The Crumbsuckers

The Crumbsuckers formed in 1982 on Long Island NY where bass player Gary Meskil started the band in his hometown of Baldwin. In the very early days, they were a party band playing cover songs by such bands as Minor Threat, Bad Brains and Kraut. When it came to rehearsals and local shows they had several different vocalists who took turns singing.

In June 1983, the band recorded their first demo (at Nino Studios in Baldwin) which included a cover of Chubby Checker's "The Twist". The other songs were called "AOK", "Emil Mauer", "Kids In My School" and "Don't Like It". The lineup for the first demo consisted of Dave Brady (vocals), Dave Wynn (guitar), Gary Meskil (bass), and Dan Richardson (drums). In 1984, they added second guitarist Chuck Lenihan for a more "metallic" sound. Later that year, the band recorded a second demo at CBGB's. Included on the demo were "Just Sit There", "Charge", "Shit's Creek", " Shot Down", "Interlude", "Trapped", "Brainwashed", "Live To Work" and "Prelude". Soon after, vocalist David Brady was replaced by Christ Notaro (from another Long Island band called Krakdown). It wasn't long before several record companies offered to sign the band after witnessing their explosive live performances throughout the New York Tri-State area.

Eventually the Crumbsuckers inked a recording contract with Combat Records, and released their debut album in 1986 entitled "Life Of Dreams", which today is considered a "classic" by fans and industry alike. Their sound was riddled with powerful hardcore vocals, blazing soulful technical guitar riffs, all backed-up by the solid bass lines of Gary Meskil and furious drumming by the then 16 year old Dan Richardson. The "Crumbs" sound was unique. On "Life of Dreams" they did the impossible as they seemed to be able to take the best part of thrash metal and mix it with the best part of hardcore punk and leave all of the excess garbage out. A feat not achieved by many bands at the time. That sound was noticed and admired by fellow musicians such as Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Scott Ian of Anthrax, Phil Anselmo and Dimebag Darrell of Pantera, as well as Biohazard, Joe Satriani, and Metallica. As a matter of fact, the first half of "Life of Dreams" was pumped over the P.A. each night before Metallica hit the stage during their initial US Master Of Puppets Tour. At one CBGB's gig, Kirk Hammet of Metallica got on stage and jammed the tune "Hub Run" with the Crumbs, of course that was at a time before Metal-Heads and Hardcore fans knew how to co-exist, so it got a bit ugly (to say the least). The Crumbsuckers never limited themselves to be a New York Hardcore band. While NYHC was now gaining recognition all over the world, "Life of Dreams" was one of the few records that was adored by everyone including Metalheads, Thrashers, Skaters, Punks, Skins, as well as Hardcore kids. In many respects, Crumbsuckers paved the way for the next generation of killer bands.

In the spring of 1987, guitarist Dave Wynn left the band due to personal reasons and Matt Cardin stepped in to replace him. Unfortunately, Matt didn't stay with the band for very long and was ultimately replaced with Robert Koebler. In 1988, the Crumbsuckers released their sophomore album "Beast On My Back", which was produced by Randy Burns in L.A. and mixed by Genya Raven in Bearsville New York. Shortly after the release of the album, former Carnivore guitarist Marc Piovanetti replaced "Robbie" Koebler (who was not interested in touring with the band). In 1989, the band finally broke up shortly after consecutive successful tours of the United States and Europe in support of B.O.M.B.

After the break-up: Meskil, Piovanetti, Lenihan, and Richardson teamed up with vocalist Craig Allen to form a band called Heavy Rain, which played a more progressive style of metal similar to bands like Queensrÿche and Fates Warning. Heavy Rain disbanded in 1990, and it's members went their seperate ways. Gary Meskil and Dan Richardson went on to form Pro-Pain, Chuck Lenihan joined Genitorturers, and Marc Piovanetti went on to form Psychic Orgy along with Parris “Kevin” Mayhew (Cro-Mags). Drummer Dan Richardson eventually left Pro-Pain to join Life Of Agony and later Stereomud. The music of Crumbsuckers has relevance to this day. The band has received accolades and critical acclaim for pioneering (along with DRI, Cryptic Slaughter, COC, and others) the "80's Crossover Movement", as they were among the first to blend hardcore music with heavy metal and ultimately turn the underground on to a brand new sound.