Erie Showcase Article - Thursday, March 5th 1987, by Dave Richards, Showcase writer

I Inside wants to follow in the Stabilizers' footsteps, but not necessarily fill their shoes

I Inside, The Act - Appearing tomorrow and Saturday at Sherlock's on State Street.

A couple years ago, a catchy, synth-flavored song popped up on Erie rock stations and instantly generated a tremendous response from listeners.

Nothing unusual there, except the tune was recorded on a four-track machine by a local band which, at the time, had yet to play a single live date anywhere.

We all know what has happened to the Stabilizers since then. They quickly became Erie's most popular live band, signed a contract with Columbia, released a debut album, and filmed two videos which aired on MTV. Although the record has yet to dent the Billboard's Top 200, Columbia hasn't given up. "One Simple Thing" - K104's No. 1 song of 1986 - has just been released in shortened form, and is currently one of Denver's biggest hits.

Now, another Erie band hopes to following in the Stabilizers' footsteps, but not necessarily fill their shoes. I Inside, a six-piece band, debuts this weekend at Sherlock's after earning favorable reaction with "One Last Night" on WJET-FM. It won a local "Battle of the Bands" segment two consecutive nights and recently hit No. 1 on JET's "Top 10 at 10" feature which measures listeners' requests.

"The reaction to I Inside's song has probably been as good as the reaction was to the Stabilizers material when we first put it on the air." said Jim Cook, WJET program director." If this song is any indication of what they can do down the road, it sounds to me like they have a good future."

A warm sound

I Inside's future may be as bright as Timbuk 3's, judging from what I heard at a recent practice session. Erie audiences can expect well-crafted, modern, often danceable pop songs. Their sound is intentionally far less techno-pop oriented than the Stabilizers, and warmer as a result.

The band consists of Sal Clemete (guitar, lead vocals), Mark Devine (drums), John Trevethan (keyboards), Tim Mains (bass), Brenda Knight (saxophone, vocals), and Gary Tomporowski (percussion, vocals).

Clemente and Trevethan are the only remaining members of an earlier incarnation of I Inside which lasted about a year. The current group began practicing in early January. Devine is formerly of the Difference.

"We're into playing more than using technology," Trevethan said. "We don't use click tracks or sequencers. We're more into the human side of music, the emotional side."

"We explore a lot of different kinds of genres as far as the music goes," Clemente said. "We definitely want people to have fun, to dance if they want. It's less cerebral and more fun."

A few cuts I heard like "Trapped" and "You Got to Believe It," fuse latin percussion with snazzy, snappy rhythms. "Girl of the Year" is slower and ominous with mysterious keyboard shadings. "The Cool One" offers pure, infectious pop. "Stay" is a reassuring power ballad.

Overall, their songs are smooth, accessible, and commercial with a full, expansive sound. A few cuts need tightening, or possibly sharper hooks. But that's one reason why I Inside is so anxious to play live.

We want to use our first gigs to get a feel for how the songs work before an audience," Trevethan said. "Then, we'll go to the studio, tape them, and send them out. We didn't want to record them in a vacuum - we wanted to play them live to see which songs people most responded to. That will give us a yardstick for how to proceed."

'We want that live feel'

"One Last Night" was recorded on Clemente and Trevethan's eight-track machine.

"We record an interesting way," Clemente said. "We do everything together - the whole band plays. Then we go back and fix little things. We really want the live feel on tape so the music comes across fresh. That's why we don't do it track by track."

Don't expect cover songs by I Inside. It's one of the few Erie bands which has made a commitment to playing nothing but original music. That's commendable, though not necessarily bankable. You don't have to be an I Insider to know when it comes to booking live entertainment, most bar and club owners prefer cover bands to original ones.

Even Stabilizers, if you remember, played two originals and umpteen covers when they did the Erie bar circuit. It wasn't until Columbia signed them that they finished a batch of new songs to record.

I Inside has written 20 originals. That's not enough to perform and entire night, so the Act, a three piece band from Cleveland, will open tomorrow and Saturday at Sherlock's . The word is they favor a U2/Alarm sort of guitar sound.