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December 10 , 2002
As announced here last month, 's classic debut album Cold will be reissued in early 2003 in a joint release by API Records and the New York-based punk label Can't A-Ford Em Records. This CD reissue will mark the first time Cold is available in it's original form as an official release on CD. Until now, the Cold album in its original form has only been available on cassette, although the band did consider releasing the album on vinyl back in 1990. In addition to a complete digital remastering and a restored track order, a never before available stereo edit of the early track 74 Words will be included in this new reissue.

Patrick Bamburak, currently in the studio co-producing the upcoming Tim Keyes solo album Sketchbook, will executive produce the remastering session for the Cold reissue. Joe and Teresa Gutsick are designing the album's artwork, based upon the original artwork Joe created for the proposed vinyl release of the album from 1990.

We will post more information on the Cold reissue in the coming weeks.

Friends and fans of are also reminded that Music Is Freedom continues to be available for FREE direct from API Records. Music Is Freedom makes the perfect holiday gift of music, to be sure to get your copy today. - Newsdesk

December 5, 2002
Give the gift of music this Holiday Season!

Friends and fans of are reminded that they can receive a FREE copy of Music Is Freedom direct from API Records. Music Is Freedom will remain available for FREE only as long as supplies last, so be sure to email API Records for your copy today! Visit the Music Is Freedom page at API Records for more information on this special project. - Newsdesk

November 18, 2002
On Sunday, November 18, Patrick joined Funhaus singer Michelle Aversano for her performance in Staten Island, New York, at an awards/fundraising event for NAMI, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. Among the award recipients was Sylvia Nasar, author of the book, A Beautiful Mind, upon which the Oscar-winning film was based. Michelle and Patrick performed an acoustic version of Leave My Tears Alone,from the Funhaus album. The Funhaus CD was also available for sale, with a portion of the proceeds being donated to the Staten Island chapter of the NAMI organization. - Newsdesk

November 5 , 2002
The Newsdesk caught up with Patrick to review some brief news bits:

Patrick continues his work at API Studios producing and performing on the upcoming Tim Keyes solo album, Sketchbook. "Tim's new album is a very intense record," Patrick told the Newsdesk. "It's been an incredibly rewarding project to work on, and I can't wait for people to hear it."

The next project booked on the API Studios schedule is the new album, Big Top World. "Moving from Tim's record right into the next album is perfect for me. Music is alot like sports, so when you have been training hard and are in fighting shape, there's no better time to jump in the ring!" Patrick said.

In addition to their work on the new album Big Top World, Patrick and Joe have also begun work on preparing the classic album Cold for reissue on a punk label based in New York. All of the tracks will be remastered for the reissue, and the CD will also feature the never before available stereo edit of 74 Words, (see News, April 11, 2002). "The reissue will be a joint release between API Records and Can't A-Ford Em Records, which is a new punk label run by Patrick Stanley. Joe and I are very excited about getting the Cold album out to new audiences," Patrick said. Cold will be released in early 2003. More details on the reissue will be posted here at baitoven.com.

The Music Is Freedom CD continues to be available for FREE, direct from API Records. The MP3 of the track My Only Friend is one of the top downloads at API Records' website, so be sure to check it out and order your FREE copy of Music Is Freedom.

On the MP3 front, baitoven.com has recently logged some of its highest MP3 download statistics since the launch of the site in January 2000. Work goes on behind the scenes for a full redesign and relaunch of baitoven.com. "The website is our primary form of communication with our friends and fans. Joe and I are amazed at the world-wide reach of baitoven.com, so we're really putting alot of thought into the redesign of the site, " Patrick said. "Joe and his wife Teresa are the masterminds of baitoven.com so all of the compliments that I frequently receive on the site's design should really go to them. Their ideas for baitoven.com V2 will take it to the next level."

