BRITISH INVASION: The Transitional Era (2003)

SONG - Election Day

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Freshman year of high school, Paul befriended faux-British rapscallion, Jay Swanson. Paul duped Jay into thinking that he was a Canadian and, due to their shared fake connection to Her Royal Highness, they bonded. Coincidentally, Mason and Jay were also previously acquainted through their church’s youth breakfasts, watching The Truman Show and breakfast burrito eating contests.

At the time, Catscan was auditioning many talented young drummers in search of a fourth human member. None made any meaningful connection with Mason, Paul, or Jeff. It became apparent that personal chemistry was more important than technical ability during the auditions.

Jay, who also worked with Mason on the Hawk Talk staff and dabbled in roguish shenanigans with Paul in the Ratskulls, heard about the tryouts and mentioned that he owned an old drum set. Although he didn't know how to play, and had no musical background whatsoever, Jay pulled the dusty set out of his attic and practiced for a formal audition. Though significantly worse, technically, than many of the other drummers, Jay's enthusiasm and like-minded worldview won him the spot in Catscan. He vowed to hone his skills and study music theory in order to become a more competent and contributing band member.

Jay, Jeff, Mason, and Paul only recorded one CD together, The Candidates, a politically-charged rock album, inaccurately quoted in the Hawk Talk as "for your brain, because it's real". However, during these sessions, the four members were only in the same room together once. Jeff's long distance relationship was not working, and the others eventually came to the sad conclusion that it would be best to become a power trio. Jeff was forced into retirement shortly after the release of The Candidates. E.D. was also phased out around the same time.

As Jay's drumming prowess grew, so did Catscan's concentration. Rather than simply writing and recording, the focus shifted to rehearsal for another gig… opening for a loud Floridian band at the biggest venue in town.