The Beatniks
Together eighteen great years and counting.... Article written by Arny Bailey Back to Cover
When I considered who should ________
grace the cover of the first issue of Weekend Musician, I didn’t have to think long before zeroing in on The Beatniks http://www.thebeatniks.com . Frankly, I cannot think of another act that has achieved this level of recognition and notoriety while performing as, well, a cover band. If for nothing else, they should be honored for longevity considering they have been performing for 18 years WITH NO CHANGES TO THEIR LINE-UP. Considering that even a nice guy like me has been through more lead ___
guitarists than Michael Jackson has noses, this in itself is reason to feature them.
I gotta admit that when I saw The Beatniks for the first time, I wasn’t as impressed with their technical abilities as I thought their success would demand. What I did see were 3 very capable guitarists/vocalists (Bobby, Mark and Rick) with an extremely entertaining drummer (Jon). Now, I need to say here that while I didn’t see anything particularly brilliant about their renditions of well known classic rock _
The Beatniks on stage.
standards, I did see something else. I saw 4 guys that were completely comfortable on stage, in their own skins, and completely at ease with the song selection even when it was improvised. They were not perfectly executing songs nor were their renditions technically astounding, but there was something else…..I couldn’t take my eyes off them. They were flat out entertaining.
After 18 years of performing together, they have an insane catalogue of material and the ability to improvise what seems to be anything else, moving easily from tune to tune within the structure of whatever song they happen to be playing at the time. Although it’s tough to take your eyes off Jon, when you do, the rest of the band is worth watching. So much in fact, that they were featured on the VH1 show “Cover Wars” hosted by Paul Shaffer which pitted cover bands against each other. “We won our first show but then got blown out of the water on the next show,’ reports Rick. “They used our show as the world premier (which made us feel ___
pretty good). The show was cancelled after only one season.”
Bobby, Rhythm Guitar/Lead Vocals, has an amazing vocal range and if you close your eyes during a Janis Joplin number, you’ll swear she’s come back form the dead. His catalogue of memorized lyrics would crash my IPOD and he’s no slouch on guitar either. Mostly playing rhythm, I did notice that he understood working with Mark on making sure he was playing the right chords but in different forms. Bobby just looks like he’s having fun, smiling and interacting with the crowd constantly.
Bobby prefers D'Addario Jazz Light (12-52) strings and uses a Dunlop nylon .60 pick. He plays 3 guitars. The first is a Mid 70's Rickenbacker 360, red. Though a long time favorite, he describes it as, “the biggest little bitch of a guitar that I have ever owned. It cannot stay in tune, it is always falling apart in some way, and no amount of money spent at Mike Lull's has been able to change that.” Spending about 3 times what the guitar ______
is worth in repair bills, he finally said enough. An interesting side note about this guitar is it was originally owned by Mark who had it stolen from his car at the hospital while his wife was delivering their baby. “About a year after the theft, Mark saw an ad for this guitar in a local paper, and went to the
Bobby - Vocals/Rythmn Guitar
hock shop where it was listed with serial number and police report in hand. He told the clerk that it was his guitar, and the clerk said go ahead, take it,” Bobby relates. “So Mark got his guitar back, and I bought it from him.”
Guitar number two, Bobby’s favorite, is a Rickenbacker 325 John Lennon reissue, black. “It has been to hell and back, has duct tape holding the pick guard together, has all kinds of funk and crap permanently embedded in the pickups from spills, blood, sweat, and probably a few tears, has a chronic case of worn to the nub fret-itis, and even with all the problems, it feels perfect when I play it. I have retired it many times only to bring it back from the dead via copious amounts of money thrown at Mike Lull, where he re-frets it, tweaks it and cleans it up.” Bobby also adds, “I might as well just toss a $500 check at Mike Lull's store whenever I drive by.”
