Bellyfeel: The True Story Sometimes, what appears to be the truth, the genuine article, the “real deal”, turns out to be nothing more than the work of a creative mind, the input of some seriously influential people and a formidable amount of financial backing. Apparently fans of United States of America based band “Bellyfeel” have been following, not a rock band, but an assembly of actors pretending to be musicians, rock stars if you will, and nothing more. In the winter of 1995, producer Gabe Doiron had a vision of creating a stage production about a group of musicians struggling to find their fame in the world, mistakenly relying on sheer talent as opposed to sheer luck to reach the pinnacle of stardom. He roughed a general concept of the performance piece and sent a copy of the script to friend and confidant Steve Hidgon (who would later be cast as engineer/producer in the final version) and scheduled meetings to discuss casting the main characters. Throughout the process Doiron kept referencing the mentality of music fans, political followers and religious believers that would except nearly anything from their heroes instead of recognizing their failures, falsehoods, or misguidance. He remembered a book he read in school (“1984” by George Orwell) and choose the name Bellyfeel as the title of the band in his production. By Orwell’s definition... Bellyfeel; blind enthusiastic acceptance. It was the perfect name for the perfect farce. Actual production began in early 1996 with a chance meeting of Doiron and philosophy major Timothy Gebauer at the downtown branch of the St. Louis library. Gebauer was doing research on blueberries for his friend, photographer Danny Hommes. At the point that they met, Gebauer had been entertaining the idea of learning to play guitar mostly for his own pleasure to reduce the stress of his day to day life. When Doiron asked if he played a musical instrument, Gebauer with all his arrogant self confidence replied by saying that he was a very accomplished guitarist and would be indeed be interested in discussing the possibility of becoming part of the production. From this one casual conversation, Doiron felt that he had found his central character. All that was left to do was build a cast around Gebauer and begin rehearsals. As part of the preproduction process, Doiron had acquired space above the (soon to be opened) City Museum in downtown St. Louis. The space was quite rough and genuinely fit the low budget rehearsal space criteria that many up and coming bands are fond of utilizing. The same building was also being used by another group known as Bonner Wells which featured an outstanding young guitarist named Mike Speckhard. Listening to the distinctive style of Speckhard’s guitar work through the vibrant walls of the warehouse was inspiring to Doiron (yet intimidating to Gebauer) and soon the second guitarist was convinced to join the ensemble. Speckhard was an interesting individual with a passion for the dramatic and was, coincidentally enrolled in theatrical studies at COCA under the direction of performance artist Marlon Monroe. As the three spent time together discussing the finer points of life as a rock musician, Doiron began to believe that his vision of a long term performance piece that would replicate the struggles of a talented group of players was actually beginning to appear. And yet, two guitarists were just the icing on the cake of rock. Something was missing and it was obvious to everyone. While looking for a drummer and bass player to complete the Standard Rock Band lineup, Doiron began working on the music. He choose to compose in the style of industrial rock which was popular at the time and his first completed work was titled “Swallow”, recorded at his studio in Dupo, Il. Originally, Doiron had planned to have the band rehearse a collection of songs and then book an appearance at a local venue like “1227” but then he read an article about a music conference in Memphis, TN and thought that might be a good way to launch the new group. He packaged a tape of “Swallow” along with a photograph of Gebauer wrapped in industrial black clothes and accessories, sent it off to the “Crossroads Music Festival” and waited for a reply. At the same time, 105.7 The Point, then a new station in St. Louis, was beginning to promote local music in the form of a CD collection known as Point Essentials. Doiron decided to this too would be a good way to introduce the band to St. Louis and sent a second package of material to DJ Alex Luke who was coordinating the Point’s efforts. To the surprise of everyone except Doiron, “the band” was accepted for both the festival and the first Point Essential collection. While the CD didn’t require an actual band, the music festival did and Doiron would need to cast the rest of the band quickly in order to fulfill the promise of rock and present the band in Memphis. Still no drummer and no bass player, but he did have a plan for using Steve Higdon in the role of engineer and so there were now 3 cast members and one producer. During a late night writing session that included all active members of the production, Higdon mentioned a photographer friend that might be of value to promoting the band. As it turned out he was referring to Danny Hommes who was also a friend of Gebauer’s. A few days later Doiron called Hommes to discuss some location options and style concepts for the photo session. The two met at Arcelia’s Cantina to brainstorm, but ended up discussing the finer points of Doiron’s concept. Several margaritas later, Doiron scribbled Hommes’ name down as drummer and returned to his office with a plan to transform the photographer into Bellyfeel’s third member. With just 3 weeks before the trip to Memphis and “Swallow” getting regular airplay on the Point, Doiron decided it was