drop test bios
drop test formed in late 2000 and began playing shows in the Oshkosh, Wisconsin area. John and Nigel started playing as an acoustic duo dubbed "The Super Ugly Guys" in mid 2000 in Oshkosh. Prior to graduating from UW-Oshkosh in 2000, Nigel started jamming with Joe and Ryan in Germantown, WI. The band played together for the first time in late 2000. The rest, as they say, is mid-tempo rock history.
Nigel - vocals
I was born in Milwaukee and raised in Richfield, WI. While attending high school, I became friends with Ryan and first met John. Not being a fan of people at the time, I drowned myself in music and singing, just not in front of anyone. Disliking most mainstream music, my biggest influences were Living Colour, Faith No More, Fishbone, 24-7 Spyz, Peter Gabriel, Radiohead, The Police, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tool, and actually Prince.
It was while attending the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh that John and myself began performing open-mic acoustic sets as "The Super Ugly Guys". In 2000, I graduated and took up shop as a radio producer/newsperson. Later that year at a wedding reception, Ryan asked if I wanted to join him and Joe for a jam session. At the end of the day we had finished our first song. Soon John joined, and I have followed them around, annoying them ever since.
Joe Kirkland - guitar
Joe enjoys long, romantic strolls on the beach, especially Bradford Beach. His usual hang outs include the couch, or napping in the van. The rage that he summons from his everyday existence is brought full force at every drop test show, bringing a charismatic style and understanding to others with long hair.
Ryan Garrison - drums
When I was born in 1977, I was blessed with the gift of "nervous energy". I couldn't sit still. I would always be bouncing or tapping my feet or something. At school my desk was my drumset, at work I played the cardboard box. Then I got my first set of hand drums and loved them.
Then I meet this long haired, guitar playing hippie. We'll call him "Joe". We hooked up and started jamming at his house for awhile, and then he had a brilliant idea. "You should get a drumset maaaan" ("man" was drawn out for hippie effect). Picked up my first kit and the rest was history. I knew Nigel from high school and heard he was singing up in Oshkosh. He knew John from Oshkosh. They came down one night and we wrote our first song. That's the story.
Some of my major influences are Tool, Deftones, Incubus, Dredg. I try to listen to alot of different genres of music and draw influence from all of them.
John Neuenfeldt - bass guitar
I was born in Green Bay in 1979, then lived in Pennsylvania before moving to Germantown, WI in 1990. I grew up listening to Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and other country artists that my parents enjoyed. In my early teens I was exposed to some of my sisters' favorite bands like Erasure and Depeche Mode, and eventually groups like Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, Live, etc.
I attended my first concert with my sister Deb in 1994 (Counting Crows at the Eagles Ballroom) and have been hooked ever since. A few of my major influences are Dredg, Tool, Ben Harper, Ani Difranco, Jeff Buckley, Dave Matthews, and Rage Against the Machine. Also, I enjoy drinking coffee and wearing ripped jeans.