Bobby’s final axe was a Christmas present from Rick last year. A Fender Slimline Tele with an LL Baggs piezo __
bridge he says he’s still getting used to. Rick and friend, Jakael, modified it to add the acoustic pickup in the bridge with a switch between the regular and acoustic pickups. The jack is stereo, with one side going to the Vox and the other plugging into a DI which is run into the PA for the acoustic. “It sounds just like a friggin acoustic, it's weird. Very cool,” says Bobby.
Bobby admits he has no preference for cables other than “long” and routes his guitars through an Ibanez TS-9 fuzz pedal (the newer re-issue, about 5 years old) to a Vox AC-30. “It's about 10 years old. It has the blue label speakers in it. I don't know what that means but I know there is a diff between the blue and green ones. I think I have the good ones. We all wanted Vox amps, but the originals are insanely expensive and you can't actually use them unless you bring the gig to the amp. They're very fragile. The new ones are built like a tank and sound decent enough,” explains Bobby. “As far as singing, whatever mic they put up is what I use. Usually ___
it's something like an SM58, or at least looks like one. My pet peeve is the mic stand - I hate the round base ones because I always whack into the stand when I'm singing and they move around. I always spec a tripod, and usually get it. Sometimes I don't, but that's life.”
Mark, Lead Guitar/Background Vocals, seems to be able to fill out the
bands sound with his lead riffs whether he’s playing the guitar
part or the keyboard 
Mark - Lead Guitar/Backup Vocals
part (no keyboard in this band but Mark seems to pull off the missing parts very well). Mark is the prototype lead guitarist on stage that smiles lesswhile channeling a more “cool-cat” persona. Don’t get me wrong, he’s having fun. He’s just a bit more stoic than the rest of the guys. When needed, Mark will slide over with Rick and share a mic on vocals, reminiscent of Paul and George
Mark switches between a '78 Les Paul or reissue Les Paul Jr. with 10's played through a Reissue Vox AC30 with the blue speakers, Fulltone OCD distortion, and Echo Park delay. Of course, he admits that “things do change depending on what may have been stolen, broken, or is otherwise inoperable”.
Rick, Bass/Vocals, works well with Jon in keeping the rhythm going and acting as a second front man to Bobby, occasionally singing lead in addition to harmony vocals. Not only is he a solid bass player, Rick seems to be well, the man holding the reigns while they’re on stage approaching the ___
performances professionally by sitting back a bit and stepping up to
the plate with his big stick (I’m talking about your bass, Rick)
when he’s at bat. Rick uses ½ wound Thomstik-Infield Jazz
bass strings (medium scale) on a ’67 Hofner Club Bass played through
a Vox Essex “shell” loaded
with a SWR Working Man amplifier powering two 12’’ Bag-End
speakers. He uses 
Rick - Bass/Vocals
monster cable leads and Jim Dunlap .60mm nylon (gray) picks which are the same as Bobby making it easy to “borrow” one of his!
Jon, Percussionist/Vocalist/Puppet-Master, is a key component to their shows. I’ve seen a lot of drummers. There are some very technically brilliant drummers out there. Speed, timing, composition are all skills needed to make a good drummer….for the studio that is. However, this is entertainment art and a drummer for live shows needs to be, well, entertaining. For my money, Jon is the most entertaining drummer on the planet. Technically, he’s exceptional but that’s not why you can’t take your eyes off him. People enjoy watching other people have fun. Jon has this down. It’s as if his arms and feet are connected to a sequencer, allowing his head to do whatever it wants. In person, he’s just as engaging and entertaining.
What most folks first notice about Jon’s playing is that he looks like he’s standing up. In truth, he sits on a bar ________
Jon
- Percussion/Vocals
stool that he stole from the House of Blues in Chicago because, as he put it, “It's the perfect height for me.” He travels with it as well and tells that it was once smashed to bits by an airline in Boston. He had to wait until going back to play the House of Blues again to get another! “The barstool thing came about because I have very long legs, and I wanted to overpower _
the drums and not have them overpower me,” says Jon. “The
tom-toms are flat. I can't stand having them at an angle. The way
I hold the sticks means that I destroy every drum head within minutes
if I don't flatten everything first.”
