Eight Days Gone 'Silence to the Naysayers' album

"We're not a bunch of idiots and drunks," says Neill Steinke, singer-songwriter for Eight Days Gone.

"We're just really nice guys who have different influences and a different musical maturity than the teenage angst-ridden rock being shoved down the public's throat. This is a time and a generation looking for what we're doing--guitar rock that's soulful, sincere and intimate, that goes beyond the surface and makes a connection."

For this band from off the beaten path, Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley (the biggest city being Allentown), the road to their second independent album, "Silence To The Naysayers" (Ragin' Grace/Titan Entertainment) has been a struggle. The band has lost money, lost time, lost relationships and, in one case, nearly lost fingers. "Some in the music industry just don't get it. But we know we have something special," says Steinke, "and we didn't give up."

So often music isn't felt, it's simply heard. Well, not this time, not with this group. Eight Days Gone is for fans who want more than sugar, are ready to grow up, and want the real thing, a band with accomplished musicians and a truly great voice. Ironically, the man producing this singer-songwriter-meets-modern-rock band is Joe Smith, the Orlando-based producer/engineer whose name appears on albums that have sold a combined 100 million copies. "He's wanted to do a record like this for a long time" says Steinke. "He believes in what we're doing and called in lots of favors for us. If we had been signed to a major label instead of making the album we wanted to make, we might have made what's already been done a million times. We make music because we love it."

"Silence To The Naysayers" follows a pair of self-produced efforts, 2002's "In The Absence Of Subtlety" (an album produced, recorded and paid for entirely by the band) and 2003's "303 Sessions" EP, drawing favorable comparisons to the likes of Coldplay, Pearl Jam, Matchbox 20, Radiohead, Counting Crows and R.E.M. But EDG echoes much earlier influences. "When I'm influenced, it's by a Van Morrison or a Cat Stevens," Steinke says. "It's kind of folkie storytelling but with a heavy, moody atmosphere and some poetry on top. Living at the base of a mountain and recording their first tracks in a studio built by Steinke and drummer John Zadeh in a renovated trailer, EDG's seclusion has allowed the band members the freedom to create something new and fresh. Neither Steinke nor the band has ever played covers ("I'd rather work in an office," says the singer) so EDG has often been relegated to the "Tuesday-night-at-midnight" slot. "Silence To The Naysayers" is in-your-face music to the doubters. "It's tough; you get beat up and feel insignificant," says Steinke. "But now these same people hear the album and say, `we knew you could do it.' You know what say? A winner has a thousand fathers, a loser is a bastard child".

Actually, none of the band members were born in Pennsylvania: Neill (named after Neil Diamond, believe it or not) was born in Seattle, Zadeh in New Mexico, bassist Gary Bonneau in Brooklyn, and lead guitarist Steve Miceli in Delaware. Steinke moved 24 times until he was in the ninth grade and his family finally settled in the Lehigh Valley. By that time, the one-time drummer had picked up his mother's acoustic guitar and began writing songs. The year he graduated high school was the same year grunge exploded. "At the time, I was into hard rock and metal. Grunge was really punk but still melodic and sincere. It changed my mind about music."

That same year he met Zadeh, who only recently had moved to the area. One of eight children, Zadeh had competed for attention by playing the drums since he was nine-years old. It was he who, after accidentally hearing a tape of Steinke singing, suggested that the then-rhythm guitarist become a vocalist. When Steinke moved to Wisconsin, Zadeh moved with him. "Music has been the demise of many relationships for me," says Zadeh. "Whenever it was a choice between the two, I chose music." They maxed out their credit cards and took loans so they could buy recording equipment and build a studio. "That really pushed us ahead," says Steinke. "We honed our skills there instead of playing in a garage."

In 1999, they returned to Pennsylvania and Steinke moved back in with his family for two years. "We put it all on the line financially," he recalls. "I've gone broke three times. Also mentally it's a challenge: `Is this the direction for my life?' I come from a great family and have a good life. But music is part of who I am; it's what I should be doing. That's why we've made so many sacrifices and feel that God has blessed us many times over."

Also back in 1992, Zadeh played with Gary Bonneau but they lost contact with each other. One night several years on, a disillusioned Bonneau was about to quit music when Zadeh called asking if he could join them in the studio. "Soon as I heard the songs," says Bonneau, "angels started singing. This is the kind of band I had dreamed about being in; one that made music like those that touched me when I was a kid, like the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and especially, The Beatles."

Then, in 2001, the band's bassist bad boy hacked up three fingers on his left hand while sawing wood flooring. "I thought my dream had shattered. I had no insurance; I couldn't work. It took eight months to recover. The accident happened because I needed to be grounded; it made me think about how important it was to be faithful to who I wanted to be. I worked really hard, locked myself in my room and played. I learned that it wasn't about how much you played, but what you play, about the groove. Then I told the guys I was ready to come to practice." When recording "In The Absence Of Subtlety", the engineer didn't even know parts of his fingers were missing.

Unfortunately, just as the album (with a different lead guitarist) hit the stores, its indie label went belly up. The band members went back to their day jobs. Miceli, meanwhile, had been in another band on the label and Steinke liked what he heard. A first-generation son of Italian immigrants, Miceli grew up in Orange County, California before returning to Wilmington, Delaware where he was born. "I was 13 and it was hard to make friends. So one day I sat in my room and tried to learn to play guitar. Six hours later I was hooked--it came naturally to me--and within four months I was playing bars and clubs."

Miceli later recorded guitar instrumentals a la Joe Satriani and attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he discovered Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton. "I have everything Clapton's ever released. Sitting in the 10th row at the Spectrum watching him play changed my life. I found that making one note say 20 things is hard to do but not impossible if you're willing to put in the time." Back home, he taught guitar at a music store. When Miceli's band broke up, Steinke called and asked him to join EDG.

"We're not that tortured, we don't suck our thumbs," adds Steinke. "I think fans can relate to our band. The songs are very personal to me but others can relate them to their own lives. They know this band is approachable, our fans come up and say, `dude, I love your music".

Eight Days Gone have surely paid their dues. Only last summer, Steinke, Zadeh and Bonneau were laying landscaping stone so they could get out of debt. "We were all lucky to find each other because magic happens when we're together," says Bonneau. "After all the hard work and letdowns, the world is finally going to hear what we can do."

Tomorrow has finally arrived for Eight Days Gone.

MEMBERS
Neill Steinke (vocals, guitar)

John Zadeh (drums)

Gary Bonneau (bass)

Steve Miceli (lead guitar)

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Eight Days Gone - Silence to the Naysayers