Cory Thrall

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BIO...........

i was born on January 5th, 1977 in San Rafael, (northern) California -
a tiny baby for my mom (Kim) and my dad (Mark).....
i have a younger brother, Travis.....
i live with my best friend (Jared Butler) and our 3 cats (Syrus Monet, Mim and Grimm)......
i live in Santa Rosa, (northern) California, and have for 14 years...

i started into playing music pretty late compared to most people, not
getting my first guitar until i was 16 ('93) - though i've been in
"bands" & projects since 1991.....i've always made music as i want to
hear it - no other explanation fits what i've been doing except that...
...i've always tried to work out my own ideas, however silly and
wasteful, instead of ripping off favorites and the music i enjoy.....
maybe influences are more obvious then i think, but that's for you to
decide......my music may be simple and trivial in the scheme of
rock n' roll, but i try and make the experience enjoyable.....

the first band i was ever in was Enavryn, and we recorded a DIY cassette
that only existed in one copy that i've since lost.....then i was in a
band called Cottage Cheese, the first of many bands to practice in a
garage.....around 1993 Jared and i formed The Catnips, and that was my most
successful band. we played a ton of shows and recorded 3 cassettes that were
released (my first release ever was The Catnips' "The Orange Collection" in
1995). in 1994 i helped form the noise rock supergroup Drinking Coffee
From Counselor Troi's Head, my favorite of all the projects i have been in!

mid '95 The Catnips went into the studio and recorded "Blue Thelma" for Pariah
Records. this cassette went into 3 printings and sold a ton of copies (well,
a ton for a silly little band like The 'nips).....
late '95/'96 The Catnips lost drummer Joe 'Ringo' Fess, and he was replaced by
Jamie Harrison. with the new line-up, The Catnips went back into the studio
and recorded "Classic Phaser" (though this would not see release until 1997).
due to an argument over a certain song from the "Phaser" session, bass player
Mike Teuscher left The Catnips, and the band broke up.

1996 saw the birth of the drone., an acoustic band that started as just myself
and my good friend Gerry Stumbaugh (both of us played acoustic guitars and sang,
taking turns on who did lead vocals and who did backing vocals). before i moved
to Denver, Colorado in late '96 the drone. recorded a demo cassette that we also
released to very limited copies (Gerry's label was 'hand records').

then i moved to Denver, Co., only to return about four months later, in Jan. '97.
both The Catnips and the drone. were reformed, except The Catnips with their
original line-up and the drone. with new members Ken Lantz on drums (also in troi),
and Mike Teuscher on acoustic bass (also in The Catnips). neither band played any
shows, but lots of practicing was done. finally, The Catnips played a wedding
(heheh), but the force of such a fun show was not enough to save The 'nips. soon
we broke up again, this time for good.

Ken Lantz left the drone. and good friend Dustin Heald joined on as drummer, adding
more backing vocals to the band. they began playing shows locally. then, on a day
that could have seen explosive results, 'Jeremy Irons' was born. this noise rock
band (which basically started out as another troi, except with me on vocals instead
of Jared) started out with myself, Jared, my brother Travis (who was in troi earlier
for a bit), and pal George Wasley on drums. a few songs were written (a couple that
stayed with the band for their entire career), but finally George left the band. he
replaced by Dan Goodsell, and Mike Teuscher joined on bass. we changed our name to
"the jeremy irons project" due to a notebook Dustin had (full of notes and line ideas
for the Jeremy Irons movie, heheh) that was titled such. the Jip played a successful
first show in Woodland, California. the Jip also recorded an unreleased demo. soon,
Travis left the band and the spot was filled in by Doyle Smotherman. many shows for
the Jip, and we played where ever they could.

late 1998 saw the break-up of the drone., after playing many successful shows and recording
another demo, this time unreleased except to friends. Mike and i focused on the Jip.
in 1999 the band went back into the studio and recorded songs that would later be featured
on our first CDr. using live tracks from our show at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco
and adding most of the songs recorded in the 2nd studio session, "technoISdisco" was born!
the first release for the Jip and the first CDr release for then-only-months-old samsa
records. 1999 was a good year for the Jip.....

1999 also saw the birth of a noise duo featuring myself and Jared. originally starting out
as 'cosmonaut', our duo was quickly changed to 'darph/nadeR'. '99 saw the recording of 3
nadeR albums, though only the first 2 were released. at the end of '99, darph/nadeR played
a spontaneous set at a New Years party, where listeners were subject to a space attack type
fury of sound, and the live nadeR was "in effect"!

2000 was another good year for the Jip, and we played many shows. darph/nadeR started out on
a huge project - an unofficial soundtrack for the 1927 silent film "metropolis". 'falling down
stairs', a band featuring myself on guitar and vocals, Mike on bass, and Jared on organ, started
in early '00, and played a mellow show in mid '00. in late 2000, the Jip went into the studio
and recorded the unreleased "all dressed up in mistake". the band added Kel on keyboards but,
sadly, Dec. 2000 was the month the Jip broke up. an end of an era for me.

by the end of 2000, after working the entire year on it, darph/nadeR declared the "metropolis"
soundtrack a dead, unsuccessful project and did not release it.

falling down stairs changed their name to 'the slow life' in 2001, and we played a few shows, as
well as a solo set from just me. we traveled to Grass Valley and played a show there, which was
great fun. due to my illness getting worse, the slow life ended mid. 2001 or so.

since 2001 i have been a part of many different projects and bands, mostly focusing on the noise
aspect. i gave up guitar for a few years (focusing on other noise-making tools), and even gave up
singing for a bit, too. my first solo album was released in 2001, and i have kept adding to my solo
discography each year since. darph/nadeR has switched from being a side project to being our main
project and, starting in 2003, we have played multiple local shows and have gone on two successful
mini-tours, as well as playing Los Angeles in Dec. of 2004. i have once again picked up guitar and
singing, and my solo albums have come back from the "instrumental" phase and are now very close to the
work i used to do. i'm loving guitar and songwriting again, and am quite glad i took that break. it
really gave me some time to grow and learn new ways to express myself. i've now come full circle.

i'm currently in the process of putting together a new band, and so far it's myself on guitar/vocals,
Jared on synth/guitar/whatever, and Doyle on bass.

darph/nadeR is in the middle of planning a mini-tour of the Texas area, and we will be hitting there in
Feb. of 2006.

the future looks amazingly bright.....