And finally, the album September is available as an import to our friends and fans in the UK from Amazon. Visitors from outside the United States can check the availability of the CD catalog through their local Amazon branch. Both September and Ugly Songs are available throughout Europe as imports. Friends and fans in Europe can also check the page at www.fusic.com for local information. Any questions regarding the availability of the CD catalog can be directed here. - Newsdesk

September 10 , 2002
The Newsdesk has been receiving a number of questions about Joe Gutsick as of late. We sat down with him, and posed the more common questions to him:

Is it difficult to play drums in a band with no full-time bass player?
Not at all. I've been playing drums that way since day one, and the majority of my time playing drums was without a bass player. I think if I had started out playing in a band with a bass player, and became accustomed to a more conventional rhythm section, it might be a bit of a shift for me. When I started to play in a band with a bass player, my approach to drum arrangement didn't change at all. I actually prefer writing the drum pieces against the lead instrument...

How did you get that cymbal sound in Voice of a Generation on the Ugly Songs CD?
If you're referring to the overall tonal quality of the cymbals, that answer's easy: the cymbals were cheap pieces of crap!

I'm guessing, though, that you're referring to the cymbals during the chorus. I'm alternating sixteenth notes between the bell of my ride and the bell of one of my crashes. The ride was a generic 21" cymbal with a very trashy sound, and the crash was a rather thin 14" Camber cymbal. It had very little sustain, and the bell sound was markedly different from the ride's. I play the bell of the ride, the snare, and the crashes with my right hand and the bell of the crash with my left hand. If I remember correctly, I believe I'm playing quarter notes on the high hat with my foot.

Have you played double-bass drums on any of the albums?
I have, but not on any songs that made it to our CD releases. I used double-bass drums on the songs Love Games and Twenty-Fifth during the Naked and World sessions. I will probably be using a double-bass fill in Unsaid, which is slated to appear on Big Top World. Most of the songs in the catalog don't lend themselves to double-bass patterns, so I haven't been using them.

In some of the older photos I've seen of bait-oven, you have your drumset onstage sideways. Why did you set your drums up that way?
Impressionable youth?

When was called Shockwave, I was listening to a lot of Kiss, Stryper, Vinnie Vincent Invasion, Frehley's Comet, Van Halen, and similar bands. I saw that Bobby Rock had cymbals behind him in the Boys Are Gonna Rock video, so I put a crash behind me. Seeing how I only had one crash at the time, it was pretty impractical, so it didn't last long. Robert Sweet configured his kit - which was a lot larger than mine - sideways, so I set mine up that way, too. That didn't last long, either, since I wasn't able to see much from that vantage point. You can only stare at a wall for so long!

Have you been in any other bands besides bait-oven?
If you don't consider Shockwave - which evolved into - I was only in one other band. I was going to Virginia Tech when a friend of mine, Mike Joncas, approached me about forming a hardcore band. Our first show was October 1990, and we played together for two years. We played a fairly even mix of originals and covers, and we covered bands like The Misfits, Agnostic Front, Minor Threat, and Insted. We recorded a five song demo in 1991, and a ten song album in 1992. If you're able to get a hold of one of the ten copies of the album, you'll be able to hear some of my double-bass work! Good luck finding one, though!

- Newsdesk

September 10 , 2002
Hey, it's Patrick checking in. I've been really busy lately working on a host of musical projects. As you may have read here on baitoven.com, I'm currently in the studio producing and performing on the new Tim Keyes' solo album Sketchbook. We're having alot of fun doing this album, from Tim pulling out his vintage Korg and ARP keyboards to my cutting bass and guitar with amps and instruments from API Records' sizable collection of vintage gear. We're very happy with the work we've done so far, and I think that this album will be Tim's best yet. Check out the News section at the API Records website for some pictures from the studio sessions. For the gear-heads out there, in the picture I'm holding a Fender Jazz bass that is the best bass guitar I have ever played in my life! I'll be using that same bass on the upcoming album Big Top World.

The API Records website also features the track My Only Friend as an MP3 on the Music Is Freedom page. The Music Is Freedom CD continues to get positive responses both from our friends and fans, and from people within the entertainment industry. Most recently, on the strength of the Music Is Freedom release, API Records was approached to lend its artists to an upcoming major label project. I joined a group of musicians from the API talent roster to perform a song selected for the album. We'll share more details on the track when the project is released by the major, but as a first bit of information, I'm singing lead vocals and playing all guitars and bass on the track.

