The Coinmonster Bio

It is impossible to try to sum up 10 years in one little paragraph, but here's a shot at it... COINMONSTER was started in the summer of 1990 by John Troutman and Jon Reider. The 2 had grown sick of the cover band circuit and all of the glam rock nonsense that had spoiled the water around PA/OH. They sat down for a solid 3 months, creating music that was challenging, heavy, and completely original.

The following February, they hooked up with maniac drummer Dave Galazia,and singer Georg Lang, who they had both known from previous bands together. They rehearsed one time in a freezing cold attic, wrote a song, and the rest is history. The band quickly put together a 10 song set that covered every musical style under the sun, from funk to hard-core and all angles in between.

COINMONSTER practiced in the dark, in separate rooms, over the telephone, you name it, they did what it took to become the most painfully tight band you will ever see. Honest. Georg left the band shortly after one show together for job reasons, so the trio hooked up with Jeff Deasy from Cleveland. The 4-some spent the next 2 years taking over the Youngstown region with packed live shows filled with amazing energy and sound. The first cassette "Two More Weeks" , was spawned from this lineup.

Shortly after, COINMONSTER parted ways with Deasy, and were left as a trio again. Through much coaxing from friends and other bands, Reider took over the vocal department, as well as playing guitar... Soon COINMONSTER entered Mud Hut Studios (the studio where they have recorded all FIVE albums and various jazz projects) and recorded their first 3-piece effort "Work Sweat and Pain Among Friends". Released totally DIY, the cassette went on to become a local favorite, and is actually going to be re-released on CD through Bandaloop Records, the bands' new label.

The band eventually caught the ear of Bill Hutchison, who was breaking into the world of artist management right about the same time that the band wanted to break out of the Youngstown area and test some new waters. Things were happening quickly, and another label, Tee Pee Records from NYC signed up to do a 7" single for COINMONSTER in 1994, right around the same time that "Guido El' Sorrio", the bands' first CD effort, was released. COINMONSTER went from playing the local clubs once every month, to playing every weekend, sometimes 3 or 4 nights a week, in clubs all over the Tri-State area and beyond.. Fueled by rave reviews and an ever growing fan base, the band started to make a TON of noise.

When they released "Universal Solvent" in 1995, CM teamed up with Skateboard Marketing out of NYC to promote the CD to college radio all over the US. They quickly started charting in the top ten and top five at several stations, and charted on all of the major music publications as well, such as CMJ, FMQB, etc. After playing extensively throughout the areas of PA, OH, and NY, Troutman graduated from college and decided that he was moving to Cincinnati, OH. No one thought that it would be a big problem at first, and the 5 hour distance really wasn't that bad to deal with, but it was... Through much anguish, John decided that he simply could not handle all of the traveling, which was being done in addition to all of his school work and making wedding preparations, etc... He sometimes would have to drive 5 hours to New Castle, only to jump in the van with the rest of the band and drive another 3 hours to central Pennsylvania for a show. It was killing him. CM had a big discussion about who would or COULD replace him and came up with 2 people.

Reider called one of those people for the other ones' phone number, but before the conversation was over, CM had a new bass player named Rick Stoner. They worked Rick in while playing the 3 remaining shows with John so there would be zero downtime. Rick's first show was in October of 1998 at CBGB's in NYC and the rest is HISTORY. CM released their FIFTH full length recording in February 2000 called "The Schematic". The recording shows a natural progression for the band, while still maintaining the integrity that has been with them since 1990. The shows have grown more intense than ever, and the amount of respect COINMONSTER has earned over the past 10 years cannot be measured.