Staying within the theme of the Beastiemania.com
Who's Who, we try to include anyone and everyone within
one or two degrees of separation of the Beastie Boys. The
reason is that we believe everything happens for a reason,
and you can't truly appreciate the finished product unless
you know the history behind how it all came together and
happened.
Bill and Brian are a partof that
history. Both played with Money
Mark in early incarnations of his band, which gave Mark
the onstage experience and practice that it required to
impress the Beastie Boys when the time came.
Bill Spitzer plays lead guitar and
has the ability to sing both in Spanish as well as in English.
He still plays with Mark's brother Mike
Nishita in an original rock band called Headcase. In
very much the same way that Money Mark can play various
instruments, Bill can also play drums and bass piano. Having
German-Mexican heritage, it goes without saying that Bill
loves beer.
Brain Lerhman, who at one time had
a punk band, plays guitar and has been responsible for the
singing in the band over the years. Money Mark's band has
had various names over years. Prior to all of this, Mark
played with Mario C in a
band called Phaze (circa 1978 whose members were: Terry
Leary, Mark Nishita, Mario Caldato, Steve Watson, and Pete
Alvarado) and then later Phaze2 . Then following the end
of that period, Mark Nishita and a new band formed under
the name Junglebugs, which later became the Magnetics.
Brian is notorious for his snoring. On tour the band members
usually had to share a place with a roommate, but not Brian.
He had his own room. As the story goes, while in Amsterdam
Kid Koala had to sleep on the tour bus because he could
not take the noise!
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