Tom Bevis

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Thomas Harold Bevis was born in Jacksonville, Florida on December 24, 1987. At the age of two, his family moved to El Cajon, California, a low-class suburban region near San Diego. When the family moved, his father was in the Navy and often at sea. Shortly after the move, his parents split, causing an even greater separation. His father served worked in a variety of jobs, including management at a Regal Cinema and a bicycle salesman before moving to Rising Sun, Indiana. Bevis began high school at Steele Canyon High School in 2002, where he began to approach writing and music at a serious level. He struggled in his first band, The 32nd, freshman year and wrote short fiction and the basis for his first novel in the background. The 32nd, which was named after the fictional date of the bands creation, October 32, consisted of his childhood friends Michael Thomas (bass) and Jefferson Cohen (drums), and never had a vocalist. The next year, he moved to Rising Sun to stay with his father and The 32nd broke up. While in Indiana, he had a short stint in the glam band Brothers of the Sisterhood before they broke up. Bevis soon joined a band called Imagination, which changed its name to Funeral Bell after Bevis introduced the group to Black Label Society. Funeral Bell saw an incompatibility among the members and they split. Bevis and Funeral Bell keyboardist Melissa Rose, formed Thunderkiss with the former vocalist of Brothers of the Sisterhood, David Sebastion, and newcomer Ben Walker. Thunderkiss recorded two records, Studio 69 and an unreleased live record, Alive and Screaming. Between the outfits, Bevis worked as a recording artist with his solo outfit, Stillborn, under which he recorded four studio tracks and three live acoustic tracks. Thunderkiss split when Bevis chose to return to California half a year later, where he resumed his high school career at El Cajon Valley High School, struggling musically all the while. After he became settled in California, he stepped up his practice routine and put his writing aside to focus completely on music. He recollected his friends Michael Thomas and Jefferson Cohen and formed Black Illusion. It became apparent that the combination of the three would not be able to function as a band due to Michael Thomas' disinterest in music and the distance between Bevis and Cohen. Bevis dropped the outfit and went back to working solo on the new Project CHAOS. The result was the record Tommy Chaos and the Sacrament of the Silver String, a collection of electric-acoustic instrumentals. During this time, he also returned to writing short fiction, but didn't build on his novel. Hungry to play in a band again, Bevis returned to bassist Michael Thomas and the two formed Secondhand Noose, the brainchild of Bevis' Zakk Wylde influenced rhythm guitar and the post-apocalyptic circus scenario that had began to envelope his fiction writing. Michael Thomas was once again removed from the outfit due to lack of dedication, and Bevis called on drummer Jefferson Cohen in an attempt to preserve the sound of The 32nd and Black Illusion. The group has since seen the come and go of a handful of bassist. Bevis has accepted bass duty in studio and also records the temporary vocal tracks. The distance between Bevis and Cohen caused long periods of inactivity for Secondhand Noose, which gave both musicians room for solo projects. Chaos formed MERC, once again with Michael Thomas, who left the outfit after their first release, Record1. Bevis continued to work with the material for a short while, but lost interested without Thomas' assistance. He gathered up the left-over tracks from Record1 and the small numbers of tracks created for a new record and titled it The Return of Davey Crockett. To fill MERC's space, Bevis created Operation Omega and drafted a few tracks that brought natural guitar and bass together with synthetic drums and electronic sound and began the basis for the record Breathing Machine. Around that same time, Jefferson Cohen extended an invitation to Bevis to join his band, Pirates of Ahrimon. His membership didn't last very long, however, and he was quickly replaced. Tom Bevis soon got the opportunity to work with one of his influences in the music world, Killian Thorn of Aristaeus, when they formed The Stand. Though written music for the band exists, there are no recordings. Bevis soon put his loved and knowledge of the blues and formed The Regulators, with music heavily influenced by the works of Stephen King. Killian Thorn called on Bevis again in 2006 to record the bass for an upcoming Aristaeus record. Graduating on schedule in 2006, Bevis immediately began his college career at Grossmont Community College, enrolling in his first creative writing classes, putting music in the passenger seat to focus fully on writing for the first time in his life.

Contents 1 Musical Involvement 1.1 List of Bands 1.2 List of Bands Produced 2 Influences 2.1 Literary 2.2 Musical 3 Discography 4 Bibliography

[edit] Musical Involvement

Bevis was a dedicated musician ever since his days in middle school, but found numerous difficulties along the road. He quickly took to guitar and bass, and was involved with several musical outfits. After the rapid disintegration of his project, Black Illusion, Bevis took the moniker Tommy Chaos and aspired to become a record producer for a short while, but decided that writing was his true calling.

[edit] List of Bands

• The 32nd (Guitar)
• Black Illusion (Guitar)
• Stillborn (Guitar, Bass, Vocals)
• Brothers of the Sisterhood (Bass)
• Funeral Bell (Bass)
• Thunderkiss (Guitar)
• Secondhand Noose (Guitar)
• Project CHAOS (Guitar, Bass, Vocals)
• MERC (Mixing)
• Pirates of Ahrimon (Guitar)
• The Stand (Guitar)
• The Regulators (Guitar)
• Aristaeus (Bass)

[edit] List of Bands Produced

• Secondhand Noose
• MERC
• Project CHAOS

[edit] Influences

[edit] Literary

From an early age, Bevis was drawn to the informal prose of Stephen King. His mother was an avid collecter of King's novels, and often gave Bevis spare copies of the paperbacks she'd acquire. Bevis read It at the age of ten, and The Stand at the age of 12, and several of King's other novels during the following years. The lyrics written by Bevis also show his love for Stephen King. All the lyrics by The Regulators are based on Stephen King's stories, along with a handful of other songs throughout his musicla career. King served as a bridge to other authors, including Peter Straub and H.P. Lovecraft. Regarding Lovecraft, Bevis was attracted to the use of documents, such as newspapers articles, to move the story line. Bevis also enjoyed the work of Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, and George Orwell.

[edit] Musical

Bevis came from a bloodline void of musicians, but his mother again provided him with a solid foundation in music. She appreciated all genres of music, giving Bevis the rounded edge of country, rock, and heavy metal. Bevis particularly took to Metallica, Guns n' Roses, and Jimmy Buffett. As he grew, he opened his mind to more controversial acts as Marilyn Manson and Ozzy Osbourne. From Ozzy, he learned of Zakk Wylde and his side-project, Black Label Society. Being a rhythm guitarist, Bevis drew heavy influence from the dropped D rhythm lining of Zakk Wylde. Other smaller influences include Marilyn Manson-era John5 and Virus of Dope.

[edit] Discography

• Stillborn: Self-Titled EP (as Dacov von Grimlock) (2003)
• Thunderkiss: Studio 69 (as Dacov von Grimlock) (2003)
• Thunderkiss: Alive and Screaming (live) (as Dacov von Grimlock) (2003)
• Project CHAOS: Tommy Chaos and the Sacrament of the Silver String (Guitar, Bass) (2004)
• MERC: Record1 (Mixing) (2005)
• Project CHAOS: Mythos (as Tommy Chaos) (2006)
• MERC: The Return of Davey Crockett (Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Drum Machine, Mixing) (2006)
• Aristaues: Self-Titled (as Dacov von Grimlock) (2006)
• The Regulators: The Drawing of the Three (as Tommy Chaos) (2006)
• Operation Omega: Breating Machine (Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Drum Machine, Programming, Mixing) (2007)
• Secondhand Noose: The Circus is in Town (as Tommy Chaos) (2007)

[edit] Bibliography

• Juvenillia: A Collection of Short Stories (2006)
• After Midnight: A Novel (2007)