Dogpark - part 1 (1992-1994)

This really should be a separate website altogether, as there is much to tell in the story of Dogpark, and tons of songs, artwork and photos to go along with it. Perhaps eventually, but for now I’ll try and keep this somewhat contained. After Mike Thompson and Jeff Baker left The Other, Sherri and I carried on writing and recording songs as a duo. Our first project was a 4-song demo we recorded at the home studio of Terry Carleton in Mountain View. Terry was an old friend of ours from the Arms and Legs days, and is one of the best drummers I have ever heard. However, he stuck to engineering and co-producing for this project, and we used programmed drums for the tracks. A year later it was time for another recording. This one was done at Session Kat Studios in Sunnyvale, right next door to TRS where Arms and Legs had recorded so many years before. Session Kat was run by Tim Vandenberg, who was playing drums in Go Man Go, a cover band Sherri was in. Tim played drums on a couple tracks. TRS was owned by Scott Smith, formerly of Giraffe, and he also played drums on a couple tracks. Scott Cook, a previous Go Man Go drummer played on one track, and a friend of mine from college, Mike Freitas played on another track. Mike was in a band called Dot3, and his guitarist Ken Schick played clarinet on one track. Bass was played by Lisa Alberto, whom Sherri had met while playing in her cover band. Additionally Gene Siegel from Go Man Go sang backup, and even Robert Ferris from the Arms and Legs days got into the act, playing bass on one track. This was a full album demo, and it was the catalyst that got us recognized by the music industry. Tim decided to join the group as our drummer; Sherri adopted the stage name Stanlee, and we changed the name of the band to Dogpark. Around this time Sherri made the decision to move to Los Angeles in order to shop the album and to network with local musicians, notably Bay Area expat Kevin Gilbert, formerly of Giraffe and Toy Matinee. He and Sherri had been friends for several years, and Kevin now had his own solo record deal with indie label PRA records. After much soul-searching I too decided to make the move to LA; a bittersweet decision as it meant leaving Apple Computer, where I had enjoyed 8 years working in Facilities. Sherri moved to Burbank in February 1994 with her friend Jody Bowen, and I followed suit in June, moving into an apartment right behind Sherri with Jody’s boyfriend Bret Domrose.