The history of Cyperus (as told by Randy) All start at the early of 80’s… where do I begin… Drummer Jimmy Rositer introduced me to Jason when I was 15. Jason was down in his basement playing his guitar along to KISW…FM 100 “Seattle’s Best Rock”… which he spent most of every day doing. Jason was the best guitarist I had ever seen. A short time later I tagged along to a jam session out at Evergreen Shores. Standing behind the drums and listening to an AC/DC jam I asked what was missing. They said “The Bass line”… I went out and got a bass. Our friend Waylon ran into Scotty at Capital Mall… Said hi to him because he had drumsticks in his back pocket. He told us to check out this drummer who could play “YYZ” perfectly! I didn’t have my driver’s license yet but managed to take my mom’s car with our amps over to Scotty’s. It was all smiles… We bonded instantly and soon began writing our own songs. Next we had to decide on a name. Jason & I were watching a PBS show on how guitars were made and they were using cypress wood. We liked the way it sounded but decided to spell it our own way (where we high?). We almost picked “Mercenary” but decided on Cyperus because we wanted a name that wouldn’t limit our genre (as we planned to be in this band forever). Bruce basically hunted us down and wouldn’t take no for an answer. He walked into practice and nailed “Victim of Changes”… The job was his. I think our first show was the Tumwater High School talent show. The Tropicana in downtown Olympia was our stomping ground. We played The Astor Park in Seattle as well as The Gorilla Gardens and many others. Capital Lakefair vowed never to have rock bands again after we packed the fairgrounds with screaming metalheads. Bruce wanted to tour but we voted him down (damn us). Jason & I also played in the high school jazz band with drummer Barrett Martin (who went on to bigger and better things including Skin Yard, The Screaming Trees, Mad Season, and REM.…). Queensryche was the hottest thing… so following in their footsteps we went to Triad Studios and made a 5-song demo recording we released as “CYPERUS” on New Year’s Eve 1987 at the Temple Theater in Tacoma opening for Diamond Lie (Jerry Cantrell’s band before Alice in Chains). Local fanzine editor Brad Brink sent out 10 cassettes to fanzines in Europe and it was received extremely well. We received massive fan mail and several favourable reviews including one in Rock Hard Magazine of Germany. After several great shows and parties we went back to Triad and recorded full-length album in 1988 that was never released (except for a few cassette tapes produced in 1991 titled Blow It Out Your Ass). Things were really starting to roll. The recording was completed and we had played with (or would play with) several great bands… Metal Church, Heathen, Defiance, The Accused, Celtic Frost, Nuclear Assault, Death Squad, Fitz of Depression, The Melvins, Forced Entry, Nevermore, Bitter End, Alice in Chains, My Sister’s Machine, Neil Zaza, Chemikill (Wargasm), Blind (Godhead) and several more that I just can’t remember. We had just received our first (and only) recording contract. Our attorney told us we would get screwed… eight years seamed like a long time when we were 20… so we blew it off (oops!). We made a new 5-song demo produced by Kurt Vanderhoof in 1990 that was never released (Bruce’s last recording). Shortly after that Bruce got arrested (again) and sentenced to a year in jail. We had also learned that Scotty was HIV positive. He had received a contaminated blood transfusion in California while having knee surgery (this was before anyone had ever even heard of AIDS). Scotty now felt a sense of urgency and did not want to wait for Bruce to clear his legal problems so… Bruce was out. Sonny Harper’s band had recently disbanded so we gave him a shot at vocals. He had a “Bruce Dickinson” quality to his voice. We set up some shows and a Canadian Tour with Forced Entry. Sonny quit the day of our first Seattle show. Instead of cancelling the show I sang. We did the tour as a three piece. I had a “Lemmy” quality to my voice but never felt confident that I had the bands approval. “Dive ta Dat” -featuring me on vocals- 4-song demo recorded in 1991 and never released (except for a few copies sold at Canadian Tour with Forced Entry). We decided to give Sonny another shot (bad idea? I think so). Things went extremely well at first. In 1992 we recorded “Sanity Management” a full-length album with all new material more reflective of the driving metal band that we wanted to be. With several regional tours under our belt we had established a circuit throughout the Northwest: Canada, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, Oregon, and of course Washington. We hit the studio again in 1994. This time we created the 5-song demo “STRESS” and we departed on a national tour. A show in Lubbock Texas with Nuclear Assault was the keystone. Unfortunately Scotty had health issues and had to leave the tour in the first week. We were joined by drummer Brett Schreiber and then later by drummer Eric Carlson who finished the tour with us. Again… Sonny quit the band… this time he left us in Dallas Texas (during a show) without telling us. We started playing and wondered why no vox. I looked at Waylon (crew) and he just shrugged. I thought maybe Sonny was having mic problems… it was more than just mic problems! So I sang. Within a few days Pat Aga graduated from road crew to singer and we finished the tour. We went on thru Oklahoma, Indiana, all the way to the East Coast and back. (Someday I may write the “Bus Chronicles”… Hi Booger Man… wherever you are!) Once back home we were faced with the harsh realization that Scotty could not continue, and that, as Led Zeppelin said when Bonham died, “we could not continue as we were.”
R.I.P. Scott Gerard Munger 04/14/1996
