The Judas Iscariot blog

This blog is about my old band The Judas Iscariot.

A quick note....this "Judas Iscariot" has absolutely NOTHING to do with the black metal band/artist of the same name. I am fully aware that THAT "Judas Iscariot" was a far more popular musical entity than we ever were....nonetheless, our Judas Iscariot - in fact - THE Judas Iscariot - was a band that was important to the 3 of us who were in it - and apparently - important to some others as well.

We were Rich, Jeff (that's me) & Aaron....we were a guitar-less 3-piece that started with a punk/hardcore foundation but incorporated elements of much "softer" sounds and - as we got further along - experimented with free-jazz as well. Improvisation was always a huge part of what we were about - no matter what the sonic textures.

We were around from late-1995 until early-1998. We played our fair share of shows and did one tour.

We recorded 59 songs over the course of those years - included on a few 7"'s, a split LP and a bunch of comps....several were completely unreleased.

We broke up 10 years ago but I will tell you that the 2+ years that I spent in The Judas Iscariot were some of the most creatively rewarding times of my life.

After years of discussion about doing a discography CD....a release whose chances of seeing the light of day seemed to diminish significantly as the years passed....it seems that a discography CD will in fact see the light of day.

This blog will not be an overly active blog as - after all - how active can a blog be about a band that broke up 10 years ago.

However - the blog will trace the progress of the discography CD....and we have even spoke about POSSIBLY doing a reunion show in order to help promote its release and....well....just for old times sake.

Any occasional thoughts or what-have-you will also be posted when the inspiration strikes.

If you at all curious about what the 3 of us are up to now....

Most notably, perhaps, Aaron & I are the Coach and the Captain, respectively, in Two Man Advantage. We're a hockey-obsessed punk rock band who have now been together for over 11 years. We've put out 3 full-lengths over that time with a smattering of other stuff along the way.

You can check us out at our main website - www.TwoManAdvantage.com - or on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/TwoManAdvantage

Aaron & I also played together in a band called Phil A. Sheo with the Goods (those who remember The Judas from back in the day may recall a band from Kalamazoo, MI called Jihad....Craig - their vocalist - was the "Phil A. Sheo" in that band....although should you find a copy of any Phil A. Sheo CDs - don't expect a band that in any way sounds like either Judas or Jihad). There were 2 Phil A. Sheo CDs....Aaron is on both of them - I was only on the second one (entitled "Grab It").

Finally....Aaron & I also did a stint in The Hudson Falcons - having played on 1 album ("La Famiglia") and a full-blown cross-country tour.

Currently, I am only playing in Two Man....while Aaron is playing in both Two Man and an incredible blues-based hard rock band - Federale - who you should definitely check out at http://www.myspace.com/federale

Rich is currently a professor in the Political Science department at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

Following the break-up of the Judas - Rich played in Countdown to Putsch who had several releases. That was followed by Fire & Flux - a freejazz duo. Due to geographical distance between its 2 members, F&F seem to be on hiatus - however - their website is still current and you can check it out here - http://www.fireandflux.com

Rich currently plays in End Times Trio - they have a CD out - and you can check out their MySpace page here - http://www.myspace.com/endtimestrio

Thanks for your interest....feel free to comment & I will certainly try to respond when time permits.