Jon admits to not having much technical knowledge about the kits he plays. He
owns a 1965 Ludwig which he plays with other bands and notes the kit used for
The Beatniks is a Ludwig as well but doesn’t know the year. For cymbals
he says, “I just buy whichever ones are loud and cheap. They don't
last long because I don't know how to hit them properly yet.” Jon
plays oak sticks cause they last longer and Neil Peart signature brand cause “they’re
just the right size.”
When I asked how he came to play the drums, Jon responded, “I only ended up on drums because I wanted to start a band, and couldn't find a good drummer. It was bizarre because I was playing bass and singing. I don't consider myself a drummer, I'm just a huge fan of music (I collect vinyl and __
have THOUSANDS of LPs - mostly from overseas) and anyway I can perform it is fine with me. I love to sing, as well. If I can make people laugh, then that's the lottery won.”
“I really do love what I do,” says Jon. “Rick and I play in the Herding Cats together, and it's terrific fun. We're a trio (with an amazing guitarist, Mike Mattingly) and I get to do my impressions of people every Sunday with them at the Wilde Rover in Kirkland.” Jon adds, “I'd like to say that nothing I do is contrived, but I'm sure that's not entirely true. I do know that I don't practice, unless you count all the listening that goes on at my house. Music and people are a great combo (like submarine and sandwich) and just getting in front of them will carry me through any lack of technique.”
His favorite drummer is “Animal” from the Muppet Show and who he models his playing style after. He admits to loving, “old fashioned drums, old fashioned guitars, old fashioned pianos, and old fashioned music."
Although I had a brief encounter with these boys back in 2005 while playing at the Quinalt Beach Resort in Ocean Shores, WA, I really didn’t know much about them or what they were doing to gain so much notoriety and exposure. Since they were playing at Tulalip Casino in Marysville, WA, I headed out and got to chat with them briefly backstage. Note to the wise: If you ever get invited backstage at Tulalip, make sure security is alerted. No one seemed to care when Lon, the Beatnik’s long time manager escorted me back, but I was hassled and nearly strip searched when I left the area. I’m so used to being on stage myself it didn’t seem to register that this was a casino = lots of money = high security = ”Who the #$%^& are you and what the #$%^& were you doing back there!?” I’ll know better next time and bring my passport.
In my brief time backstage I found essentially what I had the last time. They were a nice group of guys that seem more like brothers than band members. Rick and I spoke with Mark along side taking an active part. Jon __
was there and then gone seeming to not be able to sit still for very long (anyone surprised?) and Bobby popped in and out with a 5th in one hand and a cigarette in the other. All were very engaging, polite, open, and made sure I was comfortable.
My first question to them was something that has intrigued me for some time. “How could you have stayed together for so long?” Rick’s answer was simple but thought provoking. “I just don’t care anymore.” he quipped. I asked if perhaps his not “caring” was more a result of a level of trust that he has with the rest of the band to which he responded, “No, I don’t think so. I just don’t care any more. I quit caring years ago.” He then mentioned that they used to argue all the time until they just quit caring. Bobby then chimed in and told Rick that he remembered when Rick quit caring and how much better it got. Bobby then followed with a tirade of four letter name-calling with Mark followed by synchronized shoulder shrugging to let me know that they really don’t care what the other guys thought.
Since the question was only how they stayed together for so long, the “I don’t care anymore” response can only be considered as relating to each other and not how they feel about performances, business or beyond. I’ve been in bands with guys that don’t care overall and they’re habitually late, don’t know their parts, and perform poorly. Success, at any level, cannot come without caring. These boys obviously care about quite a bit, even if they don’t care what the other members think.
My next question related to the 5th Beatnik, Daron, who can be found on stage from time to time doing everything from shuttling instruments to playing tambourine, cowbell, maraca’s, clavs, drums and even singing. In baseball Daron would be called a utility infielder.....…although I wouldn't want to exclude the outfield from his position possibilities.
