Everbody knows what grout is. Its the now legendary e.p. demo by Freak Seed that has made its way around the world with great reviews. But it is also something that binds things. The latter is a large part of what makes Freak Seed the band that it is.

In many ways the seed was planted in the summer of 1986 when 13 year old Dave Couillou and 12 year old Jason Tremper first met. The meeting was more of a recruitment really, because together with John Chismar and James Carabello, Jason was trying to start a band and they needed a singer. Dave was interested so they hopped on their bikes, rode up to John's and jammed out some old Kiss, Iron Maiden, and Dokken (yes, I said Dokken) tunes. To complete the band they needed a bass player, and with no bassists of their age in existence Dave decided to take that job, too. While by today's standards the sounds that came from that house would send creatures big and small running for sonic shelter, at the time it was music to their ears. The ball was rolling, and the pins were shaking...

Aftershock, as they were called, rapidly improved their playing skills as well as their list of material. Dave introduced the rest of the guys to a little-known group called Metallica. Their new album "Master of Puppets" became an immediate source of cover material as well as inspiration for writing original songs.

While Aftershock continued to grow, John Tremper, Jason's uncle was busy putting together a band of his own, Vengeance. While John was lucky enough to find Keith Pieper to play drums, finding another guitarist and a bassist that fit the bill was a different story. So Jason decided to play for them while they searched for a more permanent guitarist.

Between 1987 and 1988 Aftershock made 4 performances at Central Jr. High. By the third show, drummer John Chismar seemed to be losing interest. At the last minute, his vacation plans had changed and Aftershock would have had to cancel the show, but instead they called on Keith to fill in. Dave had played with Vengeance a couple of times before and there was an immediate chemistry, so the decision to go "on with the show" was a simple one. With such short notice, they decided to drop all of the Aftershock originals from the set list and replace them with covers that we all knew from Metallica, Testament, and Overkill. The show was a great success!

Dave and Jason continued to play with Vengeance, and with the eminent end of Aftershock in sight, it became clear that John and Keith didn't have to look for musicians anymore. Vengeance was complete. For Aftershock, there was still one more show to play, but it would end up being a double-bill with Vengeance playing as well. It was an outdoor show under the hot June sun, and Dave and Jason played for both bands. Although Aftershock existed for only two years, it was a pivotal time in their young lives. For Dave and Jason it was bittersweet, the end of one era and the beginning of another. Unfortunately that final show is the only one that was not recorded on audio or video.

With a new found focus and desire, Vengeance was moving forward. John and Keith built a (not so) sound-proof room in Keith's basement and the band learned and wrote songs there every Friday and Sunday. The only bump in the road came when somebody saw an album by a band named Vengeance. Obviously they had to come up with a new name, so after careful deliberation (and John shooting down every other name on the list) the band became known as Epitaph.

The next step was to start playing some shows. Epitaph's first appearance was at a Parsippany High School talent show in January of 1989. They were scheduled to play four songs, (two covers and two originals) but fate would not allow that to happen. For their third song, Epitaph began to play "Blackened" from Metallica's recently released "...And Justice For All". Within minutes the auditorium became a blender of moshing students and teachers fighting to maintain control. The entire show was immediately cancelled and Epitaph's popularity was on the rise.

Randolph, New Jersey is home to Obsessions, an all ages dance club that features bands one night a week. On June 8, 1989, Epitaph made their first of what would be many appearances there. That night there were five bands on the bill and Epitaph was scheduled to play fourth. The place wasn't very active, you could see more walls and floor than people but that wouldn't last. When the third band finished their set, the guys from Epitaph went backstage to warm up. When the stage door opened, Epitaph came out to a standing room only audience. The place was suddenly packed and the crowd was working itself up into a frenzy. The band played a nearly flawless set and when the last song ended, the crowd disappeared leaving less than ten people to watch the final act. The owner of Obsessions immediately booked Epitaph for several more shows.

