After 40 years, Kermit and I have reunited as The Loathing Zone — and our first EP “Is for Loathing and Unloathing Only” is finally here!
Already streaming through these services:
👉 https://lnkfi.re/tlz-ep1

 

Now for the story:
Once upon a time, my good friend Carlton “Kermit” Noles and I set out to make music together. We jammed as a duo in his parents’ garage, later in a warehouse practice room that quickly got broken into and we got ripped off. We cobbled together songs, recorded at small studios around Tampa Bay and Bradenton. We were pretty pleased with ourselves at the time although the recordings and the songs didn’t quite cut it — we were really green and inexperienced back then. BUT WE HAD FUN! We even tried forming a “proper” band with Gary Phillips on bass and Cindi Kalb on drums.

Eventually, jobs, academics, and growing adult responsibilities made time to coordinate getting together scarce. In the end, that band and partnership did not last. I joined another local band and then eventually set my sights on California to make music there. Kermit and I never played together again.

Fast-forward four decades. With 2,500 miles still between us, tech has helped bridge some obstacles. We decided to reconnect and breathe new life into those old songs. They were re-crafted, reworked, rewritten in some bits including fresher lyrics for a few, some arrangements were flipped around. Fresh tracks for refreshed songs. What began as youthful inexperience has been reshaped into something both nostalgic and new — and something we’re proud to finally share.

Back then we called ourselves The Zone. Through the years and even these days, there are more than too many bands with that name. After some back-and-forth, we landed on The Loathing Zone — and honestly, it fits us perfectly.

This reunion was 40 years overdue. But as they say, some things do get better with age.