The History of Savage
It all started with a five year old boy who loved Kiss. Matt watched MTV and loved to setup bar stools as drums and beat on them with wooden spoons and rulers. He always had a passion for music. His older brother Robert used tennis racquets and pretended to play the guitar right beside him. One day Matt’s parents told him they would buy a drum set if he would try harder in school. Matt was having problems adjusting to kindergarten in a Catholic school.
On Christmas morning of 1981 Matt found a full Ludwig drum set waiting for him. Matt started jamming on the drums right away. His dad taught Matt a basic 4/4 time beat and a few fills to get him started. Just in a few weeks Matt was playing along with his favorite records: KISS, Journey, Joan Jett, and many others. His parents saw his talent right away and decided to buy more instruments for the rest of the family to play.
Matt’s Dad Steve also had a passion for music. He played in a rock-n-roll band back in his high school years in Topeka Kansas. He played the bass guitar. The name of his band was the Young Savages. Steve also had taken guitar lessons from Kerry Livgren from the band Kansas. Steve jammed with some of the different members in Kansas before they made it big. After high school Steve married his Jr. High school sweetheart Sandy and was drafted into the Air Force. They soon moved to Wichita Kansas and had their two sons Robert (1971) and Matt (1976).
A few months after that Christmas morning in 1981, Matt and his family had learned several 50’s and 60’s rock “n” roll songs. The very first was “Louie Louie” by the Kingsmen. Steve was teaching Robert the bass guitar and working on lead guitar himself. Sandy chose to play the organ. She had some piano background and was always interested in playing an instrument. Soon the family band had a full two hours’ worth of material. This was turning into something the family never thought it would be, a full up Rock “n” Roll family group. At this point they needed to come up with a name. They chose C.C.4 which stands for the Charles Clare 4. (Charles is Steve’s first name) They were off and running as a band!
C.C.4’s first gig was for a Catholic School’s oldies dance. People were amazed with this unique four piece group that included Mom, Dad and two kids jammin’ to the Oldies. Five year old Matt looked so small behind that huge Ludwig drum set. Everyone was amazed this little guy was playing songs like Louie Louie, Gloria and Wipeout. Yes, little Matt was playing Wipeout!
Mom & Dad new they had a talented group and soon were lining up gigs all over Wichita. C.C.4 played weddings, benefit concerts, carnivals, and soon even local clubs. It was always fun when we were setting up for a gig. People that were in the audience usually were laughing and making comments to the fact that Matt & Robert were so young. They couldn’t believe these young kids could play in an adult Rock “n” Roll band. It always stopped as soon as the band kicked off their first set. Most people would usually just stare during the first couple of minutes. Soon the crowd would be dancing and having a good time. It never took long for the band and most of all little Matt to win over the crowd.
During the days of CC4 Robert and Matt’s best friends were band roadies Vance and James. They both were at all of CC4’s gigs. Steve worked with Vance and James on the bass and keyboards. Robert was also practicing on the guitar in his spare time. Soon Robert, Matt, James and Vance started to jam together on the side. Of course these four guys had a little different type of music in mind. The first song they started working on was “Smoke On The Water” by “Deep Purple”. At this point they decided to come up with a name. The only thing they could agree on was “Brat”. So a new young Hard Rock Band was born.
Vance, James, and Robert were in the 8th grade at this point. Vance and Robert were 14, James 13, and Matt was 9 years old. It was always easy to practice in those days. After school the guys would jam on C.C.4’s equipment. These four guys still did not have their own gear. By the end of the school year they had about five songs under their belt. Smoke On The Water (Deep Purple), Born To Be Wild (Steppenwolf), Iron Man (Black Sabbath), Day Of The Rocker (Twisted Sister), and Piece Of Your Action (Motley Crue). All their friends would come over to Robert’s house after school and listen to Brat jam.
During that Summer Brat played their first gig. This was at the Edgemoor recreation center’s summer talent show. Brat invited all of their friends and had a blast performing just one song. Of course it had to be “Smoke On The Water”. After all this was probably there tightest song. The gig as a whole was a very interesting experience to say the least. James had broken his leg earlier in the summer. He got out of setting up the equipment. We had to prop him up behind the keyboard with not much room for movement. We all were dressed in parachute pants, black t-shirts, bandannas, and studded leather. We still get a good laugh when looking at the pictures. It was a big thrill to play in front of so many kids. Our second gig was at yet another recreation Center’s talent show. This was at Boston Park Recreation Center. Again this was a very interesting experience. Steve basically let the four kids load up the van and setup all the equipment on their own. By the time we were done setting up, we realized we forgot a bunch of cords and power strips. Steve had to rush back to the house and gather up the remains. Brat played the same song “Smoke On The Water”. Everyone loved it! During the rest of the summer we were busy learning and writing songs.
