I feel I owe it to myself to voice the actual circumstances that led to my departure of The Refrigerators. I described on the previous page of how I recruited the members of the original band and how I worked at promoting and exposing the band at my own personal expense. As I mentioned, most of the members of the band refused to play a gig anywhere unless they were paid. My outlook was that in order to get paying gigs we needed exposure. And since no one had ever heard of The Refrigerators before 1993, we were just another band and there was no club, bar or other venue that was interested in booking an unknown, unheard of band. However, my sales pitch to the clubs I solicited was that my band, The Refrigerators, was soon to become Capital Region's next greatest band. And to put my money where my mouth was, I agreed to book the band free of charge at any venue. If the venue's crowds liked us, then we would get booked the next time for a fair rate.
Many clubs and venues accepted my proposal but most of the members of my band flatly refused to play without getting paid. I argued my point that by not playing out we may not be making money but we were also not getting the exposure we needed to get ourselves recognized. Yet, by agreeing to perform complimentary gigs to start out, we would be establishing ourselves and the paying gigs would eventually follow.
Well these fellows were adamant on not playing without getting paid so in order for me to get the band out on the stages, I agreed to personally pay each one of them individually $40.00 per gig for every unpaid gig we played with one of the members holding out for $60.00 per gig. Add to that another $40.00 to pay a sound tech to do our sound and that totals $360.00 that I paid out of pocket for each gig.
For half of 1992 most every gig we played was unpaid. For most of 1993 every gig was a paid gig but many of the clubs would not pay over $250.00 to a band, so although we were getting paid, there was always a deficit after each gig which I always covered. To this day I have nearly three years worth of cancelled checks and bank statements for the years 1992-1995 to show anyone who questions or disputes this fact or to show anyone who just wants to see them.
By 1994 my idea of promotion via exposure began paying off as we gained the attention of Capital Area's talent agent Steve Silverman. We soon began getting booked at many of the premier clubs and venues in the area and the pay increased. By this time a typical gig paid us $500.00.
At this time the band as a whole agreed that we needed a more professional sound system and someone to operate it. I found a company called Atomic Sound in nearby Rutland Vt. who agreed to supply a full state of the art sound system for both stage and FOH (front of house) as well as full stage lighting including follow spotlight for $150.00 per gig. This enhancement pushed us over the top with our sound quality and visual stage presence. I then began demanding higher compensation for our gigs.
It was right around this time in 1995 that our lead singer Rob McDonough, announced he would be leaving the band for personal reasons. We immediately began auditioning lead singers but we were having a hard time finding the right person to fit the chemistry of the band. At the time, I owned a trucking company in addition to Jasper’s nightclub in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. and I was involved with Smoothy’s nightclub in Albany, N.Y. One night I was at Smoothy’s watching a 4 piece band perform before a dismal audience of about 8 people. The band had good players but their production was shoe-string with no lighting and a sub par sound system. However, I saw that the lead singer had charisma with the type of stage presence and audience interaction I was looking for in a singer to bring into The Refrigerators.
I approached him after their show and introduced myself. We talked and he told me that his band was a project he had recently started but he didn’t know how much longer he’d be keeping the band together. He said he had heard of The Refrigerators and I asked him if he’d like to audition for our lead singer opening. He agreed, but he said that he was close friends with the bass player of his band and he’d like to have him come along to audition as well. I told him that The Refrigerators was my band and that I was the bass player. So with that, he reluctantly agreed to still do the audition but he said that without his bass player he couldn’t commit to anything.
His audition went well and the rest of the band liked him. "The new singer" wouldn't immediately commit to joining the band but told us he would sing with us until we found a permanent full-time replacement singer. So during the first gig he sang with us, I could tell immediately he was impressed with being on a big stage in front of a huge crowd, with good stage equipment and a 6 piece power-house horn band backing him up. It was no surprise to me that after that gig he wanted in.
So in February, 1995 "the new singer" became a member of The Refrigerators. The band shifted gears and we went on to gaining more popularity. Now it was official. After 3 long years of hard work, my prediction came true. The Refrigerators were now the most popular party band in upstate New York. Other agents, event planners, radio stations and many of the largest, most popular nightclubs in the region were now contacting me to book the band.
This is the original, notarized DBA Certificate filed by me in Saratoga County, N.Y. on 06/28/1995
Copyright © 1992-2012 Edward K. Frank. All Rights Reserved
