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REALITY CHECK: Breathing New Life Into An Old Band

by Ernie Thomas

    While the name of Reality Check is one that has been bantered around N.W.
Indiana clubs for about seven years, only the group's founder and lead
guitarist Ed Rapata remains from the original line-up.

    "Things just weren't working out, so we took a hiatus for a while," he
said. In the down time, Rapata continued collaborating on original song
ideas with lead vocalist, Kevin Benson, the only hold over from the band's
last incarnation who is still on board with Rapata.

    The current ensemble began evolving sixteen months ago when guitarist
Rene' Trevino Jr. and bassist David Mendoza joined Rapata and Benson. The
band solidified last February when John Heino ascended to their drum throne.

   Bassist Dave Mendoza was replaced in October by Dave Lindsey. The latter,
who hails from the East side of Chicago, is a punk/funk string slapper in the
tradition of Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

   "The change (in bassists) was something everyone agreed upon. We feel the
change will work out best for all parties involved," said Trevino.

    "I know bands always say their current line up is the best one ever, but
in our case that's really true," said Rapata, "because we're all on the same
page musically and we're all dedicated to making this band work."

    "All of us are very focused on doing original music with this band,"
added Trevino, "although I personally have contributed only one song to the
group, these guys (Rapata and Benson) are really good writers."

    "We are working on our original music," added Rapata, "but to get gigs in
this area (a band) has to play cover tunes too." Benson cites 3 Doors Down,
Creed and the Red Hot Chili Peppers as being among the newer bands they cover
in their shows.

    Trevino added that the group can also dust off a variety of classic rock
ditties by the likes of Deep Purple, Bad Company, John Mellencamp, and even
Chuck Berry, if the audience they are playing to warrants such a switch in gea
rs.

   "We can play in front of almost any audience," said Trevino. "We can also
pull out real bluesy stuff too, like Robert Cray, Eric Clapton, and BB King.
We're a pretty adaptable band and even our originals seem to appeal to all
kinds of people. I think that's because as a band, we have so many
influences and they somehow all end up our music."

     The group's original sound according to Benson is a blending of rock and
blues with a strong dance groove. "It's easy to dance at our shows," he
said, "but you can be just as comfortable sitting back and listening. I don't
know how else to explain it, because I really can't liken us to anything on
the radio right now."

     The group's present goal is to squirrel away money from their gigs to
record an album of their original material.

   "It probably won't happen soon," said Rapata, "but that's okay. The more
we grow as a band, the more we fine-tune the songs, the better our album will
be when it happens.   You can't rush a good thing and when we put an album
out, we expect it to be just that... a good thing!"