originally Bruno singing, Frank on guitar, Shaun on keys, Tim on drums and Hambone on Bass. They recorded a demo and needless to say it kind of stunk. Bruno’s vocals just didn’t fit, and the band needed something else. That is when Frank turned to an old friend from a band called Stick Figure Suicide named Neil Sabatino and asked him to join the band. Neil had toured and played with bands like Saves the Day, H20, Bouncing Souls and tons of others and he had helped book tours and shows for his old band and as well had a good ear for writing catchy songs.
Pencey Prep practiced 7 nights a week in the basement of Frank Iero’s house in Belleville. Before the band even had a first show they had plans to record their epic “Heartbreak In Stereo”. The album was starting to take shape almost a full year before it was even recorded. With songs contributed by Hambone, Frank and Neil they easily had more than enough material to work on. The band played their first show in at The Loop Lounge in Passaic Park, New Jersey with the band Nada Surf. The night began with a big group hug on the front lawn of Frank’s house with five friends who had the utmost respect for each other, 5 brothers who would do anything for the guy standing next to them, and the rest is history…
The band is now defunct, having split up amicably when Frank left to join the fledgeling My Chemical Romance. Hambone plays in leathermouth and Brine & Bastards. Neil now plays in Fairmont.
Sounds like . . . If Sonic Youth and The Pixies got together with Black Flag and Jawbreaker and added the keyboardist from The Anniversary and then got the drummer from System of a Down to drum. |