time for a full rehearsal. For creative and logistical reasons, the decision was made to move forward without an official bass player. Doiron planned on using a digital tape system to enhance the sound of the band from the beginning, but now expanded that concept to completely replace the bass player. In addition to having the bass parts on tape, drum loops where also used extensively to cover up the inadequacies of Hommes’ drumming. While Speckhard was quite capable of executing all of Doiron’s guitar parts, it was agreed that the music would contain no guitar solos so that Gebauer would appear comfortable as singer and guitarist. In the warehouse at the City Museum, the band and crew met several times a week working diligently on each aspect of the performance. Doiron proved to be a great director and coach. He routinely video taped rehearsals and then critiqued each members actions, attitudes and posturing. In May of 1995 the band loaded the ADAT, drums, amps, guitars and some of Doiron’s special effects into Hommes’s Dodge van and headed for Memphis. The show began will little fanfare, except for the dozen friends that made the trip south to see the opening night. Sitting in the back of the club, Doiron was satisfied with the first nights performance, but knew he had many more months of work in front of him. He still had to present the band to the St. Louis audience where things would be much tougher because each member lived and worked in the area. It had been decided early on that the players would each use their real names as it would have been virtually impossible to alter the identity of each individual. So Gebauer continued to work at the library, Speckhard took at job at a butcher shop, Hommes started a digital imaging business, and Higdon actually became an audio engineer at the premier recording studio in St. Louis. More rehearsals and individual instructions were scheduled over the next few months and then it was time to play a show. Doiron had couched Gebauer on how to manage a band and Tim had successfully booked a date at the Other World in downtown St. Louis. The Point was playing the single and even the RFT (Riverfront Times) had mentioned the band on a few occasions. The show at the Other World went much better than the Memphis gig and the band really actually started to play as a unit. Some members of the audience would occasionally express dismay regarding the lack of bass player, but Gebeaur’s commanding stage presence and Speckhard maniacal guitar playing convinced the masses that Bellyfeel was indeed the real deal and headed for greatness. A series of great shows followed with Gebeaur managing to get the band slots opening for Filter, God Lives Underwater, 1000 Mona Lisas, Econoline Crush, and the first ever show for Gravity Kills another St. Louis band featured on the Pointessential disc. Frequently, audience members would ask why the band didn’t have a bass player, but no really questioned the bass parts on ADAT at every show. As Doiron was always interested in fine tuning all aspects of the stage show, he hired DJ Hugs (Paul) to fill out the stage and contribute additional grooves and samples. Hugs performed with the group for some 18 months before moving to Seattle with girlfriend and chef Missy. Shortly after the departure of DJ Hugs, Doiron cast Chris Burke as player, but after a couple of years, Burke (also a real musician) just couldn’t come to terms with the fact that most of the musicians in the band could barely play and that the entire concept wasn’t about rock, but drama. Not his thing, and so Chris moved on to other endeavors. Frustrated with his inability to maintain a solid lineup (short of Gebauer, Speckhard and Hommes) Doiron took matters literally into his own hands and cast himself as the new bass player for Bellyfeel. By this time all of the regular cast members had come to appreciate the directors sense of timing, humor and business. It was a perfect fit. The ADAT continued to be a part of the shows, but gradually more songs were introduced that were performed entirely by the musicians on stage. At first there was some trepidation about whether Hommes would be able to keep time without the mechanical aid of the click track, but the others had grown confident enough to break the cord as it were and perform like a real rock band. In early 2002 things started to unravel for the show; Gebauer insisted on writing his own songs, while Speckhard was consistently demanding that he be given the opportunity to play more solos even though his overblown style of guitar theatrics was dated at best. And Hommes, who had grown to despise Doiron for his constant references to other “great” drummers was ready to walk away from the entire project. He was however bound to a contractual agreement that would not allow him to perform before any kind of live audience which included community theater which was actually his greatest passion. For 18 months the band/show struggled to pay the bills and find some much needed motivation. Fewer shows were booked. The song writing stopped. Recording sessions were limited to quick demos of jam sessions. In general the band ceased to exist in the eyes and ears of the St. Louis music scene. After long hours of costly sessions with attorneys and accountants it was finally agreed that New Years Eve, 2004 would be the band’s last performance. On some levels the project was a huge success. On others, a sad truth about the music business and all its trappings. To the credit of all concerned however, no one, not even some of the band’s closest allies ever realized what lay beneath the surface. The fans in particular accepted Bellyfeel with the kind of blind enthusiasm usually reserved for members of religious cults and political parties. And so on that level, it was perfect. While it lasted.