Biography
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Years Active
1989 – present (36 years)
There are 2 bands called Spare Change – 1) Chicago 1989 - Current; 2) San Diego 1996-2005
1) Spare Change (Chicago) 1989 - Current – quoted from their Official sites: "Spare Change is a Punk / Hard-Core (with Metal influences) Band from Chicago, Illinois since 1989. Through their many line-up changes and tough times, Spare Change has managed to remain a band for over 20 years without ~ever~ breaking up! — The story starts in 1979, When Bryan Robertson ‘’Chump Change’’ (Vocals/Guitar) met Erwin Narsolis (bass) & Tom Zawackie (guitar) in the 2nd grade. In 84’ Erwin started listening to punk (hard core) and a year later Bryan and Tom started listening to punk and metal. In 86’ the threesome attempted to start a punk band called ‘The Dopes’ and failed for lack of a drummer. In 87’ they tried again as ‘Unredeemable’ and could not be saved. Then they hooked up with Phil Anderson (drums). Unfortunately, Tom dropped out and we took a shot at it as ‘War-Front’ and flopped. Finally in 1989 they hooked up with Trinidad Salinas “Gothzilla” “Trinidaddy” (drums). Bryan had a guitar. They purchased a bass, a cheap amp, and a crappy drum set; and Spare Change Misanthropic was formed. They started recording in Bryan’s basement & released “The Crooked Edge” in late 1989. In 90’ Erwin Narsolis left the band ‘til 94” being replaced by Jim Sohacki (bass) & Jack Bucher (guitar). The next release was “Flys On Shit (recorded 1989-1990).” It was released on a cassette (90 minutes) in 1990. It included new tracks from ‘Flys..’ plus all recordings from the original line up. Subsequential releases included: Here Today… Gone Tomorrow (1991); Today Censorship… Tomorrow Dictatorship (1992); and World Peace (1994). During That time there were a lot of lineup changes, and they went back to a three piece format with Matt Ford on (bass). Spare Change had a hard time getting booked get in 1994 because of their strong skinhead (S.H.O.C.) following. The promoters were afraid of the fan crowd. In 1995 they lightened up a little bit & added some poppier songs to their mix. Eventually they went back to playing hard-core punk. Bryan decided to just sing, Erwin came back and switched to guitar, Ruben Amador (bass) was added. They released: This Makes No Cents E.P. (1995); Spare Change (1995); and Time For Change (1996). Ruben was replaced in 97’ by Mikey Chamberlin (bass) (who also sang back-up’s on the 1st album). They released Falling Down E.P. (1997). Erwin and Mikey left. James Slattery (guitar) and Juan Hernandez (bass) joined in 98. They released: Life (1998); A Change For The Better (1999). At the end of the year on their 10th anniversary they released a ruff anthology entitled: 10 Cents In Change (1989-1999). Other full lengths albums include: What Its Worth (2004); Ravioli Accedent (Heavy Metal Cover Album) (June 6, 2006); and the Gentrocide E.P. (2007). The line up changed again - with Erwin and Trinidad returning and leaving, both on the next album. The current line-up is Bryan (Lead vocals), Trinidad (2nd vocals), Flea (Guitar), Spyro (Lead guitar), G-Tard (Bass), Jim Sludge (Drums), Fabian (Drums). Spare Change has 19 releases out. They are recording a new album & are remastering the first album ‘The Crooked Edge (1989)’ for their 20th anniversary; both are to be released in 2009. — Influences: Dead Kennedys, Misfits, D.R.I., Poison Idea, M.D.C., Conflict, Suicidal Tendencies,Black Flag, Slayer, Venom, Metallica (Early stuff), Anthrax (Old Stuff), early Hard-Core / Punk / Thrash – Sounds Like: D.R.I., Suicidal Tendencies, 80’s Hard-Core with some “slight” metal influence, kinda like Crossover – Record Label: Discorporate Records / Rock Bottom Records (Chicago) – Label Type: Indie" – quoted from http://www.myspace.com/sparechangechicago/ & http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spare-Change-Official-Chicago/215680485128525 [see Spare Change and Spare Change (Chicago) and $pare Change]
2) Spare Change (San Diego, CA ) - First show - 04.18.1996 & last show was 12.03.2005.
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