Rather than addressing the rumors and innuendo surrounding the "dark side" of this band (i.e., their carnal past, the unpublicized "Apollo" incidents and the band's refusal to even acknowledge the raison d'etre of Apollo, their drummer... the band's rumored initiation rites... leaks of mysterious powers utilized in their artistic process, etc.), this writer will focus on what is known as fact and what is deemed good and appropriate for public consumption as biographical information.

First, as might almost be expected, the four members of Drill Team represent the four elements of the zodiac: earth, air, fire, and water. The balance and power is obvious to anyone who listens to their music. The dates of their birth (1/8, 1/22, 5/24, and 12/15) add up numerologically to the number 7, the spiritual number of god and the godhead which they do not represent. The band continually seeks to debunk any rumors to the contrary.

But listen to track five ("Stars Fly") on their current release Hope And Dream Explosion. When played backwards, it reveals the mantra "Ego alpha et omega," which is, of course, Latin for "I am the alpha and the omega." The beginning and the end. Past and Future. And the "Stars Fly" lyric, when played forward, echoes the band's cryptic apocalyptic sentiments. Some have attempted to tie one member (singer Michael Long) to the Knights of the Templar, via some bizarre Masonic connection, and one member (drummer Apollo Strange) to the Druid priesthood. So what's the deal? Obviously denied, the facts nevertheless seem to point to the contrary. But to the contrary of what? Indeed.

APOLLO STRANGE is the primal force of Drill Team, representing the past, the primitive in all of us. A most fascinating individual, Strange seems to be (I must conclude with more than a little discomfort) "ultimate knowledge." In fact, as I write this, Strange is in Greece, with his "goat-hair-colored" girlfriend at the request of the Grecian government and the Ancient Grecian Historical Preservation Society, performing what he politely refers to as "temple experiments." Although his main instrument in Drill Team is drums, he is also adept at string and choral arrangements, guitar, bass, flute, and a tiresome list of most other known instruments. Onstage, however, he is not granted a microphone, because of the rather distracting grunting noises emanating from his body, presumably his throat. His destructive style is easily recognizable on any-and-all Drill Team songs. Note the copper drums Strange plays. Look closely and you will see he has forged the metal himself. Another Druid connection? The King Stag insignia on the lowest tom-tom seems to illuminate the mystery. He is ancient, yet desires to be aged. The pre-death wisdom experience. The drummer.

In contrast, JEFF WATSON represents the physical, "now" energy in the band. Always on 11, for years critics lambasted Watson as an amphetamine user. Untrue. Highly intelligent, factual and up-to-date, Watson readily assimilates and reflects all the energies in a room simultaneously, unless there is no one energetic in a room, in which case he gets coffee. Watson absorbs and is absorbed by today's culture. His five basic food groups are: cigarettes, alcohol, fast food, coffee and TV (resulting in world-record levels of sodium and preservatives in his blood stream). His bass lines (which are often dripping in distortion) express the precise passions of each Drill Team song, providing the satisfying emotional manipulation Drill Team listeners deserve and have come to expect. Drop dead gregarious, a veritable fireball onstage and off, Jeff is definitely (pardon the bad joke) watts-on.

Space-age TIMOTHY LaRUE is the tomorrow of the band. Band sources have verified that he spent nearly two years building and experimenting with new ways of combining analog, digital, and organic technologies into his patented LaRue Circuitry Systems. When it comes to texture and sound, LaRue seems the father of invention. He is also way ahead of the others in the art of conversation: just about the time co-conversers think they have made a point, he comes up with a devastating put-down... his considered opinion... and two reasons why he's right. Old school Atari video games (he has the second largest collection in the world) give him the ideas for the color soundscapes he paints for the band. A reclusive visionary, LaRue is the Intel Pentium chip of Drill Team.

The acknowledged universal champion of the destruction of not only his own, but also the hearts and possibly souls of countless others is Drill Team lead vocalist/guitarist/song-writer/lover MICHAEL LONG. Angel or demon? Avatar or charlatan? Long is the spiritual Kubla Khan of Drill Team. His antics at a show last winter in Denver (where midway through the set he began calling out audience member's names, places and dates of birth and death), keep the rumour mills abuzz. Another event at a recording studio (after an exceptionally fine vocal performance) involved Long "hovering at least four or five feet in the bloody air" (according to producer Clive Langers who found him, thereby ending Langers involvement with the group). These displays have done very little to quell the excitement and mystery surrounding this band. In fact, after a former band member "disappeared" for no apparent reason and two internationally famous models were arrested (on separate occasions) outside of Long's Hancock Park mansion (both were screaming that they could not live without him), one Los Angeles journalist wrote, "Long seems destined to bring Drill Team, if not to the forefront of popular music, at the very least to the cover of Golden Dawn Today."

Much of Drill Team's fan mail relate incidents of listeners breaking down in tears over Michael Long's songs. (While this could mean many things, the label prefers to believe that it is because the songs are so good.) Long's astounding live vocal performances have forced some to come to the arguably unfair conclusion that he is actually channeling some other "entity." Contrary to media claims, Long denies occultist ties. He asserts that he is merely incapable of escaping the sorrow of the world, a condition he can hardly bear and one that he can hardly be blamed for. Though it has been recently reported that some extreme orthodox factions are soon to come out with undeniable proof that Long's lyrics are cabalistic in origin (an interesting copyright quandary), that he is in fact a Magus (having been quoted off the record as saying "I do not sing songs, I speak spells"), and that anagrams of his name include "magic," "alchemi," "gaelic," "hell," "angel," and "halo,'" Long continues to deny all.

Drill Team's Hope and Dream Explosion available March 24, 1998.