Stryck9 is an extremely popular band which has “the best fans a local band could ask for ever.”
The band members are Adam Tong, Tony Ogg, Rob Rodabaugh, and Todd Roth. They each have different backgrounds but have been together as Stryck9 for about six months now; although the band has been around as a band for two years, some members have changed out during that time).
The group now is tight nit and has extremely good chemistry, so good in fact that they are “like brothers, one big happy dysfunctional family.” This chemistry between them has helped them to achieve some very impressive things. They have released one album and recorded another which will be released nationally in a few months. Their latest album took them only sixty hours to totally complete, an impressive feat they attribute to their excellent chemistry. For their album, they wrote over forty songs, only eleven of which actually made it to the album. Their cover song for the entire album was “[written] on Saturday, played together as a band for the first time on Monday, and [they] went down to the studio Wednesday and recorded it, and that’s the album version. That’s how good our chemistry is. We shouldn’t have been able to do that.”
Aside from their albums, Stryck9 does live performances as well. Unfortunately, even though they have a large group of dedicated fans who are willing to “come from Findlay and Mount Blanchard clear up to Toledo…for a forty minute set, and [wait] four hours to see it [the show]” they have trouble getting into places around Findlay. All of their songs are original and inspired from life, “lyrically, every word in every song is real. Nothing is made up, anything you’ve heard in one of the songs has happened. It’s all real, there’s nothing that’s thrown in there just to be catchy and grab your attention.” This means that Stryck9 is not a “jukebox,” which can make some club owners nervous.
They mentioned that “people have said, ‘You guys are a rock band, I don’t want fights breaking out.’ We’ve never had a fight break out at any of our shows, everybody is having a good time, and that’s what we push for. We’re here to have a good time, and you should too.” They do not get up on the stage “screaming” but instead are a “respectable rock band.” They believe that local venues need to start supporting local musicians and accepting original music. They believe that Findlay needs a place dedicated to music and concerts, like cities such as Toledo and Columbus have, as well as a local rock station. Another problem that Stryck9 faces when trying to perform locally is that stages are too small for them because they like to have fun.
The guys have found a way to try and solve these problems for themselves though, by putting on their own “all ages” shows at Amvets Hall. Their last show at the Amvets Hall has been their favorite performance so far. “Kids don’t get to see concerts everyday,” and they believe that “kids really need something to do other than Guitar Hero.” They hope to be able to perform at the Cube sometime in the future when their funds will allow it, but until then will continue to perform at other places. Their advice to other musicians and bands is that “you’re going to get kicked around, but keep doing it, and play what you play, don’t try to change it into something that it’s not supposed to be or that somebody else tells you that you should be playing. Play what you play and you’ll find your crowed, and once you find those people that’s how you grow.”
Each of the Stryck9 members live for music and use it as a release, and believe that it is great that people can use their performances for the same thing that they use their music for. “We have a really good time when we play. If you come to a Stryck9 show, you’re leaving happy.”