As time went on, Epitaph continued writing songs and playing at Obsessions, P.H.S., various parties, and several battle of the bands . One battle they didn't consider having to deal with was the one in the Persian Gulf. During the Gulf War, Keith decided to join the marines and Epitaph was temporarily without a drummer.

The first stand in for Keith was a guy named Marc LaCorte. While Marc was a fine drummer, it was difficult to find the groove that they had with Keith. Marc was more into Nine Inch Nails, electronic stuff than the Metallica and Megadeth type sound that Epitaph was so used to playing. After months of playing with Epitaph, Marc formed Black Metal Box with friend, Joe Yutsus. BMB went on to achieve great popularity while touring and playing with bands such as Marilyn Manson. Marc later went on to play guitar for 16-volt.

Taking over on drums this time was longtime friend Joe Saltalamacchia (who currently plays with UUU). A superb drummer, Joe's style of playing fit in perfectly. In 1992, Epitaph won another battle of the bands and then prepared to make their first recording at a real recording studio. Howie Reed, the music teacher at Parsippany High School was putting together a compilation CD of various local bands. The CD was called "Local Color" and it featured Epitaph's power ballad "Death Greets Us All".

After "Local Color" the band prepared to perform their final show at the High School, which had always been a great place to play. The last time they played there however, was a bit of a fiasco. The school's PA system couldn't handle the volume of the band so it blew up and left the audience with nothing to hear except for deafening feedback. So, this time Epitaph decided to change things up a bit and show everybody that they could play more than just heavy metal. Using all of their own equipment this time, Epitaph played "More Than A Feeling" by Boston, the classic "Stairway to Heaven", and Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters". The audience was screaming throughout the entire performance, and encouraged the band to play one final encore. They went out with a bang...

Since the cover songs went over so well, Epitaph decided that maybe it was time to start making money. They decided to put together a setlist of about forty songs and start playing at bars. To help promote their new direction, the band went back to Solid Sound Studios and recorded a five song demo featuring songs by Boston, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Led Zeppelin, The Cars, and Pearl Jam. The first show was scheduled at a place called Suds in Boonton, NJ, but now Joe was losing interest. Epitaph was quickly developing a Spinal Tap complex. With the show barely one month away, they called on a familiar stand-in, Keith Pieper, who was back from the Marines. Keith quickly learned the songs, and again it was "on with the show". The show at Suds turned out to be a tremendous success.

Over the course of the next couple of years, Epitaph focused primarily on cover tunes. They recorded another demo, this time with Alap Momin at Sweetwood Sound Studios. Alap's recording did a much better job of capturing the sound that the band was after. However, the demo would never be used the way it was intended. Epitaph made what would be their last appearance at Dave's mother's wedding. While the show went over very well, Dave's growing discontent with playing cover tunes had reached it's breaking point. He was done, and though it was never officially decided by the remaining three, so was Epitaph.

During the time that Epitaph was working on cover tunes, Dave and Jason continued writing and playing with various side projects. Dave spent some time playing guitar and touring with Marc and Joe in Black Metal Box while Jason played guitar in his father's band Rock Slyde. Then there was always Eat Your Family, a goofy "band" that Dave and Jason started back in 1987. The object of EYF was for Dave and Jason to press record on their 4-track and just start playing. These improvised guitar parts would then have drums, bass, and the most vulgar and offensive lyrics you could imagine added to them. To date, there are about six EYF "albums" that have been recorded. These recordings will NEVER be available to the general public because every song is guaranteed to offend someone. EYF is 100% truly tasteless and immature humor.

Freak Seed also started out as a side project. Dave had written four songs, but rather than making a mediocre 4-track recording, he decided to go to Sweetwood Sound Studios. In an effort to get the best sound possible, Dave decided against using his trusty drum machine and instead called Keith to play on the recording. After a few weeks of rehearsal, they were ready to start laying down the drum tracks.

