The band
Nick Appleby
Lead and backing vocals, bass
Nicolaus Copernicus Appleby was already a well-established rock star when Coldplay was still in short pants. Born in a cheap flat in the seedy sheep-mining village of Flensing Minor, Nick longed for the time when he could break free of his working-class roots and rise to the heady heights of his musical idol, Enoch Powell. After some grim times in Sheffield in the late '70s as the rhythm glockenspieler for a fledgling Def Leppard, Nick finally broke into the big time when his skiffle act, Bag of Weasels, appeared on “Top of the Pops.” Unfortunately, the band was not actually scheduled to appear (to the consternation of BBC security) and, after an embarrassing stint in court, Nick's meteoric rise was followed by an equally meteoric fall back into obscurity.
Fun facts about Nick
- For a short time in the mid-90s, Nick solved crimes with the help of his partner, a wise-cracking, animated Jack Russell terrier.
- When seeking respite from the pitiless glare of publicity, Nick sometimes goes under the alias of “Ack Nippleby.”
- Nick once was deported from Australia after eating an entire wallaby on a bet.
- Nick's wife, Bethany, is an attorney and part-time supermodel who sings and writes songs in her own right. Nick, Russell and Bethany also form another band, Buzzbaby, who are the subject of an entirely different web site.
- While trying to jump Royal Gorge in Colorado with his rocket-powered Vespa, Nick plummeted 1,050 feet to a crushing landing onto rocks below. Saved from certain death by the resilience of his rock-hard pectoral muscles, nevertheless for a solid week thereafter he could say nothing at all except the word “Lederhosen.”
Russell Shaddox
Lead and backing vocals, guitars
Born on the cusp of autumn, 1962, in Dallas, Texas. A year later, JFK was shot and Russell was forced to move to San Antonio by the Warren Commission. There he grew up, in the shadow of the Alamo, assuming the Alamo's shadow could reach several miles northward, over the tops of skyscrapers, and all the way to the airport. He made friends, and some enemies. He loved, and he lost. He started off naïve and ignorant, journeyed northward and grew wise beyond his years, and finally made his way back to “naïve and ignorant.” And there he sits today.
Fun facts about Russell
- Russell once almost started a fire in his house trying out a trick he learned on “MacGyver.”
- Russell has written three songs about dogs. One of them is on the band’s first CD.
- Russell has been to Ireland twice, drank a lot, played in pubs, and met several members of Clannad, but not the cute ones.
- Russell used to draw cartoons and was once told by a professional cartoonist that his cartoons were funnier than Doonesbury. But the cartoonist was Jack Tippit, so make of that what you will.
Gerry Giaimo
Lead guitar, backing vocals
Gerry can play the guitar really well. He has many guitars and amplifiers with which to make the other band members jealous. But he is funny and likes to do bendy notes, which conjures forth our apelike laughter.
Kilian Appleby
Drums
No relation. Seriously! … okay, I’m lying. Totally a relation. You may know him better from Dagwood, Heavy Breath, and tons of other Connecticut musical acts that are probably better than the Mold Monkies.