NUVO NEWSWEEKLY

Life After Mellencamp

Myers, Moe-Z get together for covers band

By Scott Hall

You know those people who can't stop telling stories about cool things they've done? Toby Myers is one of those people. Toby Myers is one of those people.

 But Toby Myers has done a lot of cool things. Snowboarding in the Alps.  Watching the Yardbirds play in Fountain Square. Dreaming up the on-air name for a legendary DJ.  Seeing a model on a magazine cover and marrying her. Playing bass in one of the most popular local bands of the 70's, then in one of the most popular U.S. bands of the '80's and '90's.

 When Myers left the John Mellencamp band early last year-being one of few survivors to do so on friendly terms-part of him was afraid the coolness was coming to an end. But now, with some time to reflect on post-rock star life, he's convinced he made the right decision.

 As the Mellencamp band heads into another album-tour cycle, Myers is kicking it in his cabin near Nashville, taking in a view of the Brown County hills and enjoying a different kind of life with his wife, model Roberta Chirko, and their 21- month- old son, Cash.

 "I could be sitting in New York City in some fabulous hotel," the 50-ish Myers says, recalling how largeness lost its luster. "it didn't matter how cool it was. I just didn't want to be there anymore.  Now, when I go places with Bert and Cash, it's so much fun.  The stage still beckons, however. So Myers built one.

 A key feature of the Myers property-not far from a pond stocked with fish-is a two-story barn, with the upstairs housing a 16-track ADAT studio, a wall of gold records and a small performance space. The Hammond organ, Vox Amps, and Rickenbecker guitars on the elevated stage indicate a man who finally got to but the toy he's always wanted. Myers gets a little manic when he talks about seeing the Beatles on the Sullivan Show or watching the Who or Vanilla Fudge set up at some roller rink or another.

  "Back in 1966, '67, there was absolutely no security," he says.  "What a wonderful time to be a kid and into music." The music barn is a testimony to those very cool memories. "This stage is the ultimate fantasy," he says.  "This is the gear that I wish I'd had in my high school bands."

 Myers himself is rocking again. He now pilots a cover band called No Net with the aid of Prince-like-multi-instrumentalist Moe-Z M.D., a member of the Mellencamp band.  Backed by drummer Robert Keller, a Westsider and local music veteran, Toby and Moe trade off on

guitars, bass, organ and vocals, conveying an unlikely repertoire that begins with the Byrds and Three-Dog Night,

but includes ambitious funk and hip-hop jams.

 Moe, a 32 year old who grew up in the West Coast rap and R&B scene, admits he's learned a lot about '60s rock in the past few months.

Toby and Moe-Z bringing the music to the people.

 "They're kind of reliving their childhood," says the near Bloomington resident. "I'm vibin' with them". "Irrepressible showman that he is, however, Mr. MD has brought very much brought his own flavor to the band. "Moe's bringing turntables to the gig now, and he's scratching and stuff," Myers said.  "It's really off the wall."

 Whether the formula works or not will be evident when No Net plays its first Indy gig Dec. 20 at the Rathskeller. The event is a benefit for the Indiana chapter of Leukemia Society and also includes local rock diva Jennie Devoe, The $20 all-inclusive evening starts at 6:00 p.m. with beer, wine and hors d'oeuvres.  DeVoe starts at 8. And No Net goes on around 9.

 No Net takes its name from the notion that guys who are accustomed to primo treatment on the road are now lugging their own equipment around and tearing it down at 2 in the morning for small-scale reimbursement. Its not unlike what Myers did a few years back with Jimmy Ryser in Daisy Chain.

"This reminds me of the old days, coming-up, " he says "before it got real cushy."

Two roads converge

The fact that two men with backgrounds as disparate as Myers' and Moe's ended up in a 60's cover band together is almost as weird as the fact that they came together in Mellencamp's band in the first place.

 Myers' personal history is told in illustrated, stream of consciousness style on his site Web site, the Toby Myers Zone, www.tobymyers.com.  The saga begins with the obligatory Beatles/Sullivan anecdote and touches on teen-age garage bands, various girlfriends, life on the road and lots of other cool stories.

 "During the last week of high school, I was in a car crash, " one passage reads.  "In the other car was one of the richest men in Indy.  His fault, not ours.  I got this nice chunk o'change when I turned 18 and so I bought some paintbrushes and went to John Herman Art School for the next three years, 1968-1971.

 After art school, Myers found himself playing bass in a band that wore tuxedoes and executed choreographed dance steps. When that band broke up he took over the payments to the bus, which he hoped to use in his next group.

 "I actually lived in the bus for awhile," he says.  "It was the poorest I ever became in my life."

 His break came when Pure Funk, the hottest band around Indiana University, started renting the bus. Myers became fast friends with the lead singer, Asher Benrubi, a large man with a large afro and a larger than life jokester persona. Benrubi fired the bass player and hired Myers.

 It was on a jaunt through Florida, with Pure Funk and crew packed into a single motel room, that the name "Adam Smasher" came to Myers in a dream.  "I think we had maybe 14 people sleeping in the room.  It was so much fun you just couldn't stand it, " he says. "I woke up Rube: 'Rube, you've got to be "Adam Smasher."  That's your stage name".

 The name stuck. Adam Smasher became one of Indy's top FM disk jockeys.

 Pure Funk, meanwhile, evolved into Roadmaster, which recorded four albums and flirted with national success on Mercury Records before disbanding in the early '80s.

 Then Myers' other big break came: An offer to join a man called "Johnny Cougar" for a 1982 tour supporting his American Fool album.  As Mellencamp achieved long sought critical respect with the Scarecrow and Lonesome Jubilee albums, Myers came to be a cornerstone of the band alongside drummer Kenny Aronoff and guitarists Larry Crane and Mike Wanchic.

 They traveled the world and sold millions of albums.

 John Mellencamp can be an intense guy.  He has said farewell to many band and crew members who did not sufficiently share his vision.

 "On the first tour I did with him, I'll bet he fired four or five people," Myers says.  In fact, Mellencamp's management style became enough of an inside joke that Myers eventually recounted the firings in a song, "The Ballad of Johnny Cougar," sung to the tune of Johnny Horton's Kitschy 1960 hit "The Battle of New Orleans."  Mellencamp "loves it" Myers insists. 

 He's also a man that takes his family seriously.  Mellencamp respected Myers decision when the bass player, with son Cash on the way, decided to ditch the rock 'n' roll rat race.  Myers played his final shows in March 1999, just after Cash was born.

 He has been taking things a little slower.  His Web site sells his merchandise. There's the Roadmaster reunion video he made a few years back.

 Myers also sells copies of his solo album from a decade ago.  "I had about four songs, and I put out about nine," he says.  "It was a half baked, half assed thing." 

 He has loose plans for another solo release, but he doesn't seem driven to make any major music marks on the world.  Regarding the No Net project, he'd be content to fill a dance floor a couple nights a week.

 Right now, that other stuff just doesn't seem as important as hanging with Bert and goofing with Cash.  Looking back over three decades of doing cool things, he figures now is a pretty good time to be Toby Myers.

 "I'd say its working out like I envisioned. It hasn't been frightening.  It hasn't been scary," he says. "I'm realizing how lucky I am."

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