welcome to a project that I never thought would ever happen! The World was a band that formed in the fall of 1989 to perform the music of Digital Sex at my friend Tony Bazis' wedding. Tony was (and still is) a big fan of DS and when he asked me to reform the band to play at his wedding, I wasn't at all eager to regroup the band that had split up two years earlier in not the most skillful way. plus, there were two people in the band that I did not want to work with again but Tony was persistent and eventually said, “just do something.” so I contacted Maureen Evans-Hansen and John Tingle from DS and they agreed to play at Tony's wedding and also agreed that they were ready to play with a different rhythm section. one night I walked into The Lifticket (located where The Waiting Room is now) and watched a trio of young guys called mousetrap. I didn't care for the music but I was really impressed with their bassist and drummer, Craig Crawford and Scott Miller. I told them I was looking for a rhythm section to play DS songs at Tony's wedding and they agreed to do it. Craig told me that he knew DS because he used to stand outside Howard St. Tavern and listen to us play back in the day because he was too young to get in.

we rehearsed two sets of material in Mike Fratt's basement and played a low-key warm up gig before the wedding at The French Underground. it went really well and we felt good about giving Tony a good show. when we finished the wedding gig, I assumed that would be the end of it. but Craig wanted us to continue and said in the parking lot afterwards, “that's not it, is it??” so we had a meeting after that and agreed to continue as a band. after that agreement, I told the band that I had just secured a record deal for a solo album for the French label New Rose Records and was open to having The World to play on that album in the hopes it would help the group get its own deal down the road. The World contributed 4 songs to my solo album Eyes Of The Wilderness: Astray, Reluctant Rage, Neon Frontier and Odd Postures.

following a year of steady gigging, The World began work on what was meant to be its debut album. we recorded 8 songs beginning in the fall of 1990 and continued recording into 1991. I started shopping mixes of the songs in 1991 in hopes a label would help us cover the cost of finishing the album but it wasn't meant to be. we were one of those bands that was buried under the overexposed microwaved metal of grunge. no one was interested in an artsy fartsy rock band from Nebraska. everyone was looking for the next Nirvana. we weren't about to start wearing flannel shirts or strategically torn pants and give in to blue jean realism and the band eventually broke up. the 4 songs from The World's album sessions that got completed were added onto a reissue of my Wilderness CD in 1997 but the other 4 songs from those sessions were forgotten. I thought I would one day mix and release those songs but that became a faded dream after a few years.

along comes 2020. no bands can play because no venues are open, and no one is rehearsing or recording, at least not like they were. one day in June while having a conversation with Tony, the unfinished tracks from The World's albums sessions were brought up and I felt this was the best time to work on them. the 24-track tapes had been in storage 30 years. no one had contacted me or Tom Ware about them. I gave them to Tom and he began the restoration which began by baking the tapes. after that first hurdle was cleared, he transferred into the digital world and work began. everything was ready on the multi tracks, including vocals, so we began the resurrection. not only had I forgotten these songs, I'd forgotten almost all the details about them and if we had captured good takes or not. yeah, i'd say we did. lots of pleasant surprises and many moments o f goosebumps. I really had no idea the tracks would become what they became.

more tracks by The World here, along with other projects of mine including Digital Sex: www.youtube.com/user/sundaramaji/videos