12 Angry Steps
Formed in Detroit in 1998, 12angrysteps originally consisted of vocalist/guitarist Dan Halen (Dan Thomson), bassist Stevie St Micheal (Stevie Micheal), drummer Joey Parusso (Joe Pariseau), and lead guitarist The Action Mang. The bandmates shared an interest junkyard diving for VW parts, with Stevie and Dan knowing each other via garage venue the "Magic Stick", where St Michael tended bar, and local punk/S&M shop Noir Leather, where Halen worked.
Prior to the band's live debut, the practice house in which St Michael and Halen lived caught fire, trapping bassist Stevie; he now has the "Greyhouse" key tattooed prominently on his forearm. The only possessions salvaged from the fire, thanks to one zealous firefighter, were the bands minimal gear. Upon finding another house, longtime friend and rock maestro Todd Action Mang joined the fold on lead guitar,completing the initial lineup and forever preventing the band from being relegated to mere "garage" status. Todd and Dan were initially introduced as bandmates in the seemingly unlikely M.R.N. some ten years prior. The first show for this lineup was an opening slot for the D.C. Hawks (a former backup band for Ted Nugent) at the Magic Stick in early 1999. The band then began recording "Innercityhillbillylovesongs" with cool-guy Detroit producer/engineer Jim Diamond.
With long friendships and much recent struggle to push them, the band quickly became known for bearing witness to the high energy history of Detroit. They soon found themselves sharing the stage with the likes of The Paybacks, Speedball, Easy Action,Clone Defects ,Sights , and headlined a Wayne State show with the White Stripes. , The Babykillers, prior to renaming themselves Von Bondiesplayed their 2nd ever show with 12angrysteps.
They swept both the live judges and internet vote that landed them stage time in a 2000 Warped Tour show, Parusso having been replaced on drums by former member of the Junk Monkeys Glynn Swig Scanlan by this time. 12AS also overexposed themselves on the Playboy channel, as Dan was unexpectedly "pantsed" mid-song by a dominatrix who was onstage.
Sir Alan Valentine (former bassist for Dee Dee Ramone's Chinese Dragons), took over on rhythm guitar in 2000 and the final lineup was complete.
Halen and St. Michael had lived, worked, and played together for long enough that the stress on this friendship began to take a toll on the band. In 2001 12angrysteps played a farewell show to a capacity crowd at the Magic Stick. Available at the show was the 5-piece's swan-song "Last Call".
After disbanding, Todd, Stevie, and Glynn played a handful of shows as The Mang Band; Dan and Alan began playing Thomson's material as 3holepunch. Dan was briefly recruited by Small Stone Records' Novadriver, but after a year left, citing a lack of passion in the band and recorded solo under the 3holepunch name in NY. He has since returned to MI. Stevie played bass for a time with Back in Spades, an outfit featuring Jackson Smith (son of Patti and Fred "Sonic" Smith), but more notably formed the Grande Nationals (on lead vocals) to much local acclaim. He has returned to bass in Detroit's Running With Panthers. Glynn continues to find success as the multi-instrumentalist behind Swig. Todd has relocated to Colorado to be with family but now wields six string fury in a band who, at last edit, not settled on a final name; solo he wows fans by frequenting more intimate venues as Mang. Alan still lives in Detroit, but at time of this writing has had little contact with his former bandmates. Joey sells high-end German vehicles and lives in Atlanta. In 2012, Glynn, Dan, Jackson, and Dave Feeney cut the track "Dry Noon" under the moniker "The Bedouins", available in cinematic form on YouTube. In 2007, for the record, Dan, Todd, Stevie, and Glynn met to bury the hatchet north of Detroit, and reportedly are all pretty much okay with it.
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