Ugly Radio Rebellion was originally formed in July 2002 as a Detroit, MI band known as Uncle Meat. Guitarist Scott Schroen felt inspired to start a project consisting of everyone and anyone capable of playing the music of Frank Zappa. An ad was placed in the local paper simply stating, “musicians wanted to perform the music of Frank Zappa” and so ensued a few weekends of what was later dubbed, “Zappa Survivor”. Groups of musicians would essentially drill selected pieces during rehearsal and later everyone would vote on who they think should stay for the next round. After a few no-shows, a few driven to quit by musical intimidation and a collection of other circumstances, the few that were left from the ‘survivor’ sessions ultimately became the lineup for Uncle Meat. The project performed FZ around the greater Detroit area until the last show on FZ’s birthday, December of 2003. With only a few adjustments, Uncle Meat was disbanded and Scott Schroen and Preston Parish reformed the project as…

UGLY RADIO REBELLION

CRAWL was born out of a set break at a Chicago jazz venue, when the three musicians backing a great local jazz vocalist decided that they really enjoyed each other’s unique approach, and wanted to advance that into a setting that actually highlighted each of their unique playing abilities to create an original, instrumental project. Of course, as any musician knows, talk like this is always present on gigs – its usually a great way to seal the deal on a networking opportunity in order to make sure the calls keep coming. Well, this one only took a year of talk before it was put into action.

Three powerhouse Chicago musicians adding yet another project to their roster seemed a daunting task, but as the planets aligned in some supportive fashion, a rehearsal, and then another took place. After only a few rehearsals a show was booked and CRAWL was presented to the public. The response was overwhelming, including high kudos from some of Chicago’s most prominent fusion players, as well as bartenders and non-musicians. Even the soundman loved it! So now the band is real and ready to share their music with the rest of the world.

CRAWL is comprised of composer, and keyboardist extraordinaire Paul Mutzabaugh playing exclusively Wurlitzer in this band, bassist and composer Chris Clemente, and drummer/percussionist Rich Stitzel. Three totally different backgrounds, one ridiculous sounding instrumental trio. This band has super high energy, very deep grooves, and incredible polyrhythmic interaction in an improvisational approach to original, structured compositions.