Dr. Mastermind
Encyclopedia
Dr. Mastermind is a band featuring current Journey
drummer Deen Castronovo
, Wild Dogs
bandmate singer Matt McCourt (alias Dr. Mastermind), and guitarist Kurt James
. this was Never a Deen "project or deal" part of my signing with Shrapnel had to do with Deen joining Tony Macalpine... Mister varney had received the evil genius demos from me a year before the offer came up. and asked if i knew any drummers.. and ask ed if i could get Deen to play on the record" with this also came an offer from Mike for Deen to exit the Wild Dogs, move to Northern California and join Tony Macalpine's band and record his upcoming album "Edge of Insanity" all agreed and my friends drove a truck with deen's belongings, and his drums full of dry food and cereal to Prairie Sun Studios in Cotati where matt and Mike were putting the finishing touches on the album (the basic tracks were recorded in Portland Oregon at Cascade studio with Rick Mcmillan engineering and guitarist ron chick on rhythm guitar. The LP came out to grand reviews hitting number one in Keranng magazine's import charts for 3 months.. the band did one show with the original line up in 1987 adding bassist craig Lower(on loan from Mayhem who McCourt had also recorded the thrash lp 'burned Alive the prior year.)
Like Wild Dogs, Dr. Mastermind were musically very different from Journey. for Deen this Lp kicked off a series of Shrapnel records appearances including Marty Friedman's Dragon's Kiss and was the launching pad for his long career as a session drummer and landing him in a series of groups with Neal Schon.
Dr. Mastermind has existed since its inception in 1982 as evil genius here is the inclusive list of everyone who has ever played in this band beginning with a recording session in sept of 1982
McCourt still unsure of the future of Wild Dogs who had not yet committed themselves to becoming a group recorded a 3 song demo the week after playing on the Malice demo with Deen castronovo and Kip Doran and singer James Neal Malice had yet to procure bandmates Mick Zane and Mark Behn.
the first demo was recorded at Ace Tunnel Sound in Multnomah village in Portland Oregon.
1982
Matt McCourt -Guitar,bass,Vocals
Dave Koenig-Bass
Chon Carter-Drums
Kip doran -guitar
1983
Matt McCourt -Guitar,bass,Vocals
Rik baggett-drums
Kip doran -guitar
1984
This lineup recorded a 9 song lp at Recording Associates where Wild Dogs recorded their first demos and LP as well as Mayhem Burned Alive with engineer/producer Bob Stoutenburg a twin axe attack full of complex harmony solos and kip's Shenker influenced flying vee.the cd was finally released in 2006 as "Dr Mastermind must die cd" on the us metal records label
Matt McCourt -Guitar,bass,Vocals
Kip doran -guitar
Chris jacobsen-guitar
Ken Goldstein-bass
Ben Linton- drums
This lineup toured the region by limo provided by an old school friend and in reaction to the harsh discrimination against those whose body types don't resemble anorexia victims with a mop pf hair all members donned the same exact wig and outfitted themselves in similar costumes inspired by sci fi movies and the road warrior guitarist Kip doran referred to the group as: "The wayouts" the rock group in the Flintstones cartoon series)when no record offers came though the group disbanded and mccourt moved into the apartment complex he made famous on the dr Mastermind Lp song "The Villa 2631" he wrote the rest of the material for the Lp in a closet made for a murphy bed
to hide his guitar form the neighborhood full of thieves pimps and others who might get an idea to take it from him at gunpoint. It was during this period Mccourt joined Mayhem and recorded the Burned Alive lp and gigged with thrash masters Hirax, and Italy's Raw power.
1986 Matt (who had been in and out of Wild Dogs for most of 1984-85 as replacement singers kept quitting the group )shrapnel records offered McCourt solo deal and urged a name change From evil Genius- He renamed the group Mastermind,but another group with the same name( USA Prog rock band threatened a lawsuit.. so in typical McCourt MAD sense of humor he added Doctor to the name and became Dr Mastermind to avoid the conflict.
also a revision of some of the lyrics were an aspect of the new contractual agreement and those changes made the final cut to avoid any conflict with the new PMRC group who was having a heyday with another act Varney had produced. W.A.S.P.
