Amerikan Primitive

A brief history of AmerikanPrimitive…. Let me tell you a little something about us…..AmerikanPrimitive, the name came from a novel, a novel about the exploration of the nature of creativity, a meditation on loneliness and aging, the unreliable nature of memory and ghosts don’t forget the ghosts. In some ways AmerikanPrimitive, the band, has a lot in common with the novel that presented the name. We formed from friendships that are and were purely unrelated events, friends from long ago that came back to Syracuse and crossed paths by chance, only to find the friendships and memories remained as well as a drive to create. It’s the nature of the beast when you’re a musician. I’m not going to bore you with the details. In a nutshell, we all come from other bands and music that survived for many years, it changed on and off, as did the band members, we sat in with others, played a million shows, recorded hundreds of tracks… our own and others. We traveled and toured. We shook hands with the successful, and partied with the big boys. We are not your average run of the mill local rock scene advocates. Let’s see our rhythm section consists of Tommy Bushnell, on bass and the Mole on drums. Tommy is a long time Syracuse musician that has graced the stages of Nikstock, the Lost Horizon and many more timeless structures that still stand in the Salt City. He has his solo career, Cliff Diver, and has taken on the role of bass man for AP adding backing vocals and a witty-comical sense of humor that only Tommy can create. Mole has built studios and recorded bands from Chicago to LA. He has toured with the famous and the not so famous, you’ll find his name on the recording credits for Smashing Pumpkins, Berlin and the Stains to name a few. But Mole forgoes his role behind the console this time and instead sits down at the skins. Oh he couldn’t resist his instinct though and built a 24-track studio, Mole-Trax, for us to record and practice in. Old habits die hard. The rest of the band consists of Matt and me. Sue. We too are blasts from the past, when the Syracuse music scene was thriving with bands like the Works, The Unholy Wives and don’t forget my personal fave The Masters of Reality. We practiced in Albinos, the infamous warehouse of rock and roll (and by the way Mole built a studio in there too) and we left for the bright lights of the big apple, not long after we opened for the MOR record release party for Def American Records. Together Matt and I formed Superthrive and stormed NYC for 15 years. We toured, landed a couple indie deals and even landed a publishing deal with Cherry Lane. We played CBGB’s, The Continental and all the famous rock and roll clubs on the lower East Side that were thriving with original music and bands. We played loft parties in Brooklyn and spontaneous shows in 24 hour clubs located in subway terminals. Mid-town, downtown, uptown even Queens. Now back in our hometown of Syracuse, it didn’t take long before the itch to play started. Matt plays rhythm guitar by the way and he’s on lead vocals, and little ol me well I’m just the guitarist who fancies herself the lead player. So here we go……………again. Update-August 2011: We now have Jamus DePalma playing bass guitar. Jamus has been playing in and out of bands and jamming with others for the past 20 years. He is currently plays in Vicious Rumours with members of the legendary Syracuse local band Undergang. Having played in Slang Girl with Matt and Sue in NYC back in the early 90's, he once again joins us in AmerikanPrimitive. Original kick-ass hard rock from Syracuse, NY!