O.K. This band has never been much for the usual biographies that we've been forced to write for press kits and such, so this will be my first attempt at properly documenting our history.
I met Jason Bennett, our lyricist / vocalist, during one of those many periods in my life when I was bored out of my skull with playing guitar in my bedroom. Every few months or so I would check out the ads on music store bulletin boards and local papers from bands needing guitarists. I would answer a few and go to some auditions with always the same results: less than gripping tunes, usually played way too loudly, followed by a multitude of phone calls for weeks on end from people asking me to join their band. Which would ultimately lead to me winding up in my room again, practicing, with no good prospects to speak of. I guess I was holding out.
On one of these occasions, in the winter of 1993, I auditioned for a Murfreesboro band called "The Hypocrites", which featured Jason Bennett on vocals. I was immediately taken with Jason's vocal style. His song writing also showed an intuition and finesse beyond his years. So I finally joined a stink'n band.
That band broke up as most bands do, so in the interim, I had my little projects until finally, in the fall of 1994, Jason and I wrote a handful of tunes and began playing acoustic shows as Pure Sweet Hell. Some of those early songs are still around today.
Amongst all the personnel changes we endured, we also changed our name to Holy City Zoo, named after a brothel in the Philippines, which is now buried under the volcanic ash of Mt. Pinatubo. I suppose the brothel got its name from somewhere more significant, but of that, I know nothing. If you know the significance of the name, then by all means E-mail me.
Joe Wheeler, bassist extraordinare, has seen the band through some of its darkest days. I believe he may have been born to play in this band. His personality, style and down-to-earth frankness, makes him irreplaceable.
At a certain point in our band's life, it seemed as though we were just going through the motions. We had great songs, but it just didn't seem like a band. We've discovered that if there is no chemistry and you are not enjoying what you do, then it doesn't matter how good your songs are or how well you play them. You are dead in the water.
With the addition of Jason Strength on drums in the winter of 1998, the formula is finally complete. A drummer with the perfect feel for our music.
Never before have I worked and played with a finer group of people. I know it sounds cliche', but for the first time, it feels like a family. It feels and sounds like chemistry.
Joe Wheeler, Indiana
Jason Strength, Virginia
Hector Jimenez, ????
Jason Bennett, Tennessee