Before there was reality, there was a dream. Shared by what now forms the 5 members of Sugar Ray, they all grew up interested in music. Mark (McGrath, Vocals) was influenced by 70's era punk acts The Sex Pistols and Black Flag. Just like Mark, Stan (Frazier, Drums) idolized bands like T.S.O.L., The Dead Kennedys and Devo. While four members of Sugar Ray grew up in Orange County, Craig (Bullock, DJ) grew up in sunny Pasadena. In the latter life, They all held down some-what steady jobs. Rodney (Sheppard, Guitar) was a tele-marketer, Murphy (Karges, Bass) was a failed security guard turned pizza chef, Craig was a DJ at a local radio station, Mark was driving trucks, and Stan, a paralegal. Murphy did get his first dose of loud music when he did a stint playing for L.A. punk poineers The Wierdos on a '90 U.S. tour opening for the Circle Jerks. Rodney was a star even before Sugar Ray. He was the hairy Chaka on the kid's show "Land of the Lost", but the gig for him lasted only a few episodes (6 to be exact).
Once the five came together as a group, they came up with a name that best-suited their intrest (Boxing). Alas came the name Sugar Ray (Sugar Ray Leonard) and a band was born. When it came time to record their debut album, they chose a compadre close to the band, McG, who is known for directing most of KoRn's video's (including the home video "Who Then Now?) and Sugar Ray's video's Mean Machine, 10 Seconds Down, and Fly.
After they recorded the album, it was time to think of a name for it. While they were moving into a house where the previous tenant was a porn freak, they had found numerous porn magazines laying around the house and one had an ad that had the words "Lemonade and Brownies" included in the mix and they thought that it best suited their style of music. (instead of having just milk and brownies, they mix it up and have lemonade) meaning that they have many styles of music and they dont "conform" to just one type of music.
After they put "Lemonade and Brownies" out in 1995, the band spent '95 and '96 out on the road in support of their new C.D. Over those 2 years, the band had played over 200 live shows as the supporting act and headlining. Performing with such diverse acts as KoRn, Cypress Hill, Snot, The Urge, Deftones and the Sex Pistols, Sugar Ray got experience and won alot of audiences over in the process. They have also been on a number of T.V. shows (120 Minutes, Sound F/X, and The John Stewart Show), covered a song that Howard Stern had written in his childhood years in his band the Electric Comic Book(the song Psychedelic Bee).
And now in 1997, the band released it's sophomore release, "Floored" which brought on new fans and gave old fans the same ol' funk, hard groove that is expected from a group with the talent. Finally Sugar Ray has found a goal that they could achieve.......~Written by the Dome staff, 1997
