E-Mail The Band Now
TORKE. BAND MEMBERS
J. STURM - VOCALS
Jay is a sophmore at Penn State University
JOSH - LEAD GUITAR
Brother to J. Singing backup vocals, screamer.
The man on guitar with the xx'd out nipples.
MATTY - DRUMS
Matt also plays guitar,
bass, & writes songs. Matt had the band on hold
while he recuperated from shoulder surgery...don't ask how it happened!!
WAYNO - BASS GUITAR
Wayno is the 'adult' in the band. He is the only full time
employed of the group. He was the last & welcomed
addition to Torke.
changes & the junk they've sorted thru to get to their place in
Pgh music today. One listen & you can hear the influence of Tool & Deftones
but the hard part of keeping the sound original while blending the two
together is what makes Torke. rock like nothing to come out of Pittsburgh yet.
Playing together every second of the day since junior high, Matt, Josh &
Jay drove the band to succeed even though it seemed everything played against them
and the road was as rocky as one gets.
The easy days were starting way back in 1995 when Matt & Josh won first
prize in their eighth grade talent show. It's hard to believe that other local upcoming talents
emerged from that same small dinky talent show. For years it was only Josh & Matt,
both playing guitar, no drums, no vocals!
J. joined in just for fun playing bass, not imagining that later he'd move
into becoming a major player & serious asset to the band. They still needed a
singer & found a guy from school that fit the sound. The called themselves...
Beyond Frustration
How do you get from simple beginnings to the success & rise of TORKE. today?
Or to rephrase that question - what are the chances of your only singer getting
busted & sent away for bringing a bomb to school?
...beyond frustration was a fitting name for the old band.
When their singer was arrested & sent away a second time for borrowing a car
& then totaling it in a late night adventure. The frustration of waiting for
jail sentences to end was taking it's toll on the group & changes
needed to be made for the band to survive. J. took over the vocals
& lyrics and a friend told them about a local bass player.
Wayno came on board without knowing a soul & fit right in, adding great bass.
They played locally at first then moved into the Pittsburgh clubs.
But still today, they are big draws to more private parties & college
fraternity parties.
All that seems like a century ago, since success is coming quickly...
The rest is history & the future will record it as the day...
TORKE. was born out of Pittsburgh
They released their first CD titled "synthetic smiles", recorded in Virgina
last year.
