The Band 2 A.M. From Orlando, Florida - 10th Anniversary

For those of you who don't know, 2 A.M. was originally formed in January 1996 by Bobby France & me (Mark Carter). Before that time, we had both separately been on the road for many years playing all over the country in various bands. By 1992, I had come to the sobering realization that the life that I knew & loved of traveling to a different city every week & playing in a kick-ass band was coming to an end. It was thanks in large part to the fact that a lot of the big "A" circuit clubs were dying off because of the changing music scene. Everything in the business had taken a 180-degree turn from what it had been. I got out of the "road thing" when I realized that the next generation of players had just taken over popular music and I knew that it just wasn't ever going to be the same again, at least the way that I had known it to that point. I came home from the road at almost 30 years old with no job, no money, no place of my own, not even a driver's license. It wasn't going to be easy, but I had to start my life over, completely from scratch, and try and figure out what was next. It was time for some heavy soul-searching on my part because I'd never done, known, or wanted to be anything besides a guitar player.

Enter The Ming. Bobby was fresh off of the road in 1995 and had left it for basically the same reasons that I did. We had known each other through our mutual good friend Dean Aicher, with whom he played the same club circuit that I had been on. Bobby stopped out to a club to see a band that I was filling in with one night in December 1995 and we started talking about putting together an acoustic duo. We got together soon after that to rehearse and it was clear to both of us after the first song that our voices worked well together. "2 A.M." was born. 2 guys, 2 guitars & one crappy drum machine. We were a band (OK, a duo, but it was close enough). Now all we needed was a name to call ourselves & we were ready to go book some gigs & take over the world, one dump at a time. We wanted to name it something with the number "2" in it because, after all, there were 2 of us. Bobby suggested that we use the name 2 A.M., with the "A" and the "M" standing for Asshole Musicians (because we've all heard girls refer to "band guys" as that many, many times). We laughed about it and decided that, with our warped sense of humor, it fit us perfectly. Plus, with a slogan like "It's what we are, it's what we do," how could we possibly go wrong?

So now that we had a name, we needed work. We researched the area pubs & clubs and went out on auditions to secure some paying gigs. After playing professionally for so many years, this was the first time that either of us had ever auditioned to get work. We had just never had to do it before. But it was a new scene and we didn't really know anybody in it, so we did what we had to do to get the ball rolling. We spent January & February of 1996 rehearsing and auditioning for gigs, then on March 2nd we played our first "paying" gig as 2 A.M. So that's why we celebrate our anniversary on the first weekend of March. We shot out of the gates like a bat out of Hell & we didn't look back. It didn't take long before we were playing 5 nights a week or more.

Enter The Red-Headed Step-Child. Bobby & I were playing at Kate O'Brien's one weekend and I ended up talking at the end of the night to some guy named "Bongo" about him bringing in his congas & sitting in with us. Well, if you remember anything about Kate's back in the "good old days", you know that I probably had a "slight" buzz from Jason (Satan) & Kenny serving us one too many (again). We showed up the next night to work and here's some guy loading in his stuff and expecting to play with us. I'll never forget the look on Bobby's face when I let it slip that I may have told him he could sit in with us the previous night when I was buzzed. Ooops. Well, he sat in with us that night & I like to joke that never sat back out ;) Greg "Bongo" Berner had wormed his way into our hearts like a bad fungus that just won't go away. He played with us for many years. If you never saw him perform, too bad for you. He was the most energetic player I've ever seen and his enthusiasm & energy was contagious to the crowd when we played.

