Orange Jam Conspiracy

Here is a brief history of what you know as OJC. (3rd Person Omniscient) Donno received a call one beautiful morning from a close friend of his, Phil. Phil and another chum Lee had an interesting idea to form a 'jam band' and to learn how to play some tunes. The idea had already struck his mind numerous times before and instantaneously he agreed. With Phil on electric guitar, Lee on the acoustic, and Donno on keys, the trio needed some rhythm so they found another close friend Jared. Geoff was known to be impressive guitarist at the time so hell, why not throw him into the mix? The five set a first practice date and followed through with an incredibly amusing set-up. Phillip Adams - Electric Guitar Domenic Ruggeri - Ampless Keyboards Geoffrey Wilkes - Electric Guitar Jared Windecker - Drums Lee Wyman - *Microphoned Acoustic w/ Bass Amp* This setup lasted for a few months and brought us to open up for a popular local band Zox at a fantastic graduation party. Around a month later OJC had another milestone when Jared left the band. A new style formed and our skill began increasing. Playing at local homes, our name got out and OJC became a pretty common phrase. When the four of us came to the realization that we had something unique and special, the serious share of participating in a band kicked in. We began considering recording, purchasing new equipment, booking shows, printing fliers, and writing new songs. With Lee as our 'bookie', a few shows popped up at URI and the Living Room. In December of 2003 we began recording our first album 'A Light In The Dark' at Digital Edge Studios. Without an abundance of money we struggled to even get enough to record the album rather than produce and distribute the CDs themselves. We still remain financially unstable but with the release of the album it's now possible we can get the ball rolling. Late Winter 2003 seemed to be the most productive period of time we had seen yet. With a new project Protium (which is a hydrogen fuel cell powered band, under the direction of Ross McCurdy, that we perform under the name of) at hand we were booking shows for Hollywood, San Antonio, Palm Springs, and Hawaii. Numerous phone calls were completed in these months and better shows started forming. Such as admittance into the 33rd Annual Groove Reggae Festival. Following the Hollywood show Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction invited Protium to play at the national level rock tour Lollapalooza. The day that we got back from LA we played a show along with a fund-raiser organized by a student activist group SOS (Share Our Strength) that raised close to $1000 towards Sojourner House, a shelter for battered women. Unfortunately, in July of 2004, we received word that the Lollapalooza tour would have to be canceled due to poor ticket sales. So it looked like we were just going to be kicking around New England for a while just doing our same old thing. As it turned out, the same old thing turned into a climax for Orange Jam Conspiracy. The shows just kept coming, and so did the fans. We opened for The Breakfast (previously Psychedelic Breakfast) at the Living Room and packed the place. We also began opening for a band that would eventually become good friends and avid supporters of OJC: Uncle Everett's House of Funk. As time went on , summer had come to an end, but we were still kicking. In November of 2004, we took a trip to San Antonio,TX as Protium, another great experience. When we returned, our friend Matt Aldous offered to record and produce our second CD as a project at the New England Institute of Art in Boston,MA. OJC went in and did the deed in a nine-hour session from 8:00pm-5:00am. We were closer than ever, but that was about to change. After Texas we returned only to gradually fall apart. Domestic complications, personal interest, and other priorities had become issues, and as a whole, a threat to the OJC family. Everyone had finally decided it would be best to part ways with Lee due to disagreements on the importance of the group. There were no hard feelings. Lee understood and was soon on his way. As Autumn came to an end so did OJC. For the remainder of the winter, no one was playing much. After a while of Phil just working on solo stuff, he had to start playing music with people. It soon became a Friday night "thing" of Phil going over to Max Sherman's house to jam with Max and good friend Michael Bonsante. As it became more solid, Donno would even come over for these sessions and even one of the original members of OJC, Jared "Jar" Windecker. They eventually convinced Geoff, who was itching just to play with anyone, to come by one of these Friday night sessions. Everyone had a blast. Then it dawned on us, "We could try to revive OJC". We began practicing at Donno's house in Glocester. It took some work, but in just a few months, OJC was back on their feet. We returned to the studio in Boston for another nine-hour 8:00pm-5:00am session to finish vocals, lay down some new tracks, and review the rest of the CD. (The album: 'Smooth Maneuver' still has not been released but it eventually will come up) Also, we played yet another SOS show raising approximately $900 for Sojourner House. With the new lineup in place, and having played many shows already, we're prepared to pursue any opportunities ahead. We now perform almost every Sunday @ The Century Lounge and every other Thursday @ The Wheelhouse Tavern. We have been recognized by SCI Fidelity Records, Lollapalooza, Assembly of Dust, The Breakfast, The Ocean Mist, The Living Room, The former Call, The URI student population, The Rain Desert, The Wheelhouse, The Century Lounge, Zachary's Pub, and some more that I can't recallsoooo many shows. From this point, as long as we have fans and listeners support, there's nowhere to go but up.Live recordings of OJC can be found athttp://www.taperjay.com