Here is the story of Harley and 108:
In 1995 108 returned from a US Tour with Bloodlet and Coalesce and entered Salad Day studios to record an EP for EVR. The recording session quickly became a disaster because the drumming was an utter train wreck. We quickly decided to throw out the session with the exception of Arctic, which appeared on the Anti Matter comp, and that we would have to figure out a way to get someone else to play on the record. A few days later we headed off to Europe and while there we decided that we would clean up and finish a few songs that were almost completed and just record an entire LP as well as to contact other drummers about playing on the next record since we didn't think the current drummer could pull it off. It sucked because we really liked the dude and he was still in the band but realistically it had to happen.
When we got back from tour Triv and I had dinner with John Stanier (Helmet), who was an old friend of Triv's, about him playing on the 108 record. When we got into details it was clear that his schedule and our schedule didn't work out. As Triv and I left Zen Palate Triv decided we should contact Harley about playing drums on the record. I chuckled and that was that. A few days later we learned that our drummer had disappeared so there was no question of our need to find a drummer quick.
Two weeks later Triv tells me that the two of us are gonna jam with Harley. We had a show coming up in a few weeks and had no drummer so... why not? I head over to a rehearsal space and when I walk in Harley and Triv are laying into Invocation.
Dude is going fucking crazy with his shirt off, covered in sweat, his arms flailing in every direction, legs pumping the double bass like a fucking jackhammer and he is screaming at the top of his lungs as he is playing the song. Harley looked like Animal, from The Muppet Show, and played with a ferocity that I had rarely ever seen before. Dude was spot on. When the song ended we chatted for a few minutes and then he laid into When Death Closes Your Eyes and a few other tunes and it was absolutely fucking sick. I couldn't fucking believe how amazing he sounded. Sure it was a bit sloppy but the potential was fucking insane. It was surreal.
After he went through like 6 or 7 songs he starts talking:
This fucking record will be amazing. We will be fucking huge and unstoppable. He then went on to describe, in detail, how much havoc we would cause together for like 10 minutes.
I explain that after the recording and next tours that the band will break up as Vic wants to be a monk. "Fuck that, we will not break up after we record this record. Krishna wants us to destroy the earth and no one will stop us." Um, okay.
Then he asks what our touring and recording time lines were and I explain the dates, etc.
Finally he starts going off again about the havoc we will cause. Then he asks "Seriously I have been listening to these demo's for two weeks. Why the fuck did you want to get rid of this drummer? He is fucking incredible. It took me weeks just to figure out what he is playing and how to pull it off." He then pulls this fucking Fishers Price boom box out of his bag, you know one of those little boom boxes with a microphone for kids to sing in, and plays a part of When Death Closes Your Eyes and then he pauses it and starts to play that same part. "That is almost fucking impossible! Why the fuck would you not want this dude on the record?". I then inform him that the drums on the entire demo were done by drum machines. He stares at me with this look of disbelief. "You motherfuckers".
Triv and Harley jam for another 40 minutes or so and seriously I couldn't get over how fucking good he was and how ferocious those songs sounded. Having known him casually for a few years and knowing all of the stories about him I still seriously considered saying fuck it and giving it a whirl with him playing drums for 108. I mean, fuck.
When practice ended my we were walking in the same direction as Harley. Dude starts talking about his wife and kid and it is seriously fucking cute and heartwarming. He tells us about how much of a fuck up he has been, how many people he has hurt and what he is doing to turn around his life. He then says that doing this record could be something that really turns around his life spiritually and shit. Fuck, how can I not have this dude play drums?
As we get to Avenue C he all of a sudden changes the topic into John Joseph as John hung out at this little Krishna place by there. All of a sudden Harley pulls out a fucking serrated 12 to 14" knife and describes how if he sees John he will kill him.
Needless to say we decided that as amazing as the dude sounded playing our songs that we would probably be better to go in another direction.
