News From The Great Beyond

Is Runner Dead?

One of our favorite bands is Runner & the Thermodynamics. Recently, I contacted Marc Pinansky, guitarist and vocalist, to catch up on the latest from the band. Rather than have me paraphrase, hear the latest from Marc himself:

The Runner and the Thermodynamics saga has grown quite bumpy. Due to pressures within and outside of the band, in mid-May I officially put the band on the dreaded "hiatus." It became increasingly clear over the past year that the band attitude was suffering greatly. Although I am confident that much of this was never apparent to the audience, it was something we struggled with everyday.

Tell-tale signs included going through 3 bass players in less than a year (although all of them were great!), injuries, living distances, misused funds, and a rift between management and the band concerning direction. We enjoyed many of our best achievements during the final few months - another tour with Drive-By Truckers, sold-out shows, lots of recording, and a tour with Louis XIV, but the band morale was very low.

We were confused. We were turning into a full-fledged rock band and those who were supporting us didn't know what to do with that. Ultimately, I feel that my songwriting began to suffer and some of the performances were becoming too "by the book" - probably due to my increasing paranoia that everyone could see that I was heart-broken when they wanted a rock n' roll good time.

As opposed to shutting the door completely on the band, we welcomed our old bass player, Mike, back into the fold to record the rock opera we had all worked on together since the beginning. Deemed too ambitious then AND now, we figured that we'd record it as best we can and give it to the fans for free as a thank you. It was basically us as a band closing some doors. But, as new bootlegs still trickle in and people continue to e-mail, who knows what the future holds.

Although our site hasn't been updated in awhile, we are keeping it alive and will post new bootlegs, photos, and videos when they arrive. I have been playing solo steadily since the demise of the band and have been working on a new project with a friend of mine whom I've been making music with since I was fifteen. Having a partner has really opened up my eyes again and I have been on a writing binge for months now. We completed a demo that sounds pretty damn good - considering he lives in San Diego at the moment. We're taking it slow to get all the things in place before we jump in. This feels really good, and will not disappoint Runner fans.

Roger has teamed up with his brother and Jimmy Jaxx (past two Runner bassists), and have their first string of shows coming up this month. Roger and Randy playing together is a sight to be seen and no one should miss this. Mike plays in the Snow Leopards with his girlfriend, Heidi Sapperstein, and they have been steadily gigging in Boston and NYC for almost a year now. Always a duo, they're are beginning to put a full-fledged band together and are working on a new record.

So, I have real trouble saying that Runner is over. When the three of us get together and the stars are aligned, it is everything I could have ever hoped for - energetic, unique, fun, and at times ridiculous. We're still getting air-play on a few internet radio stations, and most people are still unaware that we have even broken up for the time being. I don't have a nice conclusion for this piece, other than thanks to everyone who rocked with us, and we may or may not see you again in this band???.....???

For my money, I have enjoyed this band, and if is their last hurrah, good luck to al involved. Yet, I have a gut feeling that we have not seen the last of Runner and the Thermodynamics. In the meantime, go to www.runnerrock.com, and download the tracks to the rock opera, The Dude.