By the time school started, (all the guys were freshmen except Matt), Brat had a new hangout. They discovered this new music store called “The Guitar Stand” owned and managed by K.B. At least two or three times a week the guys would head up to the Guitar Stand and browse the store in awe of all the new expensive guitars and amps. The guys soon became friends with K.B. and he would let the guys check out the guitars first hand. At this point Robert and James owned Hondo guitars. Both were copies, one of an Explorer and the other a Les Paul. Vance owned an Ibanez bass that was a Rickenbacker copy. All were bought at a local Pawn Shop. K.B. ended up giving the guys a trade in on three brand new Aria Pro series Guitars. Robert and James also bought a couple of Randall combo guitar amps with a single 12” speaker.
With the new equipment Brat was really excited about jamming and spent the rest of the school year learning 80’s Metal covers by their favorite bands. (Motley Crue, Ratt, Twisted Sister, Metallica, etc.) They also decided Bratt sounded too much like Ratt so they changed their name to Morning Star. During the school year the guys had hooked up with other Musicians they had met at school. Kevin Gude was a good friend who jammed with Robert regularly that year. Morning Star signed up for the 9th grade talent show at their school that was held at the end of the year and won first place with the song “Piece of Your Action”.
The first thing the band did at the beginning of the summer of 1987 was brainstorm yet for another name. This took all of about an evening during band practice. After much arguing between the four guys Steve suggested his band’s name from the past “The Young Savages”. They shortened it up to Savage and went with it. At this point Savage was ready to play a real gig somewhere. However, they weren’t sure what type of places to pursue. They thought about some of the local clubs, but since the guys were all 15 and Matt 10, were not sure the clubs would hire them. One of the big “Rock” clubs was the Echo Chamber, but just had closed recently. Robert heard about a place “The Indian Center” that occasionally held concerts with local bands and decided to give them a call. The Indian Center was holding a concert that summer to support the organization “The Federation For Rockers Rights”. Robert spoke with a promoter by the name of Bill Bushy who requested a demo tape. Savage had a two song demo tape that was recorded live at their jam house at the beginning of the summer. Steve and Robert took the demo tape to Bill Bushy. He did not believe these guys were the ages they stated they were. Bill hired Savage as an opener for a concert in June that was sponsored by the Federation For Rockers Rights. The concert was held in favor of Wichita not banning the Motley Crue Girls tour that was tentatively scheduled for later that summer. The headliner for this concert was Lectric Leather with special guests Stygian Shore and Savage. Once the other guys got the news of the gig Savage immediately started rehearsing for the big show.
The big night of Savage’s debut was here, June 21st 1987. We arrived at the Indian Center a few hours early for the pre concert party. It was spectacular! They provided a buffet of food and drinks for the bands. All the bands had there girlfriends backstage as well. The first guys we met were T-Roy and Jimmy James from Lectric Leather. These guys were cool! They were very surprised that we were so young. We told them we were going to play mostly covers: Metallica, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Crue, etc. They were an original band but also played some covers. We then met Stygian Shore. These guys were pretty cool as well. The interested thing about them was the bass player had a prosthetic right arm with a hook. He was a very good musician. He also played keyboards. They played all original material. The show went very well that night. We hung around after our performance and watched the other veteran bands. We were in awe!
That summer we played numerous gigs as our name was getting around. One of the first was at a party in Jody’s backyard. That night we met a bass player, Harvey Patrick, who at the time was playing with Fathom Nagg. We also met Mike and Nick Wells from the band Dementia. Nick filled in for Matt a few times later that year since Matt was so young it was tough to get him to play all the time.
Some of the names of the clubs we were playing at were RPP’s, Rock Island, Big Dog Soundstage, The Spot, etc. There was an organization called the EBA that hosted Jams every few weeks at some of the different clubs. One of the first that we played was at RPP’s club located on Highway 54 where the west Willie C’s is now. There we met Steve Gooding. He was ripping up the guitar on Mr. Crowley with a bunch of older guys. He was a few years older than Matt but a few years younger than the rest of us. We then played and whipped out some Poison, Motley Crue, and Ozzy. It was pretty cool because we weren’t even old enough to be in the place. The EBA was always really good about letting us in the clubs to play. Another band that we met through the EBA was Flipside. These guys were and still are the greatest! We jammed with these guys so many times over the years and they are still together.