in 1998 with Kurt james on guitar and Pete laufman(malice) drums Dr Mastermind performed on local television in Portland Oregon
2005 Kurt James and drummer Bryce van Patten and mccourt performed at Chicago Classic Metal Fest 5
2010 the current lineup includes Mccourt
Wild Dogs Guitarist Robert Robinson
Scott Spencer on drums and will begin live appearances Nov in Portland
Dr mastermind the album sessions
the lp was released in 1987
band members include
Tom "datsun Boy" Parenteau-Guitar
Mark Laskowski-Guitar
Scott Spencer -Drums 1987-1988
Robert Robinson -Guitar 1988 1989 present
Bryce Van Patten -Drums sin sandwich
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...
drummer Deen Castronovo
Deen Castronovo
Deen Castronovo is an Italian American drummer who has played in various bands, including Kandles at Nine, Cacophony, Bad English, Journey, The Enemy, Wild Dogs, Dr. Mastermind, Hardline, Planet Us, Soul Sirkus, Social Distortion, and Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler's G/Z/R, as well as in...
, Wild Dogs
Wild Dogs
Wild Dogs is an American power metal band from Portland, Oregon, formed loosely in 1981 by original members Jeff Mark, Danny Kurth, Matt McCourt, and Pete Holmes. The band has since released six albums, three live albums and one DVD...
bandmate singer Matt McCourt (alias Dr. Mastermind), and guitarist Kurt James
Kurt James
Kurt James is an American Heavy metal–rock guitarist and composer.Mr. James has recorded many different styles of music over the years, including Rockabilly, in the form of a collaboration with the Christian rockabilly band The Pioneers.-Musical career:James has performed in Japan, Europe...
. this was Never a Deen "project or deal" part of my signing with Shrapnel had to do with Deen joining Tony Macalpine... Mister varney had received the evil genius demos from me a year before the offer came up. and asked if i knew any drummers.. and ask ed if i could get Deen to play on the record" with this also came an offer from Mike for Deen to exit the Wild Dogs, move to Northern California and join Tony Macalpine's band and record his upcoming album "Edge of Insanity" all agreed and my friends drove a truck with deen's belongings, and his drums full of dry food and cereal to Prairie Sun Studios in Cotati where matt and Mike were putting the finishing touches on the album (the basic tracks were recorded in Portland Oregon at Cascade studio with Rick Mcmillan engineering and guitarist ron chick on rhythm guitar. The LP came out to grand reviews hitting number one in Keranng magazine's import charts for 3 months.. the band did one show with the original line up in 1987 adding bassist craig Lower(on loan from Mayhem who McCourt had also recorded the thrash lp 'burned Alive the prior year.)
Like Wild Dogs, Dr. Mastermind were musically very different from Journey. for Deen this Lp kicked off a series of Shrapnel records appearances including Marty Friedman's Dragon's Kiss and was the launching pad for his long career as a session drummer and landing him in a series of groups with Neal Schon.
Dr. Mastermind has existed since its inception in 1982 as evil genius here is the inclusive list of everyone who has ever played in this band beginning with a recording session in sept of 1982
McCourt still unsure of the future of Wild Dogs who had not yet committed themselves to becoming a group recorded a 3 song demo the week after playing on the Malice demo with Deen castronovo and Kip Doran and singer James Neal Malice had yet to procure bandmates Mick Zane and Mark Behn.
the first demo was recorded at Ace Tunnel Sound in Multnomah village in Portland Oregon.
1982
Matt McCourt -Guitar,bass,Vocals
Dave Koenig-Bass
Chon Carter-Drums
Kip doran -guitar
1983
Matt McCourt -Guitar,bass,Vocals
Rik baggett-drums
Kip doran -guitar
1984
This lineup recorded a 9 song lp at Recording Associates where Wild Dogs recorded their first demos and LP as well as Mayhem Burned Alive with engineer/producer Bob Stoutenburg a twin axe attack full of complex harmony solos and kip's Shenker influenced flying vee.the cd was finally released in 2006 as "Dr Mastermind must die cd" on the us metal records label
Matt McCourt -Guitar,bass,Vocals
Kip doran -guitar
Chris jacobsen-guitar
Ken Goldstein-bass
Ben Linton- drums
This lineup toured the region by limo provided by an old school friend and in reaction to the harsh discrimination against those whose body types don't resemble anorexia victims with a mop pf hair all members donned the same exact wig and outfitted themselves in similar costumes inspired by sci fi movies and the road warrior guitarist Kip doran referred to the group as: "The wayouts" the rock group in the Flintstones cartoon series)when no record offers came though the group disbanded and mccourt moved into the apartment complex he made famous on the dr Mastermind Lp song "The Villa 2631" he wrote the rest of the material for the Lp in a closet made for a murphy bed
to hide his guitar form the neighborhood full of thieves pimps and others who might get an idea to take it from him at gunpoint. It was during this period Mccourt joined Mayhem and recorded the Burned Alive lp and gigged with thrash masters Hirax, and Italy's Raw power.
