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A.D.D. Mayhem in Mesquite

So here it is. The truth of the rise and fall of the band A.D.D. I'm not talking about those idiots from the movie "The Rocker". I'm talking about a small high school garage band in Mesquite Texas that became rapidly popular and was forgotten just as quickly. The origins of the band started with two of the members. Michael O'Rear (the lead guitarist) and Alex Rivera (the drummer). The two first started off coming together in 2002 with a boy named Adam Landry to create a band called INK. Adam was the bassist at the time. Ink was pretty much a typical teenage garage band. Bad music with out of tune instruments. Their greatest achievement at this time was creating a song we called Bunghole. This was meant to be a tribute to Bevis and Butthead. "It wasn't the greatest of inspiration" said Michael "however; it is rare for things to come out right the first time." As time went by the band got bigger. Eventually they recruited the Van Allen Brothers, Garrett and Taylor. Taylor became the second guitarist and Garrett, the lead singer. The sound was starting to get better at this time however it had a long way to go to actually sounding good. This was short lived with the debut as well as farewell concert taking place in Michael's parent’s back yard on Halloween of 2003. The band opening for Ink was a band called Dia De Los Muertos. They were a short lived band too. For a while there, it was just Alex and Michael after that point. There wasn't really a band formed at this time however they played and experimented with many sounds and techniques during this time. This was critical for the future of the band. The both of them knew how to play as individuals though, they needed some time to hone in their skills and actually be able to time with each other. Finally in March of 2004, they were ready to build a band again. This was no easy task. The first thing they decided that that needed was a singer. They both decided that it would be a good idea call up Keaton Howell. They had experimented with him before and they both agreed that he had a level of charisma that was appropriate for the band. This was a decision that eventually paid off big time. Keaton became an extremely valuable member. The next step was to get a bassist. They went through several people however they found their man when they finally got to play with Nick Irby. They were finally starting to take off. They were starting to write good sounding music even during this time they were starting to play Heaven and Hell, one of the songs that would later be on their album. However they knew they were missing something. They needed a rhythm guitarist so that Michal can play more leads. This was the hardest person to find. We went through guitarist after guitarist trying to find the right person but no one was right for the job. Finally, Michael met a guy named Jon Griffiths. The kid was a cocky little hothead but he was perfect for the job! He had more ambition and talent than most people could ever hope for. The band was going well for several months but then they ran into a snag when Nick had to leave the band. "All of a sudden it felt like we were back to square one" said Michael. They were just getting ready to set up their first gig and had even finally settled on a name for the band. They came up with the name A.D.D. because they were all diagnosed with it. None of them had a clue who they were going to replace Nick with. Little did they know that the answer was right under their noses. Michael's little brother Sean O'Rear decided to step up to the position. And boy what a job he did. He settled in and fit in his sound faster than any of the others in the band. This was it! They finally had the band complete. Their debut gig was to start in March of 2005 to where they decided to participate in the Mesquite ISD Battle of the Bands. Though they were creating songs they decided to perform Johnny B. Goode on stage for the first part of the performance. The gig was short lived. It was a decent performance but they really didn't know what they were doing. However, this was valuable to help the band understand what was needed to prepare for their next gig. They decided to hire on a band manager. Well, Manager may have been his title but he was more like the computer guru for the band. He created the websites and contacted the clubs for them. This was very helpful in the fact that it freed up the time for the musicians to write and practice their music. The super computer genius was named Van Norris. Van landed A.D.D. a gig at a club called The Door in downtown Dallas on a street called Deep Ellem. The band was prepared for that gig. They had their songs prepared, they had their look down and even had merchandise prepared to give away. They dominated the stage! The crowd just got bigger and bigger until by the end of the performance, the room was at maximum capacity. For the first time ever. A.D.D.'s name had become known throughout Dallas. There wasn't too many gigs later they decided to record an album. Well Van the man got them hooked up with that. By February of 2006 they finally had an album. It was named Mayhem in Mesquite. There was a period of time that A.D.D. was the hottest local band around. They were known through more than just the underground. People that they would never have expected to have heard of them were talking about them. Finally in September of 2006 Michael went off for college and the rest of the guys went their own separate paths. The band was relatively short lived but created excellent music. They gained their popularity in a flash and were forgotten even faster. Not many people know too much of them, however the guys are still friends. You can listen to their music at www.myspace.com/instrumentalfusion.