Later that year Savage got into writing original music, heavily 80’s influenced of course. The first was Cleavage, which was always on our minds while going through puberty, then Lights Out, Baby I Want You, and Young Girls. Savage continued to jam and play opening gigs as well as hitting the blues jams around town. However, Robert and James were having more and more difficulty getting along in the band. Also, it was getting more difficult to get Matt to the club gigs since he was still only 11 years old. This put a strain on everyone.
Robert was getting into more of the heavier stuff like, Megadeth, Metal Church, Anthrax, etc. James was into Faster Pussycat, L.A. Guns, and Winger. Robert decided to jam with other people for a while. Robert met Nick Wells and then Mike Wells from the band Dementia. These guys were into some really technically talented Metal Bands like Fates Warning and Testament. Dementia at the time was in search of a Vocalist. Robert wasn’t exactly looking to be a Vocalist since he was a guitar player, but Nick talked him into trying out after hearing Robert sing Seek and Destroy. Robert spent a weekend jamming and hanging out with Dementia. The next week Robert decided to stay with Savage and work things out with James.
The summer of 88’ was definitely full of some interesting gigs.
Savage landed a couple of gigs at Big Dog Sound Stage towards then end of the year. The first was with a band called Initial Impact. These guys were great! They played heavier stuff that was all original. December 18th, 1988 the Federation For Rockers Rights sponsored another concert with multiple bands. It was held at Big Dog Sound Stage. The band lineup consisted of: Eddie Lone, Earthbound, Savage and Roxit. This happened to be on Matt’s 12th birthday. It was a wild night and was recorded by Big Dog.
Over the next couple of months the band was having problems. Robert and James were conflicting in music styles. It was getting more difficult to get Matt to the gigs due to his age. Vance was in the middle of Robert and James. Late in February Vance and James had words after a long band practice. After a while the argument turned physical. Vance and James were slugging it out. After the fight was broke up Vance took off. A week or so later Vance and Robert decided to leave Savage. Matt was having problems getting to practice. Robert was ready for something new. James was being stubborn and decided to do his own thing. The band officially broke up. The equipment was divided and everyone went their own way.
A month or so after the breakup Robert was looking for another band. He found a flyer at a local music store advertising a drummer and guitarist looking for a bassist and vocalist. Robert grabbed the flyer and called the number. Robert met with the guitarist (Rhett) and Drummer (James Bell). They jammed a couple of times to Metallica, Metal Church, and Megadeth covers. Robert decided to call Vance to jam with these guys as well. Soon the four had several covers and about eight originals finished. They came up with the name Final Prayer which included Robert on guitar and vocals, Rhett on guitar, James Bell on drums and Vance on Bass. The four started lining up gigs around town: Rock Island, Club Cabaret, local parties etc. Final Prayer then decided to get studio time and record a demo. They booked a session with Cornerstone Studios and recorded a four song demo. Shortly after the demo was released Final Prayer then booked a concert at the Emerald City Ballroom with three other bands, Mosh Impact 89’. The bands consisted of: Final Prayer, Fathom Nagg, Dead Orchestra and Dementia. This was probably Final Prayer’s biggest gig. Shortly after the gig Dementia lost one of their guitarists, Jerry Rogers. Rhett left Final Prayer and joined Dementia replacing Jerry. Final Prayer moved on and replaced Rhett with Kevin Gude. After a few months however Vance left Final Prayer. Final Prayer then auditioned a new bassist by the name of Chuck Davis who formally played with the band D.V.S. After a short period, Robert and Chuck left Final Prayer and recruited Kevin Gude for D.V.S. This only lasted a couple of weeks. Robert heard that Rhett did not work out with Dementia. Dementia was auditioning guitarists again prior to moving to San Francisco. Robert decided to audition for Dementia. After meeting with Dementia again and discussing the move to San Francisco Robert was pretty excited. However, Dementia had been working with another guitarist and made the move to San Francisco. Robert soon contacted Rhett, James B., and Vance to get Final Prayer back together. Final Prayer played a few gigs but Vance lost interest and no showed a couple of practices and an opening gig. Vance left Final Prayer. In the mean time Robert and James patched things up. Final Prayer then recruited James on bass. Final Prayer played one gig with James at yet another Bill Bushy production. This took place at Baby Dolls strip club. Final Prayer along with several other bands (Love and Rotation, Initial Impact, and a few others) played along side the strippers for a very interesting evening. Shortly after the gig Final Prayer broke up for good.
