Headboard

Connecting alternative pop/rock with rap and electronic style features, Headboard's music exposes cross-bred atmospheres made sublime by a two-piece vocal team. The composite character of their compositions, supported by Glenn Rubenstein's songwriting abilities, also demonstrates the bands' better command of delivering solid tunes, despite the fusion of multiple styles. It was in 1995, in Petaluma, CA, that Rubenstein decided to put together his own band after years working in the concert promotion industry. The group originated as a rap duo, consisting of Glenn Rubenstein and Jeff Gerstmann. Rubenstein assumed the rap name "G-man," derived from his early 1990s BBS handle. Gerstmann went by the moniker "US Pipe," after a sign he had passed weekly on the 880 freeway when he worked temporarily transporting reels of film for a Bay Area cinema chain. The two were joined on-stage by Brendan Ducousso, who went by "Gotti," and served as an anti "hype man" who commented on what the duo rapped about. Ducousso also contributed to the between song banter. Headboard's first show was December 19th, 1995 opening a concert at the Phoenix Theatre in Petaluma on a bill consisting of Maroon, 26 Miles Per Hour, and the headliner, Skillit. Headboard formed only two weeks before the date of the show, settling on the name only days before the concert and writing rap lyrics right up until showtime. The duo read many of their lyrics off paper while rapping over a montage of samples crafted into an eclectic mix of beats. Thrown together in the days leading up to the event, the group was selling cassette tapes of their "Zip! Plop! EP" at this first performance, tracked on a 4-track the night before. In July of 1996 the group added a live band and began touring around California with an expanded mix of music stylings. Female vocals were added to the group to compliment Gerstmann and Rubenstein's rapping, and the musical styles mixed elements of rap, ska, funk, pop, alternative rock, and punk. At one point the band expanded to a total of 11 people--including Christine Alexander of Little Tin Frog, and Dominic Davi, who would later go on to form Tsunami Bomb, both of whom played on Headboard's first self-released CD, "Brendan Goes to College." In late 2001, Rubenstein toyed with working on a new musical project, but instead chose to collaborate with two of his previous Headboard bandmates, Josh Gooch and Alex Navarro. The trio auditioned dozens of applicants before deciding on three new female members to help re-shape Headboard's sound and extensive song catalog: Josh's sister, Sarah Gooch, joined on bass, and violinist/keyboard player Averil Bach shared female vocal duties. Utilizing over six year's worth of songs and lessons learned, this co-ed lineup quickly acheived momentum that re-sparked interest in the group. However, internal conflicts arose shortly after the group's recording of B-sides for the "(We Are) The Same" EP, and Headboard's final show was on February 21, 2002, in Vacaville, CA.