I'll be back soon with more news. Thanks! - Patrick

August 30, 2002
The New Jersey Historical Society is mounting an exhibition called Changed Lives: New Jersey Remembers September 11, 2001. has participated in the Changed Lives project through the inclusion of the Music Is Freedom CD in the Changed Lives archive. Patrick Bamburak has also contributed a personal recollection of the events of 9/11 to the Changed Lives archive. Friend and fans in New Jersey are encouraged to visit the exhibition and support the efforts of the New Jersey Historical Society.

The exhibition location and hours are:

The New Jersey Historical Society
52 Park Place
Newark, NJ 07102

September 11, 2002 through December 7, 2002 Tuesday through Saturday 10am to 5pm

Admission is free and open to the public

In other news, Patrick continues his production and performance work at API Records on the upcoming Tim Keyes solo album. Upon completing this project, Patrick will turn his attention to his work with Joe on the next album. Remember that you can still get your FREE copy of Music Is Freedom direct from API Records. - Newsdesk

August 15, 2002
has selected a new preferred online vendor for the September and Ugly Songs CDs. CD Connection orders direct from 's online distributor The Orchard, and provides the best availability and some of the lowest prices on the Net for the CD catalog. Be sure to check them out!

Also, remember that the EP Coming Attractions and the FREE Music Is Freedom disc can be found online at API Records. - bait-oven Newsdesk

August 7, 2002
It's Patrick here, with a follow up to the Music Is Freedom Q&A that we received about the song Hands of Time, (see July 2, 2002). I found an old lyric notebook of mine from 1995, and it has an earlier version of the song in it. I'm still looking for the original version of the lyric, (from 1992), but I thought I'd share this middle version in the meantime. If you want to hear the final version of the Hands of Time lyric, get your FREE copy of Music is Freedom direct from API Records. By the way... the song was originally called Roll Back the Hands of Time.

1st verse:
I'm going down to the ocean
I've got my suitcase in my hand
I'm just leaving it all behind
She said you can't roll back the hands of time

2nd verse:
She said she read it in the Bible
It said to love, you must know thyself
I know I am different than before
I know I can't roll back the hands of time

Chorus:
Still my love lives in my house
But I don't sleep there anymore
She's barred the windows
And locked all the doors
To sweep away the memories
Like pictures scattered on the floor

3rd verse:
She said I have to leave tomorrow
And put my suitcase in my hand
It's better to go and leave it all behind
You know you can't roll back the hands of time

And so there's a version of the lyric in it's "middle" form. It's a few steps away from the original, but not quite "finished". I'll keep digging in my archives, and I'll be back again soon with the original version of this mysterious song featured on the new CD, Music Is Freedom. - Patrick

August 6 , 2002
Patrick is currently in the studio at API Records, co-producing and performing guitars on the new Tim Keyes solo album. After the completion of that project, are next on the API schedule for studio bookings. 's upcoming album, Big Top World, will be their first full-length release under the band's new agreement with API Records.

Additional quantities of Music Is Freedom will be available for FREE at Vintage Vinyl, in Fords NJ, later this week. Remember that you can also get the FREE disc online, direct from API Records.

For friends and fans visiting Vintage Vinyl, don't forget to check out the complete CD catalog, which is available at the store. Also carried by Vintage Vinyl is the new API Records release, Funhaus, which features Patrick Bamburak from as song co-writer and performing all guitars.

Rebekah Zelman-Doody, who was a member of in the early 1990's, will be joining the band in the studio to work on the upcoming album, (see News post, April 25, 2000). is looking forward to reuniting with Rebekah in the studio: "Rebekah has an incredible voice, and she adds a whole new dimension to the bait-oven sound," Patrick recently said.

The rough demos for Big Top World are complete, and copies of the demo have been pressed on CD. "The distance between Patrick and I have made preparing for Big Top World a little challenging, to say the least," Joe said. "Patrick has been working on the song arrangements, and sends the rough cuts to me so I can write the drum pieces and familiarize myself with the material. These demos bring us one step closer to recording the album and getting the new material to our fans." - Newsdesk

July 23, 2002
In their continuing work on the upcoming album Big Top World, recently completed a rough demo version of the entire album at API Studios.