In October of 1995, the "Grout" recording sessions began. Freak Seed's sound consisted of "in your face" guitars with a heavy groove, and who better to capture that sound and get it on tape than Alap Momin... No one! Jason, who recently graduated from New York's Institute of Audio Research also joined in on the action to add some production assistance. When the tape started rolling and the tunes started flying it was immediately clear that this was something special. With the heavy, danceable groove of "Reactivate", the "cringing" harmonies of "Drill", the speed and ferocity of "Madness Cycle", and the slow Sabbath-like march of "Skull Machine", this had it all! Jason's interest quickly went from producing to performing as he laid down a couple of leads and played bass on "Reactivate". The overwhelming response of those who heard these Freak Seed songs only strengthened the belief that this should be more than a side project. Freak Seed was planted and starting to grow.

Dave decided to press 500 cassettes for free distribution. Pretty soon the tape with the pink embryonic cover would be making its way around the world. Correspondence from London, Scotland, Japan, Belgium, Canada and all over the U.S. proved that "Grout" was a hit. Now that Dave had traded the four-string for a six-string, Freak Seed needed to find someone to play bass. They looked no further than Joe Yutsus, who also helped design the cover of "Grout" and the Freak Seed logo. He agreed to play some shows until they found a permanent bassist, but they never found one, Joe was the man.

For their first show, Freak Seed filled the opening slot for the Mind Eraser reunion show at Connections in Clifton, NJ. Freak Seed then followed up with killer shows at Obsessions, The Cove, and The Lion's Den in NYC, which quickly depleted their supply of T-shirts and tapes. Their fan base was growing fast and it eventually allowed Freak Seed the opportunity to share the stage with Bay Area legends Exodus.

With a growing list of material it was then time to go back to Sweetwood Sound Studios to record their first full-length CD called "Forward the Foundation". The CD included seven new tracks and three newly recorded songs from the "Grout" demo."Quarantine", the opening track on "Forward the Foundation" was also included on the Eclipse Records "Outer Limits" compilation CD.

"Forward the Foundation" was scheduled for release in early 1998, but by that time Freak Seed would make two more trips to the recording studio. The first was to record a song for the Psykoziz Records' "Tentacles of Submission" compilation. The song, "Zero Reflection" was an immediate favorite of the band and fans alike. The next stop at Sweetwood Sounds, in December of '97 was to record four more new songs. So by the time "Forward the Foundation" was to be released, it was already old.

The solution to this problem became known as "Ignition". Freak Seed combined all of their material, picked the twelve most recent tracks and put them together on one CD. "Zero Reflection" and the tracks from "Forward the Foundation" were remixed early in 1998 for "Ignition" and Dave, Jason and Joe began to work on designing the cover. After several nights in front of Joe's computer the cover for "Ignition" was complete, and Sun Serpent Productions' first release was sent out to be pressed.

In the months that followed, both Joe and Jason got engaged and Dave and Jason applied for school which was going to begin in mid-October. With Joe's plans for a family moving forward, he decided to pack up the bass and call it a day. His time with Freak Seed will always be appreciated and never be forgotten. As for the effect school would have on Freak Seed, it looked pretty dim. Keith is basically a career student, he has had classes every Monday and Wednesday night since the beginning of time it seems. For Dave and Jason, school was going to be every Tuesday and Thursday for the next two years. With these conflicting schedules Freak Seed was going to have to take a break, but with a September release for "Ignition" there was still time for a record release show.

The "Ignition" release show took place at Connections in Clifton, NJ in September of 1998. Standing in the shoes of Joe Yutsus was bass master Steve Witschel (currently bassist for Bad Habit). To date, this is the only time Freak Seed has performed "Killing Me" and "Sick & Wired" from "Ignition".

Considering the fact that there was no promotion for it, "Ignition" sold pretty well from various Compact Disc World locations in New Jersey.

With Dave living in Florida, there is no telling if or when Freak Seed will ever play again. But it was fun while it lasted!