One True Thing was a seed that started growing back in 1994 when guitarist Milan Millevoy began "jamming out" (bad Long Island lingo) with two of his high school buddies (now ex-members). They were writing post-hardcore type stuff and needed a singer to complete their unique sound. They posted a flier in the only decent record store around and two days later Melanie Wills spotted it. Although she was far too cool and punk rock to listen to any of the bands listed on the flier as influences (Quicksand, Helmet, Tool, Radiohead), she was desperate to be in a band. Quickly tearing off a phone number, she rushed home to make that fateful call.
Milan was a little wary. Melanie had never been in a band before (not too big of a deal) and (this the scary part) she wasn't even sixteen years old! Well, they auditioned her anyway and something felt written-in-the-stars-right about it. Every one of them knew it. And so, Scarab was formed.
Practicing three times a week at a very scary studio in a very scary neighborhood quickly paid off. Three months after they started playing together, they recorded a three-song demo that got them a spot playing the New Music Seminar in NYC. Overzealous and naïve, they thought this was IT. Think again. It was a good show, but this was just the beginning. As a result of the New Music Seminar, they attracted the attention of E.S.P. Management (C.O.C., Bad Company, Foreigner, Megadeth - rock on metal dude!) who represented Scarab for the next two years.
They wrote many songs, put out many demos, recorded a split 7" (with Greensleep), played a whole mess of shows and even attempted a lame-ass two week tour of the East Coast. If you ever ventured out to Long Island you know that there are two music scenes - coverbandland and hardcore. Cover songs were absolutely out of the question. The hardcore scene never really embraced Scarab, but at least they got a few good shows. Were they hardcore? Punk? Pop? Emo? Who knows? They just wanted to be a rock band. Back then, female fronted bands were unusual and no one knew what to do with them.
Scarab rode it out and made a promise to stay together, get signed, and make the best record they could. Hard work was beginning to pay off. Scarab was on the cover of the Long Island Voice newspaper and was voted Best Long Island band. No, it's not a Grammy, but it was still pretty neat.
In 1997 they signed to Gotham Records and shortly thereafter parted ways with E.S.P. Management. They recorded their first album, but it was never released. In fact, the label refused to put it out unless the band agreed to sign on for one more album. THAT was not in the contract! The next eight months were a tiresome power struggle between label and band. Around that same time, Howie Abrams from Zomba Music Publishing offered Scarab a lucrative publishing deal. They hungrily accepted and forked over $10,000.00 to buy their record back from Gotham. Yeah, it hurt. A week later they bought a van and went on a month long tour across country with an awesome local band called Inside.
Tour was awesome, but tension was mounting within the band. Minor disagreements were escalating into major issues. Shortly after coming home, they parted ways with their drummer and quickly found a replacement (hey, Wayne!). Six months later, their bassist quit. Kris Heinssen (a friend of Milan's) had wanted to audition as a drummer, but Milan wouldn't let him. Don't get me wrong. Kris was good. Really good. After all, he played in two solid hardcore bands (Southpaw and Tension). He just wasn't the "right" drummer. Hmmm...maybe he could learn to play bass? Great idea! Kris took a couple of lessons and played his first show three weeks later.
The band was the one thing they all believed in, so they changed the name to One True Thing. Corny, eh? Perhaps, but that's okay. It's the only name that stuck.
Two years, many screwovers, and one more demo later, their second drummer quit. The last show he played was the same day One True Thing received their recording contract from Kinetic Records. It was a sucky situation, but they had been through worse. They continued writing songs and practicing, not really looking for a drummer. By April 2001, they were cranky, tired and bored. A drummer was nowhere to be found. Were their expectations too high? Maybe they weren't giving anyone a decent chance. It was friend and publisher (and manager, and A & R guy, and business advisor...) Howie who first mentioned Ray Greene as a possibility. It was like a dream come true! One True Thing had played with Ray's old band (Fahrenheit 451) and loved his style. He was on their drummer wish list. Ray came to practice and sounded great. He gave One True Thing's songs new life and made the band eager to start recording.
The album was recorded in various studios (Clubhouse - rock and relax retreat, Jarvis - they only lasted two days, Streetlight - Dan is a very, very kind man) on various days during the months August, October, and (a day or two) in January with producer extraordinaire Tom Soares (Sick of it All, Leeway, Shelter, Erykah Badu). Yes, it's done and of course it's going to be called "Finally..."
