John Gerard and Guy Koplitz with the band, Ambush, onstage at The Mill Casino-Hotel in December. — Gig Photo by Susan Chambers
Mark Denson, Ambush's drummer, performs with the band at Walt's Pourhouse in November. — Gig Photo by Susan Chambers
By Jo Rafferty
Gig Editor
It’s hard to live in the Coos Bay/North Bend area and not have heard of the band, Ambush. The trio of friendly guys, lead by Guy Koplitz, have gigs scheduled at a number of Bay Area venues all the time.
Band members Koplitz [guitar/vocals], Mark Denson [drums/vocals] and John Gerard [bass/vocals] have put in a lot of hard work to get where they are today, but still manage to have a lot of fun, as you’ll find out [although some of it is unprintable!].
So, hope you’ll enjoy listening to our conversation as much as I enjoyed having it with them in The Mill Casino’s Warehouse 101 the other day prior to their performance, amidst a crowd of Ducks fans watching a football game, which made hearing a little challenging. Hint: Listening to Ambush play is even more fun so get out and watch them at The Mill Casino-Hotel Dec. 24-26, or at the Coos Bay Eagles Club on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day!
Gig: How long have you been together as a band?
Guy: On and off for eight years. Together for four years, off for three years, on for one year.
Gig: You’ve managed to stay together that long. Is there a secret to it?
Mark: There’s a chemistry, we all noticed.
Guy: We’re one of the lucky bands that have three personalities to deal with.
Gig: How did you guys meet?
Guy: Me and John played in a country band in Phoenix, Arizona.
John: [correcting] Country rock. We met in a little town of Globe, about 10,000 people.
Guy: John moved here in 1999. He started playing with Mark and me and him kept in touch. Mark and John played together about a year, just working on songs. They were waiting for me. [laughs]
Gig: What are some of your favorite performances over the years you can recall?
Guy: We do one or two fundraisers a year, Bykes for Tykes, Children’s Miracle Network.
Mark: They’re rewarding. It’s for a good cause. We’re all parents.
Gig: How do you describe your type of music?
Guy: Every hit song you’ve ever heard on steroids. We do everything from the 70s to today. We do everything from Brown-eyed Girl to Black Sabbath. We do some extremely heavy stuff as opposed to light and fluffy stuff.
Gig: What makes your band different from other bands?
Guy: We do songs that other bands don’t do.
Mark: We stay crunchy, even in milk. [seriously] We do the song, “The Munsters”. It’s kind of almost our signature. People started asking for it. We do a segway of “Play That Funky Music White Boy”, “You Sexy Thing” and then “The Wall” and then back into “You Sexy Thing” again. We put a chunk of ourselves in it.
Guy: I mean, who else does “The Good, Bad & the Ugly”?
Mark: I think Clint would take his hat off to us.
John: We know all the standards as well.
Gig: Where did you grow up?
Mark: Redondo Beach originally, then Grants Pass and Portland.
John: I was born in New York.
Guy: From Phoenix.
What are your day jobs?
Mark: I’m a service manager for Verger Chrysler.
Guy: I fuel jets by day.
John: I work at LTM Truck & RV Repair doing paint and body work.
Gig: What are your musical influences?
Guy: Steve Vai, Joe Satriani. My No. 1 hugest who got me to play the guitar in the first place is Randy Rhoades. That’s the reason I’m here today. It’s probably the reason I’m HERE today. I don’t know where I’d be if I wasn’t playing guitar.
Mark: Liberty DiVito [Billy Joel's drummer], Jon Bonham, Gene Krupa.
John: Grand Funk, Led Zeppelin, Cars, Pink Floyd.
Guy: Bam-Bam from the Flintstones [laughed]
Mark: Ren & Stimpy
Guy: Beavis & Butthead
Gig: What is your best memory?
Mark: We have lots of great memories. Mostly you can’t print them. [After hearing some of them, I agreed, although the stories drew a lot of laughs around the table. Some things just have to stay a secret.]
Guy: We played at Lloyd’s one night and a golfer came in and gave us a hundred dollar bill for every song he requested that we knew. We ended up with five $100 bills.
We’re not like wild partier types. That was in our younger years.
