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Get to Know Local Band Maddness

Jeff Gill – lead vocals
Ronnie Matthews – lead guitar/backing vocals
Joe Martin – rhythm guitar/backing vocals
John “Skull” Parys – bass/backing vocals
Jamie Lane – drums/backing vocals

Website- www.myspace.com/MADDNESS

Late last year, Altoona-based band No Guarantee was at a crossroads. The band was looking to change directions. The band’s guitarist and drummer both left the band for various reasons, leaving No Guarantee looking for new members.

After a search, the band found drummer Jamie Lane. No Guarantee’s co-lead vocalist Jeff Gill recalls Jamie’s audition. “When you bring someone new in, you’re never sure of what you are going to get. But when Jamie tried out for the band there was no doubt in my mind he was the right fit. He came in and made in and made an instant impression on me.”

While the search for a guitarist continued, Jamie had contacted longtime friend and former Chain Reaction band mate Ronnie Matthews. Matthews auditioned the following week and was immediately added to the band. With a complete line up in place, the band started working on getting a set list down and by January felt good enough to open for longtime Altoona-based band Spirit Lost.

Matthews and Lane both decided to leave the band shortly afterwards because of creative differences. The band short-lived career was over.

Lane and Matthews contacted Gill and bassist John “Skull” Parys to sit in for a jam session. That jam session turned into MADDNESS.

After nearly two months of practicing and working on a set list, the band starting looking for a rhythm guitar player wanting to add a fuller sound to the band. Gill remembers, “We sounded good, but it was as if there could be more. We all agreed that adding a rhythm guitar player would do the trick.”

The band brought in Joe Martin. Martin, who is a versatile musician came in and fit right in. It was the final piece of the puzzle for the band.

Currently working on getting their music finalized to play at the end of May for a private party, the band is scheduled to officially hit area stages in June when they play at the County Line in Mount Union.

Lane, Matthews, Parys and Martin all have been part of the local music scene for a longtime. Gill, who started singing in bands while serving in the Army in Germany, is relatively new to the area music scene with No Guarantee being his first official band in over two decades.

The band is not concentrating on a certain type of music, but open to all facets of music.

“I think once you classify yourself as band to a certain type of genre, you’re locked. We don’t want that. We want to play something for everyone,” said Gill.

Do not be confused by the name. The 80s techno-punk band Madness uses one d. The band added another “D” to the name for various reasons.