Vocals: Darren Lee Richardson
Guitar: Alex Muhanoff
Bass: Ken Peterson
2020 - 2023
Syne Wave was a progressive hard rock band based in the East Bay of Northern California, near San Francisco. It was formed in July 2019, at the start of the pandemic. When I joined Alex and Ken they were working with a drummer, Russ Gaefe, as auDio ARK. When the pandemic hit and everyone was in lockdown, the four of us had just finished producing the nine songs they were working with, but now with my vocals. Russ used to have a recording studio so he mixed and mastered those nine songs.
The four of us created Certified and Dishwasher together. These were the first songs where I had creative control over the lyrics and contributed to the arrangement of the songs. As a singer, I experienced more growth in this band. They allowed me the room to find a stronger and more consistent voice. I learned to respect and control my style more with this band than any previous band. Shortly after, Russ chose to leave the band.
The three of us created Syne Wave and then wrote and produced three other songs, then released a fourteen-song album, Function Over Form, in January 2020. The album was received well. I created live-action lyric videos for each of the songs.
Unfortunately, the pandemic kept us from ever playing live together as Syne Wave. We tried to pull something back together in 2024, but life had changed too much to keep anything consistently happening, so Syne Wave ended slowly and quietly.
Vocals: Darren Lee Richardson
Guitar: Alex Muhanoff
Bass: Ken Peterson
Drums: Russ Gaefe
2018 - 2020
I joined auDio ARK in early 2018 on the callback from the first audition. The progressive musicianship of these guys was very attractive and took me in another musical direction, especially as a singer. It was a forty-five minute, one-way commute for me, but I felt their music was definitely worth it. I worked hard to be confident with their material.
We got along great and they gave me the freedom to explore my voice with their music and add my signature to it. I was able to grow vocally with these guys because of this. I will always be grateful for this as I have carried those lessons into my future projects as well.
We were able to play live at the Castro Valley Fall Festival in 2018. I did not know it at the time, but it would be my last live performance, as of this writing at least.
After learning their nine songs they had been working on, we added three more songs , two were the first songs where I contributed lyrics and arrangement contributions, solidifying us a collective writing band.
When the pandemic hit, we tried to work remotely with some success, finishing studio productions of the twelve songs. Sadly, the drummer parted ways from a creative dispute and the remaining three of us went on to create Syne Wave.
Vocals/Guitar: Darren Lee Richardson
Guitar: Mike Overton
Bass: Steve Ohde
Wayne Walker
Harvey Jett
Drums: Ben Peterson
Eric Ross
Jim Maxwell
2016- 2019
Rockhenge was a straight-ahead, classic hard-rock band based in the East Bay of Northern California, pretty much in my stomping grounds growing up. It started with me creating an online ad for musicians looking for musicians sometime in 2016. Ben and Mike were the first to respond and we later added Steve.
We started playing local clubs and bars in 2017 and ultimately became regulars at the Castro Valley Fall Festival and performed at the Alameda County Fair as well. We did shows with Bands4Bands and other local promoters and were starting be known within our local areas. Our first CVFF show was an energetic release for me as it had been years since I played live. The video above is from that show. It almost didn't happen as we had to replace the bass player just two months before this show, our first big event.
Although the catalog we played was mostly my songs and some songs that Mike introduced, Mike and I began writing together and created three original Rockhenge songs before disbanding. After the band ended, Mike and I created an EP, Sons of the Henge, of the three songs we wrote together. I really miss working with Mike, and Ben as well.
The band broke up during a difficult time in my life. Dad had just passed, Mom was quickly leaving my childhood home, and my dog had a terminal brain tumor. During that time I made a regrettable, quick decision that I thought was the right decision and was helping someone related to the band, but I was mistaken. The related bandmember tried to use that to take the band from me. I chose to walk. The stress was unnecessary, and forgiveness and understanding was not on the table. Ultimately, the pandemic would have crushed this band anyway.
Vocals/Guitar: Darren Lee Richardson
Guitar: Matt Rowley
2014- 2016
One Night Jitters was my first step back into playing with other musicians again. I was using JamKazam to connect with people online and have some jam sessions. At some point, I put out an ad looking for musicians who wanted to jam online and possibly get out and do some open mics at some local bars or clubs. That is how I met Matt Rowley, an Englishman living in San Francisco.
