Kilgore Smudge

Former name of the band Kilgore The band started in 1991 at Rhode Island Catholic high school La Salle Academy, Providence. Once or twice a semester, the bands would gather for concerts attended by most of the student body. This allowed many of the musicians their first concert opportunities. Outside of the school, the band began to work on original music influenced by Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Metallica and Faith No More. The band was composed of songwriter Brian McKenzie (guitar), Bill Southerland (drums), Jason Smith (bass), Mike Pelletier (guitar) and Jay Berndt (vocals). The band was first known as "Regicide" during high school and played its first shows at band concerts at La Salle Academy, Providence. After high school they changed their name to Smudge, and started to develop and fine tune their sound. The music became more aggressive containing a groove element with hints of their early influences as well as elements of the New York hardcore scene. Jay Berndt’s lyrics were influenced by the Beat Generation authors, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Franz Kafka and Charles Bukowski.[3] His vocal style was sometimes compared to Glen Danzig of the Misfits[4] or Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots. The fast almost hardcore-like songs, along with Jay Berndt's lyrics and vocal melodies, allowed the band to really stand out. They released their first demo cassette called Spill (1993) and began playing shows at numerous Providence clubs and opening for established acts as The Cro-Mags, Sick of It All, Sheer Terror and Life of Agony.[citation needed] After discovering an Australian pop-punk band by the same name, they changed their name to Stain. As Stain, they released another cassette demo, Die Cast, in 1994. It was the release of Die Cast that brought the band to the attention of Unsound Records (subsidiary of Warner Bros. Records), with whom they signed a recording contract. Around this time Berndt suggested the band name "Kilgore Smudge" as a nod to the protagonist from the classic Kurt Vonnegut novel Breakfast of Champions.