HEAVY MACHINERY — (From left to right) Mystery Machinists Roger Hillis, Cliff Hillis, Jenny Grodzicki, and Bill Gatter (Photo by Gregg Kirk)

By GREGG KIRK
Big Shout Magazine, October 1990

The glow of the television flickers on a silent figure slouched on a sofa watching early-morning cartoons. The only sound that cuts the air is the incessant changing of the channels. The only movement comes from his outstretched hand as he works the remote control.

After weeks of wracking his brain, the figure, who has the definitive look of a musician, has thrown himself in front of the television set in exasperation. Countless attempts to conjure up a name for his new band have proved fruitless, and as a last resort, he scans the Saturday morning cartoons in search of inspiration.

Suddenly a familiar image bursts onto the cathode ray tube — canine ghost buster Scooby Doo and the other members of the Ghost Patrol run from a haunted house into their van. The vehicle pulls away beofre the eye can make out the fat, dayglo letters on its side.

The van. What is the name of the van? The figure frantically gropes for the telephone to call a friend. “What’s the name of Scooby Doo’s van? he yells without introduction.

As he turns his head in defeat while the person on the other end wrestles with an answer, the van comes back on the screen. This time it pulls into full view and the words on the side can be seen with ease. The letters read — Mystery Machine.

Welcome to the Machine

A year ago this month, the above experience actually happened to bass player and would-be band namer Roger Hillis. After he and fellow bandmates guitarist/vocalist Cliff Hillis, keyboardist Jenny Grodzicki, and drummer Bill Gatter played a few preliminary gigs under an assumed band name, the foursome debuted as Mystery Machine at the Rebel Cork in New Castle, DE on the weekend of Oct. 21.

“Mystery Machine was the only name no one disliked,” says Grodzicki of the band’s choice of monikers.

A year later, the group has amassed a set of original electrified and acoustic “pop songs with a guitar edge,” an ever-increasing list of venues where they play, and a group of followers affectionately known as “machine heads.” Here is the band’s story…

Interchangeable Parts

In 1986, the Hillis brothers and Grodzicki made up three fifths of the “post high school” band the Name. Along with vocalist Laura Ludwig (now singing with the Ludwigs) and drummer Andy Shaw (now drumming with the Mental Custodians), the group played a succession of gigs dotting the state of Delaware until 1988. At this point, Ludwig captured the Miss Delaware crown and was forced to leave the line up.

According to the members, playing in their first serious line up was fraught with many learning experiences. “Actually, we learned what not to do,” laughs Cliff Hillis.

“Playing in the Name was cool for Cliff,” says Roger. “He was still in high school, and we played a bunch of high school gigs in front of his friends. He even played his own prom.”

“Yea, I wore a tuxedo jacket with balloon pants and sneakers,” laughs Cliff. “It was fun for a while.”

The most important byproduct of this first liaison was the melding of a relationship between the Hillis brothers and Grodzicki, which would prove an important ingredient in bands the three would join down the line. Ludwig’s departure also forced Cliff to contemplate taking over the lead vocal chores, but in the meantime, the group was grounded until the members could get their collective energies together.

Down for Repairs

While this was occurring, Roger happened to see a group play at the Rusty Rudder in Dewey Beach that impressed him. The band was Newark-based Parrish Blue, and he noticed that the line up was lacking a keyboardist, so he offered his services. Never mind that Roger was not a keyboard player and that he had to borrow Grodzicki’s keyboards and put masking tape reminders on the keys to help him along — he got the gig anyway. It wasn’t long before the group noticed his musical shortcomings, according to Gatter (who was one of the band’s founding members), so Hillis was moved to rhythm guitar to make room for Grodzicki on keys in April of 1988.

This solved the group’s musical problems, but because Grodzicki was not yet 21 years of age, the line up inherited a new set of woes. It seems the state of Delaware has some specific laws when it comes to underage musicians playing in venues that serve alcohol, and Grodzicki was not allowed to join the band in performances at any of these places.

The group attempted to capitalize on this potential setback by publicizing the fact that Grodzicki would play her keyboards outside of a club while the band played within, and her picture and accompanying story appeared on the front page of the Delaware State News in August of 1989. However, the media ploy backfired by calling attention to the fact of Grodzicki being underage, and the band played without her until she turned 21 later that year.

According to Roger Hillis, the group reached its zenith in June of ’89 when they played a showcase with Laura Mann, Andy King, and the Daves at the Trocadero in Philly. Watching in the audience that night was A-Street Records representative Bill Grabowski, who liked the band so much he arranged for them to play two showcases for artist and repertoire (A&R) types in New York.

“It was definitely the high point of the band,” says Gatter “But the A&R guys said we needed time to grow. Plus Parrish Blue was not a marketable band image-wise.”

“They said Roger , Bill and I looked like we belonged in the same band,” said Grodzicki “But not the other guys.”

This somewhat sobering experience was a minor factor in causing bandleader and chief songwriter Charlie Crystle to decide to try his luck in London. His departure spelled disaster for Parrish Blue, but Gatter, Grodzicki, and Roger Hillis wasted less than a month’s time working Cliff into the line up and moving Roger to bass. The result was the birth of Mystery Machine.

Full Steam Ahead

Initially, the group started by playing Parrish Blue covers and some old Name originals. Recently they have insinuated a set of acoustic originals into the repertoire. “It all started from being a couple of songs in a set to adding a whole set, which made me go out and get an acoustic bass,” says Roger.

While an acoustic approach is an important part of the band’s sound, Cliff notes that they strive for a certain electric edge on all of their originals. “I come up with the songs by wanting them to be more progressive,” he says. “But they always end up sounding more pop than I want them to — probably because of my voice.”

“We’re kind of in between,” says Gatter. “We’re heavier than most progressive bands but more progressive than a heavy band.”

“Because we’re so young and everything, I think our best stuff is yet to come,” adds Cliff who just turned 21 himself last July.

The response has been increasingly positive to the point that while the band remains self managed and self booked, they have caught the attention of several area agents.

“This month is our best month ever in terms of gigs,” says Roger.

“We’re hitting our stride,” adds Gatter.

Indeed, the band seems to be moving at a more rapid clip by the month, like a well-oiled machine.