Cutting it up with Ambush
John Gerard and Guy Koplitz with the band, Ambush, onstage at The Mill Casino-Hotel in December. — Gig Photo by Susan Chambers
Mark Denson, Ambush's drummer, performs with the band at Walt's Pourhouse in November. — Gig Photo by Susan Chambers
By Jo Rafferty
Gig Editor
It’s hard to live in the Coos Bay/North Bend area and not have heard of the band, Ambush. The trio of friendly guys, lead by Guy Koplitz, have gigs scheduled at a number of Bay Area venues all the time.
Band members Koplitz [guitar/vocals], Mark Denson [drums/vocals] and John Gerard [bass/vocals] have put in a lot of hard work to get where they are today, but still manage to have a lot of fun, as you’ll find out [although some of it is unprintable!].
So, hope you’ll enjoy listening to our conversation as much as I enjoyed having it with them in The Mill Casino’s Warehouse 101 the other day prior to their performance, amidst a crowd of Ducks fans watching a football game, which made hearing a little challenging. Hint: Listening to Ambush play is even more fun so get out and watch them at The Mill Casino-Hotel Dec. 24-26, or at the Coos Bay Eagles Club on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day!
Gig: How long have you been together as a band?
Guy: On and off for eight years. Together for four years, off for three years, on for one year.
Gig: You’ve managed to stay together that long. Is there a secret to it?
Mark: There’s a chemistry, we all noticed.
Guy: We’re one of the lucky bands that have three personalities to deal with.
Gig: How did you guys meet?
Guy: Me and John played in a country band in Phoenix, Arizona.
John: [correcting] Country rock. We met in a little town of Globe, about 10,000 people.
Guy: John moved here in 1999. He started playing with Mark and me and him kept in touch. Mark and John played together about a year, just working on songs. They were waiting for me. [laughs]
Gig: What are some of your favorite performances over the years you can recall?
Guy: We do one or two fundraisers a year, Bykes for Tykes, Children’s Miracle Network.
Mark: They’re rewarding. It’s for a good cause. We’re all parents.
Gig: How do you describe your type of music?
Guy: Every hit song you’ve ever heard on steroids. We do everything from the 70s to today. We do everything from Brown-eyed Girl to Black Sabbath. We do some extremely heavy stuff as opposed to light and fluffy stuff.
Gig: What makes your band different from other bands?
Guy: We do songs that other bands don’t do.
Mark: We stay crunchy, even in milk. [seriously] We do the song, “The Munsters”. It’s kind of almost our signature. People started asking for it. We do a segway of “Play That Funky Music White Boy”, “You Sexy Thing” and then “The Wall” and then back into “You Sexy Thing” again. We put a chunk of ourselves in it.
Guy: I mean, who else does “The Good, Bad & the Ugly”?
Mark: I think Clint would take his hat off to us.
John: We know all the standards as well.
Gig: Where did you grow up?
Mark: Redondo Beach originally, then Grants Pass and Portland.
John: I was born in New York.
Guy: From Phoenix.
What are your day jobs?
Mark: I’m a service manager for Verger Chrysler.
Guy: I fuel jets by day.
John: I work at LTM Truck & RV Repair doing paint and body work.
Gig: What are your musical influences?
Guy: Steve Vai, Joe Satriani. My No. 1 hugest who got me to play the guitar in the first place is Randy Rhoades. That’s the reason I’m here today. It’s probably the reason I’m HERE today. I don’t know where I’d be if I wasn’t playing guitar.
Mark: Liberty DiVito [Billy Joel's drummer], Jon Bonham, Gene Krupa.
John: Grand Funk, Led Zeppelin, Cars, Pink Floyd.
Guy: Bam-Bam from the Flintstones [laughed]
Mark: Ren & Stimpy
Guy: Beavis & Butthead
Gig: What is your best memory?
Mark: We have lots of great memories. Mostly you can’t print them. [After hearing some of them, I agreed, although the stories drew a lot of laughs around the table. Some things just have to stay a secret.]
Guy: We played at Lloyd’s one night and a golfer came in and gave us a hundred dollar bill for every song he requested that we knew. We ended up with five $100 bills.
We’re not like wild partier types. That was in our younger years.