It all started in 2017 with the acquisition of a Clavinet E7.  After having it restored, I eagerly plugged it into my Ampeg Gemini II.  Unbeknownst to me, the spring reverb and tremolo were both cranked and when I depressed the first key The Modulators was born.  I couldn’t believe how much it sounded like a surf-rock guitar.  A melody which became TP Is Coming Back In Style came out effortlessly.  Around the same time, I wanted to start a new band with my dear friend Reid Taylor (who I’ve played with in the jazz quintet The Flail since 2001.)  I never set out to start a surf-rock band or whatever kind of band we are, I just started going from where that initial spark with my Clavinet took me.  Soon I had about 8 songs or so and got offered to do a set at Nublu opening for MAST (aka Tim Conly.)  Reid and I asked Jason Loewenstein (of Sebadoh) to play drums with us.  Jason is a killer song-writer and musician and thought he would be great to play drums on these tunes.  And he was!  We did 2 shows and then Jason got busy with Sebadoh.  I had written a bunch more songs and wanted to record at my home studio in West Orange, NJ.  With Jason away, I decided to ask Kenny Grohowski to play drums.  Kenny is a total beast on the drums and one of the sweetest humans on any planet.  He learned all the songs on the spot and we recoded our first album, DRIVETIME (Chant Records) over a weekend in February 2018.  We seem to only play at The Stone (John Zorn’s venue in NYC) and I’d really like to change that.  In May 2022, John Lee (guitar) played with The Modulators and I no longer have to play the Clavinet like a jazzmaster guitar.  It was fun while it lasted.  But John Lee is way more fun.  I’ve started writing a new album for the four of us.  It’s about Ocean City, MD, hermit crabs, sturgeon moons and lasagne.  In the meantime, check out DRIVETIME and we’ll see you hopefully at a place not called The Stone.  - Brian