Mike Faulkner

The Damn Personals were a Boston-based rock band that existed from mid-1998 until late 2005. The concept was the brainchild of singer/guitarist Ken Cook and guitarist Anthony Rossomando. After several false starts, they finalized their line-up in the summer of 1998, with the addition of Jim Zavadoski on bass and drummer Mike Gill, who had both played in previous bands with Cook and Rossomando respectively.

The band quickly made a name for themselves within the east coast indie and garage-rock scenes of the time, becoming known as much for their earnest, catchy songs and unique arrangements as they were for their rambunctious live shows.

In the fall of 1998, Mike Gill's friend and house mate Chase Lisbon (now of Supercult) allied his screen printing business with locally based indie record label Big Wheel Recreation. While silk screening T-shirts, Chase played Big Wheel Recreation's owner, Rama Mayo, The Damn Personals' recently completed 4 song demo. Rama became a quick fan, and asked Gill to arrange a meeting with his band to discuss a record contract.

The resulting 2 album deal would yield The Damn Personals' 1999 debut, "Driver, Driver" (with producer Darron Burke) and 2002's follow-up album, "Standing Still In The USA" (with producer Michael Deming).

From 1999 until 2005, the band toured the US a dozen or so times, often performing with notable acts such as Piebald, The Explosion, The Mooney Suzuki, Radio 4, Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, The Strokes, Jimmy Eat World and The Hives. They toured Europe and the UK once, when they were invited to be the support act for fellow Boston band, Cave In, on a spring 2003 tour.

In mid-2003, Jim Zavadoski left the band and was replaced by ex-Nigel 6 member, Mike Faulkner. Later that year, the band became label-less with the dissolution of Big Wheel Recreation. 2004 would see Ken Cook's relocation to New York City, and increasingly frequent requests from England's The Libertines for Anthony to fill in for their notoriously awol member, Pete Doherty.

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Wikipedia