And then there were his comedy antics... I'm not really sure how it started, but I believe it originated at Kate O'Brien's. We used to play for their Service Industry Night on Sundays and we met a bunch of crazy MF's who worked at another Irish pub named An Tobar. These guys were crazy, I mean crazy. They came out every week, partied hard and had a great time. They decided to start messing around with us by coming in wearing different costumes every week to see if they could get us to screw up & laugh while we were playing. They went to great lengths, trust me. Hats, wigs, props, anything you can think of. One night, they even brought in a big duffel bag & dropped it on the floor in front of us. It sat there for a few minutes while we pondered what they could possibly be up to. All of a sudden it started moving, then our friend Jake unzips it from the inside & pops out wearing pajamas & night cap, yawning like he'd just woken up. They started leaving their props and stuff with Bongo (or he stole it, I'm not sure which), but Bongo took to it like a duck does water. Next thing you know, Bongo's turned into what I used to describe as "Carrot Top & Gallagher's illegitimate love child". He was as crazy with his costumes & props as he was energetic playing his congas. So there you have it. Bobby & I trying to be "serious" singing and playing our guitars while we've got some crazy red-headed guy playing congas like a wet puppy after you give it a bath & wearing God-only-knows-what every time I turned around and looked at him. But it worked.

At that time, we were using a sequencer for the drums & bass, so Bongo played his percussion on top of the sequenced music. When we added Bongo to the group we'd crossed an invisible line from playing as the acoustic duo we'd started as, into competing against full bands. We still weren't "technically" a full band, but it seemed that all of the rooms we played had 4 & 5-piece bands in them, that is, other than us. The lack of respect we got from other musicians because of using sequenced bass & drums bugged us. You see, in order for us to use the sequenced tracks, it meant that we had to learn every part of a song, not just ours, and then record each instrument ourselves that was in the song. We played every note that you heard, not just on the guitar. It meant we had to put a lot more time, effort and skill into each song we did. And besides, it's not like we weren't singing & playing the guitar parts when you saw us live. We just never understood the lack of respect we got from some of the other bands around here about that. But in the end, it didn't really matter. We'd built a following of great friends, great places to play and great people to work with. We could live with that because we knew how truly lucky we were to have it.

We had a good run of several years playing with Bongo but we eventually felt that we had taken the act as far as we could take it in it's present form. We felt like we had hit the ceiling with where it could go. We had longed to turn what we'd been doing all of these years and add a "real" bass player & drummer to it, to complete it into a full 4-piece band. But that meant having to find 2 other musicians who were like us, on stage and off. Not an easy thing to do.

Enter The Hibbard. Randy Hibbard had been coming in to see us regularly for a few years at a couple of places that we played & we eventually got to be very good friends. He was playing with another band at the time that he'd been with for 23 years. He'd had a good run with them, but he felt that they had run their course. He was miserable & wanted out, and he kept telling us that he was going to be our drummer one day. We eventually started having him come in & play on a few gigs (when he had time and when Bongo wasn't available to play with us). After a few months he was ready to make the plunge and become a full time "A.M." just like us. At the same time, Bongo had grown very busy with his budding restaurant empire & he just simply couldn't play a lot of the dates we wanted to book. He was building something great with his businesses & he needed to keep that as his first priority. Randy was a full time musician like us, so it meant that in order for him to join us, we had to part ways with Bongo. Bongo is, and always will be, part of this little dysfunctional family. Besides, he's probably worth $20 Billion by now, and we're still playing clubs :o)

With Randy on board, we were ready to show off our new acquisition on drums. Randy was a perfect fit & addition to the band. We always joke that he's the "3rd A.M." because he truly is. I just hope that he's not sorry he joined us now because I don't think it could have been easy being the "new guy" in a group that had been together for so many years already. The act was now a whole different animal than it had been to this point.

2 A.M.? Aren't Those Guys A Duo? It only took us 9 years, but we've finally made a "real" 4-piece band out of this project. We were never in a hurry to do it because we wanted to find the right people to be in it with us, on stage & off. The only pressure that we ever felt about doing it was the pressure that we put on ourselves. The reaction to the new-improved lineup has been nothing short of phenomenal, and is very rewarding for us personally.

Looking back on the past 10 years, I have to say that we're some pretty lucky guys. We have a lot of people to thank for everything that they've done for us along the way. There are way too many to list (because I'll obviously forget somebody and hurt their feelings). So, let me just say to you, if you're reading this sentence, then we thank you too.

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