We are Effit from Orlando Florida. Some of us have been playing music together since we were young teenagers. We started jamming in Jr. High School in Charleston WV in 1995. Brian Jett and Robby Rock first took the stage together in 1995 at a talent show. Our dearly departed friend Scott Hunter played drums. We covered the song called Breed off of Nirvana’s album Nevermind. We never actually rehearsed together one single time before we took the stage. I remember talking to Brian and Scott the day of the performance and reiterating how important it was that we play the song exactly like the album. Nirvana was insanely popular at the time so we all had the album pretty much memorized and probably could have played any song off of it with no practice. The song went off without a hitch and it got us addicted to performing and set us on a life long journey in music.
Brian and Rob went on to form a punk band Fido with what would end up being a very talented composer, Mike Pettry. We knew Mike was extremely talented but we didn’t know at the time that playing with such raw talent would set us up for success for decades to come. The conversations we had about musical composition and music theory were extremely important and in hindsight, pretty crazy for kids in high school. Check out Mike’s work at https://www.mikepettry.com/.
There was another development from high school that would alter the trajectory of Effit’s lives forever. That is the formation of 69 Fingers ( https://open.spotify.com/artist/67cTXvdCVeMQ6QTstQXKqA ) . 69 Fingers started out as a high school band that would serve as the lynchpin for life long members. Robby Rock was the first member of Effit to join 69 Fingers as a trombone player. Brian Jett would join shortly after. Steve Osborne would eventually replace Robby on trombone. Within 10 years of forming, 69 Fingers would move down to Orlando Florida. From here they would serve as the magnet that has drawn so many people from Charleston to Orlando. 69 Fingers also re-imaged themselves during this time. Steve took the helm and the music took a more decidedly mature and serious tone. Many member would join and leave 69 Fingers over the years but our friendships would persevere even through ups and downs.
Fast forward to 2015 where Brian started to need an additional creative outlet. Brian and Robby had been playing in various side projects and cover bands that never really got off the ground. Brian was experiencing a couple of interpersonal issues and needed musical therapy more than ever. The original plan was for Robby to play guitar with Brian on Bass and have Lucas Scarpelli from 69 Fingers on drums. We had a couple rehearsals like that. However Robby’s passion was for drums, so we switched up for him to play there and Steve Osborne joined on guitar. Paul Stokes who had been a friend since college in the early 2000’s also joined the band.
We released our First album called A Long slow Burn in in 2017. The album dealt with many interpersonal issues we can all relate to such as trouble with relationships, interpersonal issues, dealing with self confidence issues, and dealing with anxiety.
Effit always had progressive political roots, going all the way back to our bands in high school When the 2016 election happened and we were all slapped in the face by the election of McDonald Dump we could not sit on the sidelines and be silent. The band shifted to an almost entirely political focus. We had new songs wrote by the day after the election. We had a rehearsal shortly after the election and learned what would be the title track for our 2020 release called Don’t Make America Hate Again. We knew right away that would be the title track and we spent the next few years writing songs to fit that theme.
We released Don’t Make America Hate Again on November 3rd 2020, which was election day. It was very important for us to release the album on that day as we thought it would be very therapeutic for people to listen to as they awaited the result of the election.