We agreed to a rehearsal schedule and met once a week on JamKazam. We played a handful of my songs and got to know each other until we decided to get out and play. There was a small music club/bar that was doing them in Livermore. I had been going there occasionally and playing with the house band with my acoustic and getting to know the guy who ran the events, Channing Heath, who asked me to return after the first open mic I did at this club.
Channing let us come whenever we wanted and made sure we got on at a reasonable time. He was also the bass player for the house band and learned a handful of my songs and would play them with Matt and myself. Sometimes he would get the house drummer to play with us, but mostly we played along with my Beat Buddy that I programmed to drum for my songs. We were also invited to play at Channing's birthday bash.
I look back on these days very fondly. It was great jamming and playing with Matt and we actually started looking for a bass player to turn us into a band, but ultimately, he had to go back to the UK due to work situations. I was sad at this sudden change, but we agreed to meet for one last in-person rehearsal. He filmed and I made some fun videos from that footage.
Vocals/Guitar: Darren Lee Richardson
Guitar/Bass/Drums: Steve Murray
2007 -2009
The Cyberphonics was a purely internet band; me in the US and Steve in the UK. This project was my first worldwide collaboration.
In 2007, I performed at a company event on a stage that was setup in our parking lot. Back then I would perform just about anywhere. I had a song called Picnic Interlude that was an instrumental for me to get my guitar solo on. I had videotaped the event and put that song on the internet. In those days, that was MySpace. Steve saw my video and contacted me to see if I was interested in collaborating. I said sure and we started working on some songs and started a MySpace for The Cyberphonics.
We ended up creating two songs, To My Face and Lights Out, and Steve put them up on the internet. And yes, it took us over a year to get that done. I didn't really know what I was doing yet with home recording, so the learning curve was high. I recall they seemed to do well on those sites, but alas, I cannot find these sites or songs online anymore. Nothing comes up even in a Google search, so they seem to be lost to history. There does seem to be other bands with that name, however.
After chatting with Steve, he was able to get me the final cuts of the two songs we did together. I updated them a little with some mastering software I have. You can click the video above to hear one of them and go to the YouTube playlist to find the other if interested. We've talked about doing other songs, but still haven't kicked anything off.
Vocals/Guitar: Darren Lee Richardson
Guitar: John Real
Bass: Seth Young
Drums: Steve Loicano
1995 - 1996
Rush Hour was the first band I set out to start on my own and was based at my house in the East Bay where I built my soundproof studio/rehearsal space in the two-car garage.. I was looking for interested musicians that were outside of my known musical circle. I wanted to break away from a trajectory that did not seem to be a working path for me at the time. Although nothing came of the recordings, this would be the first band that I would go into a pro studio.
For the most part, the catalog we played was my music. Prior to the demise of the band, John and Seth contributed an original each that I recall, and Steve encouraged some covers that we would play at shows. John's song Blue Dream was a favorite of mine. He had the guitar music and would let me play with the vocal melody, but did not have finished lyrics at first. He offered to let me finish them, but I told him since it was about his son, he should finish them, and he did. It was amazing. I always wanted to do a studio recording of that one.
We played gigs around the East Bay and were received well from what I recall. I learned a lot about booking gigs and managing a band, which wasn't my favorite part of being in a band. I think that was my biggest weakness of being in a band, and looking back, had I pursued that business side more seriously and effectively, perhaps one of my bands could have broken through to larger audiences.
The band ultimately broke up after getting married then moving ten miles (sixteen minute drive) to the east. That proved to be more difficult to the other band members than one would have predicted. I ended it due to the stress of having to do so much for the band and then having my life changes be met with the contention I did not think it deserved.
I started working on my studio recording knowledge and skills. Three years later my son came along. I would not be in another full, gigging band for twenty years.
Vocals/Guitar: Darren Lee Richardson
Vocals/Guitar: Lonny Foster
Bass: Don Ago
Drums: Jerry Johnson
1994 - 1995
Aces Wild was my first band as a guitarist/singer. Reunited with Lonny Foster, a friend and co-member of my first band, Seducer, we put out an ad and found Don and Jerry to create a very diverse, hard-rocking band.
