The Establishment

Since three close friends began playing music together in 1995, their music has grown in leaps and bounds. When singer and bassist Alex Barron from Chatham NJ, first started making music with his friends guitarists, Shawn Murphy and Michael Tobin, from Maplewood NJ, all were only thirteen years old. Taking the young age of its members into consideration, their first band, Orko, played with remarkable maturity. In May of 1996, the five-piece group became the youngest ever to play at Obesessions, a club in Randolph, NJ. As Barron, Murphy and Tobin grew musically, they continued to play at Obsessions, as well as other clubs such as The Cove in Roselle Park, NJ and The Palace in Bound Brook NJ. Until 1997, the band had experience constant turnovers. Though Barron, Tobin and Murphy were regulars in the Orko lineup, the other band members were never certainties. In the span of a year, four of their musician peers paraded in and out of the band. The three found solidarity at last in the summer of 1997, when their friend Eric Gorman joined them on drums. The line-up now read: Murphy on rhythm guitar, Tobin on lead guitar, Gorman on drums and percussion and Barron on vocals and bass. Wanting to cut all ties with Orko, the members agreed that a name change was in order. They experimented with several names before settling on The Establishment. Writing a whole new group of more mature-sounding songs, the quartet achieved success quickly and gained a fan base that appeared at all of its shows. A five-song demo, released in 1998, was received with a good deal of praise. The fourth song on the tape, "What We Had," seemed to generate the most enthusiasm, and within the year it received some airplay on local college radio stations. During the next few years, The Establishment led a sort of double-life, switching styles depending on the venue. While the guys still made club appearances, roughly half of it's shows were coffee houses, at which they performed an entirely acoustic set. Years of switching between rock and acoustic set ups gave The Establishment versatility. "We're as comfortable playing acoustic sets on street corners as we are rocking out at a club" says Barron. Last year, The Establsihment played mostly acoustic sets, usually without percussion, though it was still game for utilizing Gorman when needed. Highlighting the year, the band made two appearances on a local cable network, performing "What We Had," among others. Looking to the future, the band, despite it's separation due to college, has big plans. The six-song EP entitled "When All is Said and Done" is out now and is mostly acoustic-oriented, with some electric overdubs. The first song on CD,"Michigan" has been receiving airplay on college radio in the north east. Musically, the band is now better than it ever has been and has every reason to believe that the trend should continue.