Daron was brought into the beret (I think that’s the group name for beatniks…a pod of whales, a pack of wolves and a beret of beatniks?) _____
back in 2002 to play percussion. A long time friend and Enumclaw High School grad with Jon, Daron works in law enforcement by day and in addition to his role on stage, coordinates the merchandise sales for the band when not on duty. “It's hard to believe that six years have already passed by. It's been a lot of fun”, says Daron.
Daron - All things percussive
Another thing that’s different about The Beatnik world is the crew and the fact that these guys don’t hump their gear in, other than instruments like the rest of the cover band world. Rick mentioned that he had done this for years before The Beatniks and wouldn’t have considered doing it again when the band formed back in 1990. So, from the get go, they had a crew which allows them to concentrate on their role as performers and leave the heavy lifting to others.
The crew consists of Lon – Manager; Rocky – Lights and Effects; Ben – Stage; Chris Painter – Sound Technician and Dean – Agent (Machine Entertainment), Phone Jockey. These guys are there before the show starts to get everything set up allowing the musicians to arrive just before the show and concentrate on the performance. When the last note is hit and the cymbal crash rings silent, the musicians pack up their instruments and head out while the crew breaks down and packs up for the night. I am envious.
Of course, having this level of support staff means more people to pay. Although specific cost to hire The Beatniks ranges depending on the gig, if you do the math and consider that this is a full time gig for some of these boys, you’ll find that they are paid well. In fact, when I spoke with them they had recently returned from a gig in Maui, HI and were heading back there the following week for another performance. Life sure is rough in Beatnikland.
The band does admit that there schedule has slowed down over the past few years. They recently lost their Saturday afternoon slot at The Muckleshoot Casino in Auburn, WA following several solid years when a new GM switched the format over to country.
As the schedule started to slow, Mark went back to school and got his law degree. He is now a prosecuting attorney for two western Washington jurisdictions. Bobby trained himself in IT and is now an IT manager for a healthcare company. Rick and Jon are _
still focusing on music full time and with a trio act, Herding Cats they are filling the void in their schedules. As of this issue, Herding Cats perform every Sunday at the Wilde Rover in Kirkland, WA.
While most cover bands are set up as the simplest of business entities (sole proprietorships or partnerships), The Beatniks are a bit more structured. From their start in 1990, they formed a corporation to which Rick, Mark and Bobby are the principal shareholders. Although there is no exclusive agreement with Machine Entertainment (ME), ME has always functioned as their exclusive booking agent.
In addition to paid gigs, The Beatniks also offer merchandise available through their web site and at gigs. This “booty” includes T-shirts, tank tops, sweatshirts, baseball jerseys, hats, thong underwear, stuffed animals, workout shorts, kitchen aprons, kids onesies, bibs and Frisbees all sporting the Beatnik logo. Of course, they have produced a few CD’s over the years and these are ___
for sale on the website as well. With the exception of “Beatnikland” which was produced and recorded by the band, the CD’s were produced and engineered by Jakael Tristam who can be reached at According to Daron, the CD’s account for about 80% of the merchandise sales and adds, “I absolutely believe that it is worth producing a CD. Once you get the production costs taken care of and paid off, if you have a good product they can actually be pretty profitable.”
How long will The Beatniks continue to perform? Who can say? Who would have said that any cover band would have lasted 18 years? Yet, not only have they lasted, but they continue to bring smiles to the faces and happiness to the feet of all who attend their performances with their contagious humor and showmanship. If you haven’t seen them yet, take a night off and find their next venue. It’s worth the trip. Get there early though as venues are often at capacity before the show starts.
Arny Bailey
MEET THE WRITER - ARNY BAILEY
President of In Form, Inc. Media Design and Chief Editor of Weekend Musician is a licensed architect practicing in the Pacific Northwest and weekend musician currently fronting ABOUT FACE, a classic rock cover band and The Grand Delusion a Tribute to the music of Styx and Journey.