Local bands have day jobs. That's why they're local. When transporting a customer to retrieve his vandalized vehicle from the body shop, Enterprise Rent-A-Car employee, Matt McNeel noticed his passenger was wearing a Reax T-shirt and asked if he worked for the local magazine. It turned out to be our publisher. Day jobs have their perks.

No Recess was formed from the ashes of Bad Cat with original members Marcel Tirado on guitar and Tommy Cornillow on drums. McNeel, having a history of classical piano training and a penchant for being in the right place at the right time, was a loyal fan that they added to complete the new lineup. "On the last night as Bad Cat, Matt came out to support the band and found out about the breakup. It just so happened that we were thinking about changing the format and Matt playing the keyboard was a great match," Tirado explained.

Described as post-grunge, No Recess trades in the Jazzmaster for an overdriven acoustic guitar to supply the familiar distortion. “I’m all about the electric/acoustic Ovation. It’s got a nice crunch if you tweak it right. I stopped playing the electric for years, but recently I saw one that I had to get. It may make an appearance in the future but as of now, people are digging the fact that music can rock just as hard, if not harder, with an acoustic guitar and a killer dose of distortion,” said Tirado. And by having a keyboardist rather than a bass player, assumptions could be made that their sound is somewhat on the mellow side.  But on the contrary, their gigs are loud and aggressive. With hair flying all over the place, Tirado manhandles his acoustic while McNeel forcibly hammers down his keys. These guys hardly stand still.

No Recess attacks the studio much in the same way they play on stage. Tirado adds, “We're trying to capture our raw and energetic live shows onto CD. I feel that doing our own recording gives us a greater sense of accomplishment in the long run and helps us develop a distinct sound.”

No Recess will be playing at The Orpheum on August 13th and The M.E.A.N.Y. Festival in New York on September 23rd. For more information, downloads and a touring schedule, visit www.norecessmusic.com.