1986 Matt (who had been in and out of Wild Dogs for most of 1984-85 as replacement singers kept quitting the group )shrapnel records offered McCourt solo deal and urged a name change From evil Genius- He renamed the group Mastermind,but another group with the same name( USA Prog rock band threatened a lawsuit.. so in typical McCourt MAD sense of humor he added Doctor to the name and became Dr Mastermind to avoid the conflict.
also a revision of some of the lyrics were an aspect of the new contractual agreement and those changes made the final cut to avoid any conflict with the new PMRC group who was having a heyday with another act Varney had produced. W.A.S.P.
in 1998 with Kurt james on guitar and Pete laufman(malice) drums Dr Mastermind performed on local television in Portland Oregon
2005 Kurt James and drummer Bryce van Patten and mccourt performed at Chicago Classic Metal Fest 5
2010 the current lineup includes Mccourt
Wild Dogs Guitarist Robert Robinson
Scott Spencer on drums and will begin live appearances Nov in Portland
Dr mastermind the album sessions
- Matt McCourt - Founder bass vocals guitarist on recordings
- Ron Chick-Guitar - (left out in the albums credits by mistake helped rewrite some of the Evil Genius songs to accommodate a neo classical lead guitar passage ala Yngwie Malmsteen in several songs)
- Deen CastronovoDeen CastronovoDeen Castronovo is an Italian American drummer who has played in various bands, including Kandles at Nine, Cacophony, Bad English, Journey, The Enemy, Wild Dogs, Dr. Mastermind, Hardline, Planet Us, Soul Sirkus, Social Distortion, and Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler's G/Z/R, as well as in...
- Drums(salem Oregon) - Kurt JamesKurt JamesKurt James is an American Heavy metal–rock guitarist and composer.Mr. James has recorded many different styles of music over the years, including Rockabilly, in the form of a collaboration with the Christian rockabilly band The Pioneers.-Musical career:James has performed in Japan, Europe...
- Guitar (Costa mesa California)
the lp was released in 1987
band members include
- Michael BrownMichael Brown-Politics:*Michael Brown , current mayor of Grand Forks, North Dakota*Michael Brown , former British Conservative MP, now a political journalist...
- Guitar
Tom "datsun Boy" Parenteau-Guitar
Mark Laskowski-Guitar
Scott Spencer -Drums 1987-1988
Robert Robinson -Guitar 1988 1989 present
Bryce Van Patten -Drums sin sandwich
- Boriz Haranki - Guitar (on Dr. Mastermind - history of evil genius)
- Paul Dreyer - Drums sin sandwich
- Iwan Hendrikx Drums (on Dr. Mastermind -history of evil genius )
- Ryk Hoffert - Drums
- Bryce van Patten - Drums
Discography
- Evil Genius - 1984
- Dr. Mastermind(s/t) - 1986
- Dr. Mastermind + Captured Alive - 1988
- Dr. Mastermind + Captured Alive - 1998
- One Night Stand - DVD
- Sin Sandwich - 2005
- History of Evil Genius (With Patrick LachmanPatrick Lachman-Biography:Patrick Lachman is an American heavy metal guitarist and vocalist. The Portland, Oregon native was a short-lived member of Dr. Mastermind, featuring former Wild Dogs vocalist Matt McCourt, before joining his brother, vocalist Tim Lachman, in another local band, Gargoyle, in 1988...
) - ? - 20th Anniversary Edition - February 2007
- Bride of Dr Mastermind...2010