Founed: 1983 Band Existence: 1983-1985 Original Lineup: Perry Farrell, Aaron Sherer, Vince Duran, Kelly Wheeler Past Members: Perry Farrell, Aaron Sherer, Vince Duran, Kelly Wheeler, Eric Avery Activity: Dead
Perry Farrell joined what would become Psi Com by answering an article in a paper searching for a drummer. At his audition, Psi Com had instead found a singer. Aaron Sherer eventually was brought in to play drums for the band. Psi Com was sort of an early post-punk modern rock collective.
Psi Com's first big show was in the Mojave Desert, playing a show with Red Kross, The Meat Puppest and Sonic Youth. Kelly Wheeler joined the band just before this show after the band bought him a bass. Due to Wheeler's lack of preparation time for learning the band's music, there was a lot of improvisation. A recording of this show has surfaced and can be found on some trader's lists. Perry's unique stage presence is what brought the band notoriety, and helped craft a reasonable following in the Los Angeles area.
Months before the band broke up, Psi Com put out a five track self titled album, limited to 1500 copies, on their own Mohini label. While 1500 copies were pressed, nearly half came back from being pressed warped and unplayable. There was a popular bootleg of this album that was highly sought after until Triple-X re-released the album in 1993. What is interesting about the bootleg is that the CD was recorded at a slightly faster speed than the songs were actually recorded as, giving a slightly different feel to all the songs.
Common misinformation about Psi Com was that Vince Duran and Aaron Sherer left Psi Com to become Hare Krishnas. This is simply not true, and was simply misinformation put out that fueled the image of Jane's Addiction. Eric Avery joined the band late in the game, and by then Psi Com was down to him and Perry.
What Psi Com is credited with is helping Perry find his voice. The song Xiola is where the screaming banshee was born, and what flourished in the years of Jane's Addiction. Many Jane's Addiction and Porno For Pyros fans love the song that Psi Com released. They are a peek into a young Perry and some of the incredible music he helped craft with three other guys. It's not Jane's Addiction, but it is certainly a peek into the early days of Jane's Addiction.
Source: http://one-percent.com
