18 Bonez

18 Bonez (also known as Eighteen Bones) was a Nu Metal band from San Diego, active during the early 2000s Dave Esani unfortunately passed away a few years back due to cancer. Mike Stech helped them transport stuff and helped them gig. Michael Daley - Vocalist Matt Young - Guitar Brian Lemke - Guitar Dave Esani - Drums Jake Richmond - Bass & Backup Vocals

In 1994 Michael Daley and Dave Esani, Brian Lemke met at Hidden Valley Middle School in . Escondido, California (a small town situated in north San Diego County. Drawn by similar interest in music they started jamming several times a week in Mike's garage. Later while going to Orange Glen High School they continued rehearsing at alternating locations and actually setting up a permanent quasi studio in Brian's garage. They were influenced early by Metallica, Rage Against the Machine and other heavy music genre, but their greatest satisfaction was and still is writing their own riffs and lyrics. After 3 years of playing the local scene (coffee house, private parties, even a couple of shows) the band decided to decided to take a break which lasted about a year. During that time we realized that we had a unique sound. Wanting to recapture the energy and feelings we had poured into our music when we jammed we decided to reunite in 1998. We made some changes and gave our band a new name, "18 Bonez". The name comes from being $2 dollars short of buying a $20 bag and only having 18 Bonez ($). Our new sound has a lot to do with the killer bass lows put out by our bass player, Jake Richmond who joined the band in 1998. With the addition of Jake it freed up Mike Daley from having to carry an axe around and he put his guitar away while on stage. This gave Mike the freedom he has always needed to express his lyrics while performing. Mike Stech had known Jake since High School and hung out with the band in 1999. In 2000 we added keyboards with Mike Stech to give us our intros and add to the sound we wanted. The band kicked into high gear in late 2000, and added a second guitarist, Matt Young. Matt was out of the Navy and looking to get back into playing with a band. He was looking for a new sound and liked what 18 Bonez was putting out. His style and energy were what the guys were looking for and Matt was in the band. The Band has played all over San Diego County, and ventured out to Orange County, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. 18 Bonez is taking the underground scene, and saturating it with expression, emotion, and reality. The band has created a unique sound and mood that has become their own.