Lorenzo Von Hofler II

Bass

Paul Johannes

Flute, Soprano/Alto/Tenor Saxophones and Keyboards

Darien Martus

Vocals, Backing Vocals, Guitars and Keyboards

Peter May

Drums and Percussion

Dan O'Connor

Acoustic and Electric Guitars

Darien Martus Describes how the Band was Formed. 

When I first began working on the recording of Rockaxeon, I reached out to my life-long friend, Paul Johannes, who had played on my album, "Side Trip", by way of remote recording and the sending of sound files back and forth from Michigan to California.  He created the terrific flute, saxophone and horn tracks you hear on "Conceive" and "Rockaxeon".  A few months later, I started a conversation with Peter May, a drummer I have worked with since our college years, about the possibility of adding drums to the recording.  We did some experimentation with how this could work remotely, since he was living in Georgia at the time.   

Then, in 2019, I made a decision to bring us together for a week of sessions in Detroit instead of trying to make the remote thing work.  I also reached out to Lorenzo Von Hofler II, a bass player that I have known and played with since we were teenagers!  Lorenzo, Peter and I had been a band during and after my college years, as well as playing together on many music projects over the course of our lives. And lastly, I asked Dan O'Connor, a pro guitarist I'd also known since college and who had played on some of my earliest music projects, to join us in the Detroit sessions.  Since Rockaxeon is so much a guitar written piece, I really needed a player with the breadth of skills he possesses.   

We spent a week together in a house in Southfield, just outside of Detroit, in a beautiful woodland area and several acres.  Making this music together was one of the highest times of my life.  Our common history and friendship shines through the recording I think, and has become the sound of this record.