The Royalty

The Royalty was a band that sprang up out of nowhere, featuring the rather unlikely union of former members of Bodyhammer, Haywire Act, City of Ghosts, and Cherub Scourge. Syd Bishop was attempting to start a new band in Spring of 2003. He asked Tony Ash to try playing bass, and recruited Doug Walker, who had recently returned from Alaska, to play drums. Soon after, Andy Schanie expressed interest in the vocalist position, and the band was born. Drawing heavily (though not intentionally) from bands such as the Jesus Lizard and Shellac, all the while layering in a heavy dosage of effects pedal noise, they played a handful of local and out of town shows to both receptive and repulsed audiences. Syd opted to leave the band the following winter for various reasons, and was replaced by Eric Young, also formerly of Bodyhammer. This lineup stripped away a lot of the ambience prevalent in the original lineup and instead opted for a more aggressive, straightforward approach. The Royalty played several shows in the area to much acclaim. In Spring 2004, they drove to Bloomington, Indiana to record what was to be their debut record on Noise Pollution records. They were also asked to do a split 7" on Alone Records with Indianapolis' Fax Arcana. But lack of touring activity and other internal stress caused the band to split in June 2004 before either record could see the light of day.

Members went on to Nixon and Coliseum.

Lineup 1:

• Tony Ash - Jazz Bass, Electric Mistress, Small Stone, Rat, Big Muff, Crybaby.
• Syd Bishop - Telecaster, Headrush, Memory Man, slide, delay, more delay.
• Andy Schanie - Vocals, Big Briar theremin, Memory Man.
• Doug Walker - "Frankenstein" drum kit.

Lineup 2:

• Tony Ash - Jazz Bass, Rat, Crybaby, Big Muff.
• Andy Schanie - Vocals.
• Doug Walker - Really "Frankenstein" drum kit.
• Eric Young - Toronado, Big Muff, Memory Man.