The Jolly Trips

Primitive noises molded by Monkey and three sad, defeated boys.

It all began where it all begins for us all....birth....Willz was the first to escape his torturous embryonic imprisonment in the uterine gulag. Exiting the womb he found his surrounds to be a utopian hippie commune in Louisiana. His early years were spent there learning the ways of the hippie. These formable years were some he would recall as the fondest of his life. Not long after the birth of Willz another blessed son was born to an overjoyed family in Eastern Europe. At the age of two Collin moved with his family to America so his father might find work in the dairy industry. Initially they moved to Wisconsin but when the economic recession of the eighties had milked the utters of the diary industry dry, they moved down south. Supposedly Casey was born somewhere around this time but details that surround his past still remain shrouded in mystery (It’s just one of those things they don’t talk about). While Casey was carousing around in anonymity, Willz’s parents underwent a spiritual awakening and decided to move up to East Texas. Willz was enlisted in the public school system but was soon pulled out due to the teacher’s many treats of violence directed at the students and the general mental instability of most of his teachers. Collin never saw the white lights of public school and was home schooled from the start because eastern Europeans have an astute affinity for education and they see America’s shameful illiteracy rate as a sign of weakness. Years passed and during this time Willz became fascinated with the vast tonal and rhythmic possibilities of the cowbell. He regularly found himself in the pasture behind his house observing the cow’s natural movements and subsequently the music that is made by the ringing bell hanging about their neck. It was those days he spent in the pasture that still make him aspire to one day organize a cowbell symphony by strategically provoking the cows to make certain precise movements. Eventually Willz and Collin’s paths crossed at the social anxiety disorder support group for home schoolers. They became quick friends because of their mutual love for Radiohead, At the Drive-In, and pretty flowers. About a year latter they meet Monkey in one of the frilly shops they frequented at the Mall. He was the one that told them to form the band. At the time Willz and Collin were big music fans but they never thought themselves technically capable of starting a band. So Monkey guided them and wrote all their songs. All that was missing now was a drummer and Monkey said that if they kept their eyes open they would find the right person. Ultimately they found Casey at Chucky Cheese where Willz was having his birthday party one summer evening. It just happed that the animatronics band was partially out of commission so Casey was recruited to fill in on the drums. When Willz and Collin first heard his fanatic beats backing Chucky Cheese they knew that he was the one that would fulfill Monkey’s prophesy. Right off the bat they tried to recruit him. He was a little reluctant at first since he was in a Huey Lewis and the News cover band at the time but after some persuading he agreed. For months and months they rehearsed, perfecting all the songs that Monkey’s genius had produced. Finally they emerged from the rehearsal room to play their first public performance at Starbucks. It was a disaster, for a fatal flaw had been made, they had forgotten to bring Monkey along. The whole ordeal was cursed from the start. As it turns out they ended up setting up in a puddle after it had rained and everyone had left. Learning from their past mistakes they now embark on a mission to.....

Currently we are playing live around the Tyler, TX area. It is a bleak scene. But we can't really complain.

Radiohead, The Pixies, The White Stripes, Elliot Smith, Death Cab for Cutie, Pedro the Lion, Ester Drang...

MusicMan 212 guitar amp

various bass amps

Ibanez hollow body guitar

Squire Jagmaster guitar

First Act guitar (it's all about the tone that only a Wal-Mart brand guitar can produce)

mini-casio keyboards

digitech and boss effects

shure microphones

cowbell bought at a feed n' seed