Mad Crowd Disease is a no frills punk band with an added touch of ska, just for good measure. The band comprises; Danny on drums, Gaz on bass and vox and Cal on guitar and vox. This page gives a bit of history behind the band and, by clicking on the links, you can now find out about some more of the cogs in the Mad Crowd Wheel; the roadies, the management and you the fans.
Danny and Gaz had known each other for a long time, having been in infants and junior school together. Cal and Danny met at NK School in Lincoln. By the time they had changed schools they had grown out of the usual crap stuff that most people their age were into. They were getting into other music, Metallica, Offspring, NOFX, Misfits, and other bands. They decided to form a band in December 2000 and, having gone through a number of names (Drone , Rabid and even Rabid Frog) came up with the name “Mad Crowd Disease” which suited them perfectly.
MCD originally practiced in Gaz’s garage but, after receiving letters about the noise from an anonymous neighbour, went elsewhere. The Elusive Mr. Hunt (Danny’s brother is the guitarist) arranged for them to practice at the Ukranian Club in Lincoln. The bloke that used to rent the room (Pete) was Ukranian and they had to mime playing instruments whenever they wanted to play there as he didn’t understand English. They've had a number of practice rooms since then.
When they first started none of them had had any formal tuition on their respective instruments and so spent the first few months playing covers. As they became more proficient, they started writing their own material and were able to introduce more and more of their own songs into their sets.
Their first public performance was at a New Year party at the end of December 2000. They had been together for about seven days! Their first proper gig was at a bonfire party in November 2001. They played a 30/40 minute set in front of about 70 people - mainly covers but also previewed a number of their own songs.
The second gig was at a New Year party, and again lasted about 40 minutes. Some of the photos from that gig in the gallery. The third gig, Wednesday 6th Feb 2002 and was at the North Lincs College student union bar in Lincoln. They were on as guests and played a short set of four numbers. As this was the first gig without the support of friends they were really pleased with the response.
Gig number four was on Thursday 14th March 2002. They were supporting The Elusive Mr. Hunt. This gig was at the Falcon pub in Lincoln. MCD were supposed to play the set, which was only four numbers and then leave the pub as all of them were under age. But they got called back for an encore and then managed to watch The Hunt play their set. Apparently people in the Falcon still sing Mr. Wu.
Gigs followed (all of which can be found on the Gigs page). Photos and reviews (when written) are available on the Gallery and The Press page.
The last few months of 2002 were really busy for MCD. They played a number of gigs (17 throughout the year), did a session for Radio Lincolnshire (for those of you who didn’t get to hear it, you can read a transcript of the interview here), did some recording at the University Media Suite in Lincoln with Maurice from SoundLincs and signed a management contract with New Frequency. All in all a fairly productive year. On a less happy note they had all their gear nicked at the beginning of September. However, they didn’t let that put them off as they played what was called by the organiser as an “awesome” set in Scunthorpe at the Battle of the Bands. They won the heat (with the highest score of the competition) and eventually went on to the semi finals and then to the finals.
SoundLincs had organised a Battle Of The Bands and MCD were invited to play. It was held in Louth during November 2002. Again MCD reached the finals, as they did again in the Lincoln Battle Of The Bands. As most shows are recorded MCD have now added a download section to the revised website. The entire set from the Louth BOTB final can now be downloaded
Early 2003 was supposed to be a time to step back and take time off from gigging, to concentrate on writing new material. However, this didn't work out. There was a few commitments to stick to, such as playing at a private party (supported by Not To Be Sold Separatly - Gaz's other band), the Lincoln Battle of the Bands, held at the Delph Bar in Lincoln Uni, and then a couple of supporting slots at the Falcon, one with the Hunt and one with Embassy Row. Both of the Falcon gigs were really great gigs. And a couple of new songs were written (Living Hell, Loser's Anthem) and showcased during at these gigs. Both were well received. One Day Circle, which had been played way back in August 2002 was a song that never went very far, the lyrics were OK, but the tune did not stand up. A new version was premiered at the Battle Of The Bands final and really tightened up for the Falcon gigs.
As 2003 progressed there seemed to be no let up in pace, gig followed gig, plus MCD went into the Access To Music studio and spent a few hours over three night recording and mixing what was to be their first real EP/Demo. It was named the Fat EP and contain four tracks, Alone, Pauls Law, Stodgers Moon Car & Knife In My Back.
The gigs kept on coming, one highlight (or perhaps that should be lowlight) was playing a gig in Spalding, where the audience consisted of mostly pension age country fans - think Bobs Country Bunker in the Blues Brothers or the cast extras in Deliverance. They had their set cut short, and only received some of their fees. All in a days work for your average young punks.
