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Suspicion
was formed in late 1981 as a vendetta. Mick Moore was the lead
guitarist for "FRANTIC" and was accused of stealing
gig money by one of the band members. Pissed off at the allegations,
Mick quit the band and went straight to work forming a new project.
 I
remember the last thing I said to those guys was... "I'll
see you in three months with a band that will blow you guys off
the stage"... F--k Off !
 True
to his word, Mick did exactly that when he recruited Local Bad
Ass Scott Miller to front the band. Miller's throaty growls and
reputation as a local Hell raiser set the stage for Suspicion's
first show... the opening act for "FRANTIC".
 They
had no Idea what I had been up to for those three months. That's
how we came up with the name Suspicion. They suspected I had started
a new band, but didn't know where we were practicing. We blew
them away so bad, FRANTIC broke up a month later.
We came out playing covers from ACCEPT, OZZY, IRON MAIDEN and
SCORPIONS. The shit we were playing were the songs you never hear
on the radio. Tunes like "Fast as a shark" from "Accept"
"Suicide Solution" from "Ozzy" and "Speedys
Comin" from "Scorpions". People freaked !
 We
were the heaviest cover band in San Diego. If there was a Birthday
party, we played. If there was a kegger, we played. If someone's
folks were out of town, we played. $5 at the door and all the
beer you could drink.
 We
were headlining places like Headquarters, "Straight a head
Sound, My Rich Uncles, Mony Mony's, The Rock Palace, Stratus and
The Spirit with bands like Mickey Ratt, later becoming "Ratt",
LA Gunns, Plain Jane, later known as "Warrant", Side
FX, Mistreated, later known as Asphalt Ballet, Assassin, Kaos,
Bad Reputation, Ragged Lace, and so on.
The after-parties where second to none. Bands like Black n Blue,
Guns n Roses, LA Gunns and Riot, not to mention every local act,
would be partying in our house before we even returned from a
gig. Sometimes 7 nights a week. The party went on close to 10
years, non stop.
It wasn't long before the local bands would refuse to go on after
Suspicion because they knew as soon as we left the stage, the
after-party would begin and the whole crowd would bail out. Joe
would say "Goodnight... You know where the after party is",
and the whole venue would empty out.
 Suspicion promo shot circa
1983
J.R. the bass player had a friend who's little brother looked
and played damn near as well as Tommy Lee. Too bad his attitude
didn't. He looked great, spinning sticks and all.
Danny lasted about a year until his ego wouldn't fit into the
studio anymore. We did some great shows and the look and sound
of the band definitely was maturing. This promo shot to this day
is my favorite.
 Suspicion promo shot circa
1984
My brother Rob had a friend named Goose that had a killer "Big
Concert Style kit". 10 piece or something huge like that.
"We were stoked and hired him sight unseen" to replace
Danny. I think he actually auditioned over the phone". His
first gig was at the Rockin' hall on Friday Feb. 12th 1984. Danny
showed up with a posse to intimidate Goose, but after winning
over the crowd. Goose stood on top of his drums and yelled Fuck
You. I thought that was great?
 Suspicion promo shot circa 1985
Goose was replaced by Joel. Excellent drummer. Great kit, cool
look and he had a drum solo that would silence "Neil Peart"
of "RUSH". Very cool.
Joel and Scott started to become harder to work with. Turmoil
within the band was too much so my brother and I split. That was
one of the hardest things I've ever done. Scott was my best friend
and I couldn't get through to him how serious I was about this
band. I was sure he was going to kick my ass when I went to get
my gear. Thankfully he didn't and we're still tight to this day.
The guy still has a voice that would make lions run for cover
!!!
 Suspicion promo shot circa 1986
We were wondering what we were going to do, when we heard that
Joe Boyd, the lead singer from "Mistreated" (Asphalt
Ballet) wanted to join the band. We were stoked. Not only did
Joe have a great look, but his voice was something a little more
along the lines of "Motley Crue".
We had already hired on Jorge Palacios on drums and Gary Dean
on the bass, and the music had started to take on more of a "party
sound" instead of the dark "Iron Maiden" sound
we had been known for earlier. Jorge, to this day is the most
awesome drummer I've ever played with. I used to love to sit back
stage during his sound check and watch the look of doom on the
other bands faces when he would fire it up. He could have supplied
the sound track for Shock and Awe on his own. He's that powerful!
 Suspicion promo shot circa 1986
My guitar style had progressed... or regressed, depends on what
kind of music you like, to more of a "Motley Crue" "Rat"
sound, while my brother started leaning more towards what I felt
was a "Yngwie Malmsteen" style. My main influences have
always been Ace Frehley and Joe Perry.
We had it out one day and it came to light we both wanted to go
in different directions. I was so relieved when we both agreed
that he would be happier doing his own project. I thought we both
were going to cry. We had worked so hard and come so far. It was
an easy departure for Rob.
Rob started his own band called "Storm" which really
complimented his playing style. They opened for Suspicion as soon
as they were up to speed. This allowed me to really let it out!
Sloppy, Soulful, Sloppy Ass Metal. Nothing is cooler to play or
listen to.
 Suspicion promo shot circa
1987
This was the shot for the back of the first album. We hired this
total loser on bass named Shawn. He sucked so bad, I kicked him
out, stole his girlfriend, then stole his brothers girlfriend
for good measure. The asshole really held us back. The bass chops
on the album are Gary Dean who was having personal issues at the
time. Gary sounded a lot like Michael Anthony of Van Halen.
He's a good friend of mine and my favorite bass player to this
day.
 Suspicion promo shot circa 1988
The final incarnation of Suspicion. A four piece that would rip
your face off. We could walk on stage at 10:00 after drinking
Jack Daniel's all day and burn the place down. No band from the
Tijuana to LA would go on after us cause we would drain the audience
so bad.
Buy the video from the Troubadour. That's the epitome of what
it was like at a Suspicion show. Only Aerosmith could play more
fucked up! All the other bands girlfriends would end up at our
after parties while their boyfriends dorked around on stage after
we had left.
All those stories of kidnapping the singer from Riot, or Tracy
Gunns passing out at our house, or Axl getting so loaded in the
living room, we tossed him into the street are all true. I remember
one show we opened for poison and they had to leave the stage
due to our fans throwing food at them and calling them names.
It was epic. We actually had a road case just for alcohol. I mean
a real ATA, all encased 5 X 4 with wheels road case. Now that's
serious!
 Suspicion
remastering 2005
I've recently spent several days over the course of the beginning
of 2005 digitally remastering all of the Suspicion albums and
added some never before released material.
I found not only early 1984 material with the original lead singer
Scott Miller, but also added a "Greatest Tracks" CD
of all the best hard hitting songs from 1986 through 1989.
You can find them in the music
section
 I've
also added two Live DVD's as well. The first is a live video from
the TROUBADOUR in Hollywood, CA and the second is an old video
from 1986 at Straitahead Sound in San Diego.
Both are in the video
section
Both DVD's are clear and sound pretty cool. The Troubadour is
a lesson in drinking while on the job.
Joe always said... "The more you drink, the better we sound".
The guy was a prophet I would sure love to catch up with him today.
He's MIA
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