Fist Engine was formed in April 2001 by guitarists Brian Harshaw and Brian Theodore, who met through an online musician exchange program. The two began playing and immediately realized that they were on to something good. After a few months of jamming, the pair began looking for other musicians to start playing the original songs they had composed. The original name of the project was "Dark Skies", the original thought was to use Black Skies, but at the time it was discovered that Ozzy Osbourne had written a song with the same title and a video game was being developed around it.

After searching for months, the two Brian's ran across vocalist/guitarist Stephen Phillips, in August of 2001, through another online musician search. The trio hit it off immediately and began jamming weekly and adding lyrics to the songs that had already been written.

Although the search and countless auditions for a talented and like minded drummer and bass player continued, the three continued to write, rehearse, record some, and prepare for playing live (using a drum machine and octave effects to fill in the gaps). By the end of 2001 and early 2002, the three were wondering if they would ever be able to find the right people to get the band off the ground. 

Things were to move forward rapidly over the next few months. Brian H. had known bass player Todd Baker several years from work. The two had jammed some, but the musical styles were somewhat different. Todd's previous band (Lisa's Falling) had broken up and other projects were not working as planned, so through conversation, Todd and Brian agreed to give it a shot to see if things would work out -- and it did for a while. The band settled on the name "Deep Under Dirt", which was a tribute to Alice in Chains and the influence that the Dirt album had on them.

To round out the band, all that was needed was a drummer. The now growing band auditioned several talented guys, but finally settled on Matt Loria. Brian H. had spoken to Matt almost a year earlier and had though that it might not be a good fit. In March, Brian contacted Matt again to see if he wanted to try out. He was as still available and blew the band away with his powerful style of playing.

After almost a year of great shows, recording, and writing, Todd and Matt decided to leave the band for personal reasons in December of 2002. Todd had decided to cut back on live performing and concentrate more on the recoding side of the business. Matt had a new baby girl and a burgeoning technical career that required most of his free time. Both guys are doing great and the rest of us are  grateful to their contributions to the band.

The band quickly moved to find new members are were lucky to find bassist Paul Bolton very quickly. Paul brings a heavy style of playing and a tremendous stage presence to the band.

Between December 2002 and April 2003, the band played with several good friends filling in on drum duty (thanks to Jay and Troy, you guys rock!) Some of the best shows to date were with these guys and we are in their debt for sure. In March of 2003, Brian Theodore dropped a bombshell on us, he had decided to leave the band. With his under graduate studies almost complete and with some graduate level studies and teaching (at UTA) starting to take up a lot of his time, he decided it was best to focus on his education. As hard is it was to have a founding member and great friend leave the band, we all knew it was the right thing for him to do.

That brings us up to the present. Within a weeks time (early June 2003), the band found two new members that have both talent, desire, and the right chemistry to help the band move forward. On lead guitar is Paul Rickard -- another lefty (that makes all 3 guitars players in the history of the band left-handed) who brings a unique and versitle style to the band. He also plays a Les Paul, which is a bonus in our books! On drums is Brent McKnight -- after talking ot him for about a week we finally got him out to audition. After one song, I think we all knew we found the right guy. He plays with a lot of passion and power. Watch out for broken drum sticks flying into the audience at future gigs! Bios for these guys will be posted soon.

Well Paul Rickard has been asked to step aside so that Brian Theodore could return and he bowed out gracefully.

band

• Brian Harshaw - Rhythm Guitar and Backing Vocals
• Paul Bolton - Bass Guitar and Lead Vocals
• Brian Theodore - Guitar
• Brent McKnight - Drums

contact

If you would like to contact Fist Engine for booking info, questions, comments, or anything else, please use the following e-mail address: info@deepunderdirt.com.

biographiez

Brian Harshaw - Guitars & Backing Vocals

• City of Residence: Fort Worth, TX
• City of Birth: Lawrence, KS 
• Gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom with Gibson Tony Iommi (bridge) and 57 Classic + (neck) pickups, Schecter AX-5 Cellobalster 5-string, Epiphone Goth 1958 Explorer, Epiphone SG Special with Duncan pickups, Dean Exotica acoustic/electric, Squire Strat with Duncan pickups, Marshall Valvestate 100 head and 4 x12 cabinet, Boss ME33 guitar processor, effects (Boss, Danelectro, Rocktron, Ibanez, DigiTech, Dunlop, Morley, Electro Harmonix), DR strings, Duncan picks, and Monster Cables. 
• Favorite Bands: Black Sabbath, Metallica, Alice in Chains 
• Favorite Albums: Masters of Reality (Black Sabbath), Hemispheres (Rush), Master of Puppets (Metallica), Dirt (Alice in Chains)
• Musical Influences: Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath), Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains), Geddy Lee (Rush)
• Bio: Brian began playing guitar at the age of 12, with little success. At 16, he picked up bass and began playing in a high school band called Cerberus, which lasted for about 3 years. After high school, Brian began playing bass with several local musicians and formed a band called Bad Passion that lasted a few years, but really did nothing in the way of recording or playing live. Brian spent almost a decade away from playing, concentrating on school, family, and career. In 2000, he got the bug again began playing guitar instead of bass. After a few months, it was clear that it was time to form a new band. That is when the search, for what has become Deep Under Dirt, began. Brian is a graduate of SMU, is currently a Web Development Manager for a Fortune 500 telecommunications company, and has been happily married for over 12 years to a wonderful woman named Julie. They have one wonderful child named Megan.

Paul Bolton - Bass and Lead Vocals

• City of Residence: North Richland Hills, TX
• City of Birth: Bristol, PA
• Gear: Schecter ds Bass, Hartke 2000 bass head, Hartke 4x10 cab, Hartke 1x15 cab
• Favorite Bands: Alice in Chains, Metallica, Drowning Pool, Disturbed, Tantric
• Favorite Albums: Dirt (Alice In Chains), Surfing with the Alien (Joe Satriani), Ride the Lightning (Metallica)
• Musical Influences: Bass: Stu Hamm, Flea, Michael Wilton Vocals: Godsmack, Tantric
• Bio: Paul started playing bass and guitar in 1986 for a band called Titus in Albuquerque, NM. From there he went on to a few other local Albuquerque bands until he joined the Marines in 1993. While in the Marines, he formed an all-marine metal band called Rotorhead and played in several countries overseas. After being discharged he joined a band called Live without Annette out of Jacksonville, NC and toured the east coast club circuit for two years under the supervision of 39/30 studios, which was owned and operated by the band Firehouse, out of Myrtle Beach, SC. After Live without Annette called it quits for personal reasons he moved to Texas and opened the B.E.R. Corporation and finally joined Deep Under Dirt in December 2002 to replace Todd Baker on Bass.After steve left the band in 2004 he stepped up on lead vocals and the band was also renamed to Fist Engine.

Brent McKnight - Drums