We were semi-regulars at the local clubs, Club Kaos in Fremont being one of the bigger ones at the time. We did play some parties as well, a Halloween party that stick out in my mind was one a fun one.
We were featured on a local cable network show in Newark, California, called Video Newark. The host was a friend of the drummer. We got great video from that and it was a great experience for an up and coming band.
This band had a lot of potential. It had great, original rock songs, very relevant for the time. Lonny and I were the key songwriters, although Don did introduce one of his as well. We never got to play that one live, but I had a lot of fun rehearsing it.
I regret not having enough business sense and emotional fortitude to keep this band together. I think it had a reasonable shot at gaining a broader audience. Ultimately, this band ended in large part because of my lack of business sense and emotional fortitude. There was dissent and issues with one member of the band, some valid points, however, not all were valid. The decision to not talk it out and try to move forward, rather than make decisions outside of that member's purview was not healthy or mature. Looking back, I learned a lot about myself in this moment. Not knowing what I know now, about the business and myself, is one of my biggest musical regrets.
Vocals/Bass: Darren Lee Richardson
Vocals/Guitar: Dave Goodrich
Drums: Gerry Johnston
1989 -1991
Mankind was a hard-rock power-trio. It was also the first band where I was the more the front man. I partnered with former bandmate and guitarist from Seducer, Dave Goodrich. We had this agreement when forming the band, although he did do some vocals anyway. Gerry Johnston, from the bay area band Wizard at the time, joined us and his amazing drumming, along with Dave's affluent guitar style is what held us together as a trio.
I wrote Rock Dog while in this band and it became a favorite in all my bands after this one, and Dave's riff is still part of that song. Dave gave me leeway, at least in the beginning, to write lyrics and sing for new stuff that he was bringing into the band, so Look Who's Laughing Now and Mankind were born of that collaboration.
We didn't do a lot of gigs, unfortunately, due to the path this band went on. We did a local pizzeria club and an amazing party in my backyard. The cops came and shut us down before the last two songs could be played, but we shook hands and called it a show. My neighbor across the street was a retired local cop. Because of that, we played seventeen songs of a nineteen song setlist, otherwise, the cops would have shut us down sooner.
The band broke up because Dave was unhappy about the direction, that being me as the singer, mostly. He pushed to have us join his friends and make the band a four-piece with a new singer. I would go on second guitar and not sing anymore. I showed up for one practice in his friend's studio, and was a no-show for the second, choosing to walk. It was a tough decision, but I was proud that I would not give up my personal direction to be in the back of someone else's band, that used to be mine.
As it turns out, Dave's "friend" ended up dropping him from that band which exposed his ultimate desire to poach our drummer, Jerry. Another life lesson; from then on, I would never be pushed to the back of the band again.
Vocals/Bass: Darren Lee Richardson
Vocals/Guitar: Lonny Foster
Vocals/Guitar: Dave Goodrich
Drums: Michael Stephens
1984 - 1987
Seducer was my first band. Nineteen years old, fresh out of high school and having only two months of bass lessons. The band was formed in a jam room in the back of Lonny Foster's house in the Hayward hills of the East Bay in Northern California. I met him through a close high school friend that lived near Lonny's house.
We partied as hard as we rocked in that band. We played parties all over the local area, including a warehouse party in the industrial part of town. We opened for Warrant, who was just starting to get known, at Rock On Broadway in San Francisco.
We were not the tightest band, especially in the beginning, but we were very original and very energetic. Lonny and Dave's guitarwork was definitely heading in the right directions. Having three main singers was also a plus for variety of rock styles that were introduced into the band.
I have a lot of fond memories of this starting chapter in my musical journey, and due to our volatile youth, I forgot a lot of good memories as well. I will always be grateful for Lonny letting me jam with him and encourage me on this journey. He was always one to let people explore their creativity which is how I was introduced into playing the drums, even if just for fun.
Dave was the more experienced member, having ten years or more on us, and started trying to make the band be more about himself, even wanting to rename it to Goodrich. As I recall, this friction caused the band to dissolve in the end.
I learned to have fun in this band, but did not learn much about the business and personalities, so I would end up forming another band with Dave later. I was young and letting the wind take me where it would. What did I know?