Early in 1990 Robert and James started writing songs. In early March they contacted both Vance and Matt for a jam session. Everyone got in a room and jammed for several hours. Everything just clicked like Savage had never broken up. After several months Savage had a total of about 15-20 songs written as well as an extensive cover set list. Soon they started to hit the local clubs again, Rock Island, The Spot, Silver Bullet, Etc. In May of 1990 Savage booked a session at Cornerstone Studios with Steve Falke and Greg Avery. During a weekend they recorded a four song demo that included: Built To The Tilt, The Wild, Take Me Away, and Easy Come Easy Go. Savage released two of the four songs on a demo called “A Savage Teaser”. This included “Built To The Tilt” and “The Wild”. Several hundred of the demo tapes were distributed through Yesterday Records. By the mid and into the late 1990s Savage continued to play the local Wichita club scene. Savage played the last gig of that year at a new club by the name of Taz’s opening for Scepter. Robert started College in the fall and filled in on guitar for his dad’s blues band that was playing actively around Kansas. James and Vance were concentrating on their careers. Matt moved to Haysville to start Jr. High. Then Savage took yet another break.
Over the next few years everyone was very busy with their lives therefore Savage would only get together a few times a year to play at a party or jam at one of the local clubs. Even though Savage was not actively playing gigs they were still having fun hitting the blues bars and jamming with other bands in Wichita. One of the bands that Savage became good friends with was Flipside. Matt got together with Jeff Corbit from Haysville and started another band. Matt continued to play with Jeff in multiple bands in the early to mid 90s.
Savage started gigging again in spring of 94’. They were playing at the Rock Island, Molly Mae’s, The Port Of Wichita etc. Between gigs one week Savage decided to store their equipment in James’ apartment. James left town on business for a few days. When he came home for the weekend he discovered his apartment had been broken into. All of Savage’s equipment along with James’ personal belongings had been stolen. A police report was filed but the equipment was never recovered. Savage decided to take another hiatus.
Robert and James talked about purchasing some new equipment and start playing again. Over the next few months Savage acquired some equipment and started to rehearse. Also, Savage decided to try out a fifth member. Eddie started to sing for Savage. Savage started playing around Wichita again at small clubs. Jerri’s Rock “N” Blues, Champs Bar and parties encompassed some of the venues. Another interesting thing that happened was in 2000 Savage entered their C.D. into a “Play with Steve Vai” contest that 96.3 KRZZ was hosting. The winner received VIP backstage passes to see Steve Vai at Inca hoots and the band’s guitarist would get to play several songs with Steve Vai and his band. Savage was very fortunate and won the contest. This was one of the most exciting points in Savage’s career.
Savage was invited to play at Bennigan’s St. Patrick’s day bash in March of 2001. This was an awesome event that was held on both Friday and Saturday night of that weekend and included Kansas City’s Automatics and Manhattan’s Sharky’s Groove Machine. Savage continued to gig through July of 2001. At that point Eddie decided to take a break and work on a college degree. In August of 2001 Savage was invited by the Laid Back Lounge Lizzards to perform at the first annual Lizzardpalooza outdoor dart tournament. This was a successful event that ended up becoming a yearly event that Savage continues to play. After the Lizzardpalooza gig Savage took a short break that lasted until the end of the year.
In early 2002 Savage decided to gig on a regular basis. Bookings were made and Savage played at the following clubs 2002 through the end of 2005:
Port Of Wichita
Loft 150
Lizard’s Lounge
Champs Bar and Grill
America’s Pub
River’s Edge
The Game
American Legion
Joe C Wells
Lizzardpalooza
Chilipalooza
2006
Savage kicked off 2006 with a string of gigs at their favorite local bar “The Port of Wichita”! Also, Savage started recording for the first time since the early 90s. The first song was an old original that was written by Savage back in 1990 but was never recorded “Lady Killer”. This is an old school “metal” song. Thanks to Joe Roach and FLY 92.7 for playing it on local band hour.
Savage will continue to record throughout the year. Currently Savage is digging out old originals to record that have never been recorded and plans on releasing new material in 2007.
Check out Savage’s schedule and come out to party with Wichita’s favorite party band!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!