To singer/songwriter Ray Balconis, the word visceral is practically a mantra. And although he doesn't chant the word (as far as we know), as an artist it applies to everything he does.

A native New Yorker, Ray spent his high school years playing in a number of garage bands. When he got to college, he formed the group THIS. Signed to PMP Records, the band scored with a single called Beat In The Street, which landed on radio charts and lured the band onto the road. Several tours later, THIS broke up, leaving Ray convinced that music was what he needed to do with his life. He didn't look back.

Ray immediately went about on his own writing and recording new material. He soon drew the attention of his peers who began to cover his songs and to ask him to produce for them.

Ray's songs, producer skills, guitar playing, and other visceral-ness can be heard on radio stations across the country, thanks to the success of acts like Laura Warfield, Spiritease, Prey, Room On Fire, and Scott MX Turner & the Devil's Advocates.

"With whatever I do musically, the 'Holy Grail' for me has always been to hit someone where they live emotionally. Not long ago I had someone absolutely tear into me over something I wrote. I was upset at first, but then when they continued to tell me for the next ten minutes, and not in a particularly pleasant way, I realized … I had hit a nerve."

My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low-grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a 15 year old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanize, he would drink, he would make outrageous claims, like he invented the question mark. Sometimes, he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy - the sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament. My childhood was typical: summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring, we'd make meat helmets. When I was insolent, I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds. Pretty standard, really.

After a tumultuous first meeting when they were barely teenagers, the stage was set for Mo and Ray's longtime friendship and collaboration. They would spend the next several years constantly working and performing together. It was during this period of intense musical exploration that Mo "ate drums for breakfast" (sugar-frosted cymbals were his favorite), and "lived for the daily musical experience".

It all became too much of a good thing and Mo suffered his own spontaneous combustion and drummer burnout. He departed for places unknown to explore other creative interests. His seven-year adventures, including rehab, brushes with the law, and answering one too many "Drummer Died Need New One" ads, still left him unfulfilled.

Through a bizarre set of circumstances, Mo was reunited with Ray. Much had changed in the interim. Through their separate experiences, each had come to a deeper understanding of their musical visions and goals. Their partnership now resulted in a sum that was greater than its parts. Mo took on this new project with unbridled enthusiasm and excitement for what lay ahead.

"The 'Holy Grail' for me has always been a really funny movie. Those Knights who say "Ni" always crack me up! Oh and the killer bunny and Tim the Enchanter, and scene 34 has some wonderful acting and the Bridge of Death and…"

Mark began playing bass guitar when he was 12 years old, and has been infatuated with performing and studying music ever since. He spent his high school years playing jazz, learning classical double bass, and rocking the population of his native Nova Scotia with his garage band at venues like the Economy Clam Festival, Stellarton Battle of the Bands, and the Truro Bowlacade Annual Charity Bowl-a-thon.

Eager to continue this stellar career, Mark studied music at Dalhousie University in Halifax. There he was exposed to a wide range of music, from twentieth century avant-garde composition to traditional Polish dances. He also developed an interest in the academic study of music history.

This desire to not only play music but also to study it as a cultural and historical phenomenon is what originally brought Mark to New York. In 1996 Mark moved to Long Island to attend SUNY Stony Brook, where he is now a Ph.D. candidate in music history and theory. His dissertation reflects his diverse interests in music and examines works ranging from classical, to jazz, to folk.

Although he enjoys writing about music, the need to be up on the stage performing has been the driving force of Mark's career. He was excited to meet up with Ray and Mo who also share his passion, sensing immediately that a rapport between the three of them would develop, and it has.