Cosmic Testicles have been recording music together since 1996 and every session is recorded completely live with no rehearsals. We have grown to know each other so well musically that we can sense what the other is thinking. Our setup has to be the most unconventional way to record in the entire universe. The drums are actually inside the garage of my house and we have a long output stereo cord that can run a short distance to Studio B located in the next room or a long distance to Studio A in the back yard almost 60 feet away! There is absolutely no eye contact and the only communication we have is a microphone and headphones. The sound quality of George's combo e-kit / acoustic drums and my synthesizers equals many high priced professional studios and the mix can only be described as perfect!

When people hear what we have recorded over the past couple of years, they shake their heads in disbelief saying there is no way you can create that music in real time ... but we do. The crazy thing is I know it will get even better in the next few months because a few more minor pieces will be in place and all the level settings will be finished with nothing else to think about except making music!

The Cosmic Testicles Story...

I started working at the Schmidt's brewery on April 17, 1972 and except for six months in 1974 when I moved to Colorado Springs, I worked there until May 22, 1987 when it closed down. Before it went out of business I made friends with Bob Weekley, a manager at a record store in Cherry Hill called Sound Odyssey. I was collecting unemployment when Bob asked me to work as a security guard during the Christmas season and I started the week before Thanksgiving. When the new year arrived I was asked to stay on as the CD buyer for the store.

I met George at the store in 1988 when he was working at Richman Brothers, a warehouse that supplied Sound Odyssey. We shared the same interest in music and discovered we had a lot in common other than the fact that we were both musicians.

Two years pass and Bob decides to leave and work at Philadelphia Sign Co. in Palmyra, NJ. Then Sound Odyssey was bought out by a British group and the name was changed to Wee Three Records. Things just weren't same anymore and I knew it was just a matter of time before I would be looking for a new job.

Bob was playing bass for an original band called Blue Sky It. The band was led by Philip Ball who played guitar and wrote the songs and lyrics. The lead vocalist was Rick Grabowski who was the lead vocalist in another band with Phil called Metachron. On keyboards was another friend of mine Dave Lunt, and a member of the critically acclaimed electronic synth band called the Nightcrawlers that was often compared to early Tangerine Dream. Once in a while I would go over for a few beers and listen to them practice downstairs.

The time to find another job had arrived and once again Bob set up an interview at Philadelphia Sign Co. My first day was July 27, 1992 and I remain there to this day.

Bob and his wife dropped a bombshell on everyone saying they were moving to Arizona. I was losing a good friend and Blue Sky It was losing their bass player. Bass guitar was my original instrument until I was intoxicated by the sounds of a synthesizer. I traded my Rickenbacker bass for an Elka Rhapsody keyboard in 1975 so it was almost 20 years since I played the bass. Phil asked me to join the band and in no time I shook off the rust and quickly learned the songs that I heard before when I was invited to their practice sessions.

Then the guy who said he would play the drums told the band he cannot play because of problems at home. Now we were without a drummer and I just spent $900 on a new fretless Rickenbacker bass.

Fate was on our side a week or two later when I was at a record convention in Valley Forge, Pa. on Labor Day weekend and out of the mob of people looking for a rare find was a familiar face. It was George Martindell who I hadn't seen since an Ozric Tentacles show on April 20, 1994 at the Chestnut Cabaret in Philadelphia. We talked for a few minutes and then I asked if he was available to play drums for an original band. I thought there was no chance he was free to join but much to my surprise he said he was available and can start right away. I later found out his band Nasty Canasta just broke up after a long journey playing the rock 'n roll circuit in South Jersey. His initial reaction was to say no, he had just gone through a tough time breaking up a band that had great potential ... but his love and desire to play the drums over ruled that decision and Blue Sky It recorded two albums Life (1996) and Truth (1998).

As we were recording the Life album, after each session when everyone else went home ... George and I would stay and continue playing. We developed our own style of music and soon the Cosmic Testicles began its own journey creating an entirely new genre of music that continues to this day!

Pictures of our gear can be seen on the Studio Pics page.

Speaking of gear, after many years of experimenting George has come up with a one-of-a-kind setup that suits the Cosmic Testicles sound to a tee. Best described as a hybrid acoustic-electric kit, George uses a Roland Turbo e-kit brain with Yamaha pads, a Roland SPD-11 and acoustic drums by TAMA including an acoustic bass, tom-toms, floor tom and a snare. The acoustic drums are enhanced with various percussion instruments and four microphones. The combo kit is mixed using two Alesis Multimix FX6 mixers with effects and delivers a powerful sound to the main mixers in Studio A and Studio B.

Studio A has the most to offer with all those awesome synthesizers but Studio B can stand up to the plate as well.

Studio A has 21 synthesizers, a Manikin Electronic Memotron and 6 mixers. Waldorf synthesizers are well represented with 15 including a Q+, Q32, Q16, Blofeld, Micro Q Omega, two Micro Q, Q Rack, Micro Wave, Micro Wave II, Micro Wave XT, Micro Wave XTk30, Pulse, Pulse+ and a Rack Attack. There is also a Moog Voyager RME, an Access XL Rack, E-MU Vintage Pro, DSI Poly Evolver and a Triton Rack. Add a Manikin Electronic Schrittmacher MIDI Step Sequencer, an Eventide Eclipse, an Alesis Micron, a Waldorf miniWORKS EQ-27, a Waldorf X-Pole Dual Filter, two Waldorf miniWORKS 4-Pole Filters, Lexicon MPX-550 dual channel processor, a Fatar CMK-49 keyboard controller, an Electrix WarpFactory Vocoder, a Roland XV-2020 and three microphones. The mixer section has two Mackie 1202-VLZ PRO, a Mackie 1402-VLZ PRO, a Fostex FD-8 multitrack, an Alesis Multimix FX6 and a Behringer Eurorack MX-802A.

Studio B has 9 synthesizers, another Manikin Electronic Schrittmacher MIDI Step Sequencer and 2 mixers. There has to be at least two Waldorf synthesizers, and they would be a rare yellow Q16 keyboard with wooden end cheeks and a Micro Q Keyboard. Add those to an E-MU Proteus 2000, a Korg 01/WFD, an Access Virus b, a Clavia/Nord Micro Modular, a Novation KS-4, an Alesis NanoBass and a Moog Etherwave Theremin. There is a Sherman Filter Bank v1, a Roland PK-5 pedal controller, a Lexicon MX-200 dual reverb/effects processor and one microphone. The mixer section has a Mackie 1202-VLZ and a Mackie 1202-VLZ PRO and last but not least are two Roland KC-500 stereo mixing keyboard amplifiers.