Digital Extra: The Station Fire

01:00 AM EST on Friday, February 20, 2004

BY RICK MASSIMO
Journal Pop Music Writer

A musical collaboration that was halted by The Station fire has been brought to life on CD.

In 2002, bass player John Bond and guitarist Bill Senior, both Woonsocket policemen, were planning a band with tattoo artist Skott Greene.

Bond had met Greene through Greene's wife. Greene, who was also from Woonsocket, played bass, and had sung with a band before, and after he and Bond started talking, they decided to make a musical go of it, with Greene as the frontman.

Not much happened at first. But around the beginning of February 2003, Bond says, Greene showed him a notebook with four song ideas.

Then Greene died in The Station fire.

Greene's wife, Sandi, gave Bond the notebook shortly after the fire, and he and Senior got to work. Together, they finished three of Greene's four ideas, and, with Bond singing, have put them and songs of their own on a CD. The CD and the band are named Doors of Perception, after Greene's tattoo parlor.

Greene's ideas weren't finished, Bond says, but "the idea of the song was there. There wasn't structure as far as verses, chorus. But we just had to take what he had, add a little bit of structure and put music to them."

It's hard rock, and though the recording is mostly demo quality, Senior's guitar playing is impressive and the songwriting is promising.

"Skott was a tattoo artist, and like most tattoo artists, he was into the real heavy and hard kind of music, and that's what it is."

It wasn't easy getting into Greene's head, Bond says. He gives as an example the song "Gypsy Queen," which he says is about Greene's wife. "Somebody starts writing a song for their wife, and you have to finish it, it's not easy."

Not easy, but worthwhile.

"It was actually comforting to be able to finish what he started. It was almost like he was there with us. . . . We missed him -- we still miss him. But it felt good to be able to finish something he put so much effort into."

"No Need to Cry," a song of Bond's written right after the fire, will be broadcast on WHJY's Soundcheck local-music show, between 11 p.m. and midnight Sunday.

The CD is $5, which goes to WHJY's Doc Fund, in honor of DJ Mike "Dr. Metal" Gonsalves, who also died in the fire. It's available at these locations in Woonsocket: Kool and Unusual Guitars, 425 Diamond Hill Rd.; Spinz, 118 Main St.; The Goddess Shop, 1 Social St.; and Heritage Coffee Shop, 56 Main St. Bond says that more locations will be added soon; for a list, e-mail doorsofperception2004 [at] yahoo.com.