Troika!! My views of our show on night #2!!

I arrived at The Pinhook at about 7:30 that evening and started unloading our stuff. I walked in and waved hello to Kym (Midtown Dickens/Pinhook fame) who was tending the bar. I stopped and talked with the Troika volunteer who was running the door. He gave me our passes and beer tickets (Yah!). He was a really nice guy but, I can't remember his name?.

I set up my drums and PA up on the stage and soon the other bands began to arrive. We had never played with any of these bands before so I figured it would be quiet between us at first. Soon Junko & Thomas arrived and we did a brief soundcheck. The sound guy was really happy that all we wanted was two microphones!. I bring my own PA to handle our backing tracks so I have total
control over this. You never know if a house PA is going to be able to handle what
we throw at it.

The place was about half full when we started around 8:45 but when I looked out about halfway through our set the place was already packed! We finished up with the first song from the new CD "Uncle Bud's Fabric & Foam. We scurried to quickly unload all our stuff off the stage because we knew that time was tight. Unfortunately without even noticing we completely walled in Grappling Hooks equipment from the stage (Doh!) They were really nice about it and we moved the stuff out of the way.

I had to take my wife home during Grappling Hooks set so I missed it ( I confessed this to them later :) ) Everyone said that it totally rocked and I'm sure I would have agreed judging by what I heard online from them. At this point I scanned over the crowd and saw people from all kinds of fellow Troika bands in attendance! Off the top of my head I spotted folks from All Your Science, Beloved Binge, Seqouya, Pink Flag, Pistil, Birds of Avalon, etc… I'm sure there were many more.

Soon Caltrop hit the stage and I quickly realized what everyone had said about them was true! They were so fucking loud that I felt like I could fall forward with my hands out and the sound would hold me up like a wind tunnel!. Junko offered me one of her earplugs but I didn't want her to sacrifice her ears for me. Mine were pretty shot already! After a few songs I did something that what would have really pissed off the 20 year old version of me!. I moved to the back by the bar to watch from a distance. Overall they were damn good though. Its been awhile since I've seen a heavy band that I genuinely liked!

Without getting much time to recover from Caltrop, Bellafea quickly started up their  set. You could tell during the first song that everyone was really hyped up to see them. Several folks attempted to get a pit going. There was also a beach ball being tossed around the place. These guys really brought it! I liked the way they had set up all facing each other in a circle as to bounce energy from each other and give body signals. It was a really great set! really high energy!

This was probably one of the best shows we've had as band so far. All the other bands were really nice and Troika was so well organized and thought out.
Every venue I went to or saw pictures off was completely packed!.

Overall I think it was a great success in every way! Thanks to those guys for picking us to play! Big Durham group hug!! We all rock!!

Scientific Superstar's official band Bio

Near the end of 2006, after a 10 years hiatus from playing in a band, Paul Gallant decided that it was once again time to dust off the instruments and put together a new musical project. He knew from the beginning that this project would be very different from anything he had done in the past.

Computer & sampling technology had a come a long way since 1996, so he knew that this would be a big factor into the writing style of this project. There would be drum loops, synths, and retro computer sounds but, not in a way that it would dominate the sound and the writing style of the band.

After putting together a few song ideas he decided to call old friend and former bandmate Thomas DeVries. Thomas was not only an amazing bass player but, also had a lot of knowledge in writing traditional & computer based music. 

Soon songs began to come together, but deciding how to pull them off live became the new challenge. The first draft of the band was Paul on guitar & vocals & Thomas on bass playing along with backing tracks. It just didn't have the right feel. They agreed that if this was going to work that they would need real drums.

Paul bought a drum set and started teaching himself how to play. One problem that soon came up was how hard it was to play a traditional drum kit and sing at the same time. A Janet Jackson headset mic was not an option, so he decided that a stand up drum kit might be the perfect fit. After finding a cocktail kit on bay he found it to be the perfect solution.

They spent a few months writing songs and putting together a live show and ultimately decided on the name "Scientific Superstar". Not wanting to rely on the sound systems in local clubs, Paul started saving up money and ended up buying a PA from a former strip club to handle the backing tracks.

Into their first year of playing shows, Scientific Superstar was asked to join the local co-op record label Subdivision 67. Soon after they released their debut CD, "The Scientific Superstar" The CD included a full 8 page comic book that featured a story about Paul & his friend Johnny's life of writing music as a non-playing band. 

Into the second year of playing, Paul decided that the band really needed a full time singer to free him up to concentrate on drums and backing tracks.

He didn't actively pursue anyone but one night at a show on Duke's campus he saw someone that he instantly knew would be a perfect fit. Her name was Junko and she was singing for the band "Fujiyama Roll". They were a band that did j-rock/j-jpop style music with all the vocals in traditional Japanese style.

Paul asked Junko if she would be interested in doing some vocals for them, and soon their first song came to life called "Doomed lucky day". The chemistry seemed perfect, and the timing worked out, and soon Junko joined them full time. Junko came onboard halfway through the writing of the 2nd CD, but ended up doing vocals on 3/4 of the songs.

That brings us up to present day with their 2nd CD "Doomed Lucky Day" just released and the 3rd CD underway.