"The demo versions of the songs that were cut at API will be used as the guidelines for when we start to track the album versions of the songs," Patrick told the Newsdesk, "but nothing is set in stone. We have the songlist set, and the writing is finished, but I still have a few ideas that I'm working on from a production standpoint."

"I'm really looking forward to hearing Patrick's demo of the album," Joe says. "We've been jamming most of the songs in our studio here in Virginia, but recording a album is a very dynamic process. In many cases, we're rearranging songs while we're recording. It'll be interesting to hear how the arrangements have developed over the past few months, and to see how they will change between now and the time Big Top World is released. This album is a long time coming, but I know the final product will be well worth the wait."

Meanwhile, as the band works on their next album, fans can still get their FREE copies of the Music Is Freedom CD direct from API Records. - Newsdesk.

July 2, 2002
The Music Is Freedom Q&A's continue...

Q: I thought you said you only had two songs on this CD. Isn't the last song you? It says .
Patrick: Yes... there's a little mystery going on there. There are four songs credited to on the Music Is Freedom CD. Two of them, Free and My Only Friend, were newly recorded by Joe and I at the end of 2001. The new recordings were done specifically for the Music Is Freedom CD. The other two songs, Hands of Time and Modern American Love Song, are versions of songs that were produced and "regrooved" by Tim Keyes. On those two songs, I sing and play guitar, while Tim Keyes did the keyboards and drum programming. Those recordings are from sessions done in 1995, about a year after the original release of the September album. There is actually a complete "regrooved" version of the September album in the API Records vaults recorded by me and Tim Keyes that has never been released. Hands of Time and Modern are from that album. We felt that Music Is Freedom provided a good opportunity for those recordings to see the light of day.

And just to clarify what we mean by "regrooved" when applied to the songs: fans are most likely familiar with the term "remix," which means that either the whole or parts of an original recording are remixed and enhanced to create a different version of a song from its original form. A "dance remix" is probably the most common example. When we use the term "regrooved," what we mean is that the entire song is re-recorded in a different style from the originally released version. None of the parts from the original master-tapes are used in a "regrooved" version. It's more like an artist doing a cover version of their own songs in a different style. My vocals and guitars on the Hands of Time and Modern "regrooves" were cut just for those recordings.

Q: I thought I knew all of the songs, but I've never heard of Hands of Time before. Was that on an earlier album?
Patrick: I'd have to go back and check my papers, but I'm pretty sure that Hands of Time dates from 1992. It actually could be earlier than that. The song went through a few different versions before settling into the form it takes on the Music Is Freedom CD. I was writing it during the time Rebekah was working with us, '92 through '93. I know that Joe and I jammed versions of the song a few times, and Rebekah and I did as well. I guess it just wasn't ready in time for the original version of the September album in 1994. I'm going to go and find the original lyric and we'll post it here on baitoven.com. Now that I have revealed the existence of the unreleased "regrooved" September album in the prior Q&A, I can say that in 1995, I rewrote major portions of the original lyric and music during the sessions that Tim and I did. So, in a way, Hands of Time is a song from an earlier album, except that the album has never been released.

July 2, 2002
API Records recently conducted a brief interview with the members of to get their thoughts on the Music Is Freedom project and the band's upcoming album, Big Top World. - Newsdesk

API: What are your thoughts on the response to the Music Is Freedom CD?
Patrick: I'm very happy with the response. People enjoy the music, and I think they have reacted positively to the fact that the disc is a free gift of music. The project was based on the very simple concept of celebrating freedom of expression. Any other meaning that people may derive from the songs, or any value the disc may have to them, only goes to show the power that music has in our lives, especially in these uncertain times. To me, it will always be a special project because of it's intent and also because of the work behind the scenes from the artists and the staff at API Records to make the album a reality.

Joe: The response has been great. They've been very receptive to the concept behind the project, and it has gotten them excited about the next full-length studio album.

API: What can fans expect from