Kik Tracee was a 1990s
hard rock band formed in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
in 1988, during the last years of the glam metal movement, before the influx of
grunge and
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...
.
History
The band was formed in a Los Angeles suburb in 1988 by guitarists Gregory "Hex" Offers and Michael Marquis, bassist Rob Grad, and drummer Scott Donnell. The four had played the Los Angeles club scene from the age of 16. Singer
Stephen Shareaux hailed from Minneapolis, MN, and joined the group that would become Kik Tracee. Drummer Johnny Douglas replaced Donnell during recording of the first album, citing creative differences with producer Dana Strum. The band was sometimes accused of being a clone of
Guns N' Roses. Others argue that the band's complexity and depth placed them on a higher level than the average L.A. rock band. Despite such accolades, Kik Tracee were one of many third-wave glam metal bands in the early 1990s swept out of commercial visibility due to the popularity of the alternative music scene. The band saw a very short run on
MTV's ''
Headbangers Ball'' in the 1990s, their sound having been described as similar to that of
L.A. Guns,
Britny Fox, and
Faster Pussycat
Faster Pussycat is an American hard rock/glam metal band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985 by vocalist Taime Downe, guitarists Brent Muscat and Greg Steele and bassist Kelly Nickels. The group has since gone through numerous lineup changes lea ...
.
Dana Strum of
Slaughter fame produced Kik Tracee's 1991 album ''No Rules'' for
BMG Music
Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music co ...
, spawning the singles (and accompanying videos) "You're So Strange" and "Don't Need Rules."
Kik Tracee released the
Chris Goss
Christopher Ryan Goss (born August 17, 1958) is an American record producer and musician. Best known for producing records for Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age, he is regarded as an important figure in the development of stoner rock and deser ...
-produced EP ''Field Trip'' in 1992. A video was shot for the track "In Trance."
Kik Tracee, along with producer
Garth Richardson
Garth "GGGarth" Richardson is a Canadian record producer and music engineer. He is the son of music producer Jack Richardson (Alice Cooper, The Guess Who, Badfinger, Poco), a pioneer of the music recording industry in the 1960s and 1970s. Gart ...
, began work on their second full-length release titled ''Center of a Tension'', but the band broke up during the recording process, and the unfinished album was shelved.
Post-breakup
In 2002 Shareaux was one of many singers who auditioned for the Slash, Duff Mckagan, and Matt Sorum effort "The Project" (later dubbed
Velvet Revolver
Velvet Revolver was an American hard rock supergroup consisting of Guns N' Roses members Slash (lead guitar), Duff McKagan (bass, backing vocals) and Matt Sorum (drums, backing vocals), alongside Dave Kushner (rhythm guitar) formerly of pun ...
). His audition was featured in the documentary "The Rise of Velvet Revolver." He submitted the track "Stripper Girl," but was rejected in favor of
Scott Weiland
Scott Richard Weiland (; né Kline, October 27, 1967 – December 3, 2015) was an American singer and songwriter. During a career spanning three decades, Weiland was best known as the lead singer of the rock band Stone Temple Pilots from ...
.
Shareaux joined
Flipp before creating a new psychedelic band called Revel 8, while bassist Grad is currently fronting the band Superfine, and guitarist Hex pursued placements in film and TV, as well as a project called Deep Audio. Shareaux also recorded with former Tomorrow's Child and Engines of Aggression guitarist
Rik Schaffer under the name Nectar; their sole album, ''Afterglow'', was released in 1997 by German-based label Dream Circle.
In 1997, Superfine appeared on the TV show “
Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” with Rob Grad in the role of a band member in the episode "Teacher's Pet." In 2010, Grad left Superfine and released a solo album.
In November 2013, Shareaux released his debut solo album, ''Golden''; former
Small Faces
Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The ...
and
Faces
The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affe ...
keyboardist
Ian McLagan
Ian Patrick McLagan (; 12 May 1945 – 3 December 2014) was an English keyboardist, best known as a member of the rock bands Small Faces and Faces. He also collaborated with the Rolling Stones and led his own band from the late 1970s. He was i ...
makes a guest appearance on the song "R&R."
In 2015 Shareaux began performing acoustic shows with
Drew Fortier
Andrew Lawrence Fortier (born July 14, 1987) is an American musician, guitarist, filmmaker, actor, and author. He is best known for his work with The Lucid; which he cofounded alongside Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge), David Ellefson (ex Megadeth), a ...
, in which Kik Tracee songs were heard live for the first time in over 20 years.
Fortier and Shareaux also formed
Zen From Mars, an alternative rock band featuring former members of
Enuff Z'Nuff,
Fear Factory
Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. ...
, and Flipp. Their debut album ''The Ultra Head Frequency'' was mixed and mastered by Richard Easterling for a projected mid-2018 release.
In 2017 Kik Tracee signed with
EMP Label Group and released ''Big Western Sky'', a two-disc collection of demos, rarities, and b-sides.
Accolades and legacy
Their single "You're So Strange" peaked at #47 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in September 1991.
''No Rules'', Kik Tracee's debut album, landed at #46 on
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
's ''Top 50 Greatest Hair Metal Albums of All Time'' list.
Kik Tracee appeared at #78 in
VH1's ''Hair Metal 100 Countdown'' list.
Power Chord TV listed Kik Tracee #2 on their list of Hollywood bands that should have been hugely successful.
Band members
*
Stephen Shareaux – lead vocals (1988-1993)
* Rob Grad – bass guitar (1988-1993)
* Gregory "Hex" Offers – rhythm guitar (1988-1993)
* Michael Marquis – lead guitar (1988-1993)
* Scott Donnell – drums (1988-1991)
* Johnny Douglas –- drums (1991-1993)
Discography
Studio albums
* ''No Rules'' (1991)
* ''Center of a Tension'' (1993) (unreleased)
Compilation albums
* ''Big Western Sky'' (2017)
Extended plays
* ''Field Trip'' (1992)
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Glam metal musical groups from California
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups from Los Angeles