THE HISTORY OF JET DRIVE-IN
(PART ONE IN A CONTINUING SERIES)

Jet Drive In Formed in 1986 under the moniker "SCARRED FOR LIFE", this eccentric band congregated in a garage and attic apartment in Quartz Hill aptly named "The Mole Hole". Bassist/guitarist Bill Blair, bassist/sax/keyboard player John Roberts, and band creator Doug Lawrence, along with a plethora of "weekend warrior" musicians hammered out energetic covers of songs by The Cramps, Iggy Pop, Pere Ubu and The Ventures.

Playing homemade instruments through twenty-dollar amplifiers (singer Doug Kibbler actually sang through a microphone fabricated from a headphone speaker and toilet paper tube!) the band began to develop a cult following playing living room parties throughout the Antelope Valley.

While working at a local video store, John Roberts and Doug Lawrence met new employee Dean Matherly, a thrash guitarist who previously played in Racket. Sharing a love for cult movies and cartoons, the three quickly became friends and Dean was invited to jam with the band.

As with most garage bands, loud rock & roll and unsympathetic neighbors simply do not mix, (everyone's a critic these days) and without a permanent place to jam, fledgling acts are often forced into early retirement. A year later John opened house to Brown Acres, his answer to the notorius Mole Hole. John's compound consisted of his home where countless hours were spent watching awful movies and the adjacent chicken barn where a few hours were spent playing awfully loud music.

Through experimental sessions and a few personnel changes Scarred For Life's line up now included Sly Hearns on drums, Bill switched back to bass, Dean handled all the guitar, and John rounded it out as lead vocalist. As the band began to write faster, grittier material, they began to open shows for Terminal Holocaust, D.I., Face To Face, and Blink (before they added 182).

Scarred For Life became a local favorite for mosh-pits at larger venues like A.V. Fairgrounds and Del Sur Gardens as well as smaller clubs as the now defunct Clubhouse 41 and Mabels. During a particulary dry spell, with virtually no venues to play at in town, a local television station made the unfortunate decision of giving the band a television show. Dumpsterpiece Theatre was a cult movie showcase punctuated with the witticisms of John and his puppet sidekicks. (Sound familiar?)

After three years the tv station & show mysteriously exploded. And it was back to making music....

to be continued!

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