The Suspects' Bill Grady, musician

In the late 90's, one of the most popular regular live acts to catch around town were The Suspects. Their brand of ska got many parties started throughout the 90's, whether they were playing a private party, Fitzgerald's, Continental Club, or the Buzzfest. They broke up five years ago, but have gotten back together for a reunion show tomorrow night at the Continental Club. It's a one time thing – you don't want to miss it.

We caught up with Bill Grady, guitarist and one of the founding members of The Suspects, to talk about the upcoming show.

So what brought the reunion together?

One of the original seven members of the band, Andy Hocker, is visiting Houston this week from Chicago. His day job is smashing atoms for the government and he's in town to give a lecture of some sort at Rice University. In November, he jokingly asked in an e-mail, "Anyone want to make speculative, half-assed, and ultimately unsuccessful plans for a Big Reunion Show at that time?" We all agreed and the show was booked by noon the next day.

We had previously tried to reunite in July of 2005, but those plans fell through when key members could not commit to the date. We had also brought up the idea of a reunion right after hurricane Katrina hit; I thought we could lend our name to at least one of the large benefit shows that had been organized, but that wasn't able to come together either. The fact that Andy could send an email one day and the show is booked (with everybody on board) the next day says a lot about the kind of guy he is. Even though he was only with us for a few years, he's kinda the unofficial heart and soul of the band.

What have you been doing with your time since The Suspects broke up five years ago?

The breakup coincided with a lot of family-type stuff for all of the guys in the band. We all started having kids and buying houses and focusing on our day jobs. I've been the most musically dormant out of all the guys. To be truthful, I haven't played my guitar since our last show in August of 2002. Thankfully, playing these songs is a lot like riding a bicycle and I was able to get back up to speed pretty quickly.

The Suspects are said to be the first Houston-based ska band. Do you agree with that?

I'd hate to think that's true, but in the category of "bands that play ska, only" we might be the first. In the 80's there were a ton of bands who dabbled in the genre – the leap from "late 80's white-boy Houston funk" to ska is pretty short. I think there were a couple of reggae bands who sped the tempo up for a few songs as well, but I couldn't name them if I had to. Hell, the band I played in previous to starting The Suspects (Huntsville-based X's For Eyes, 1990-1992) split their set between reggae and ska, and we played Fitzgeralds plenty of times. But as far as 100% ska, 100% of the time, The Suspects may be it.

When ska was resurging in popularity in the 90's, you opened up for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Were they an influence on you?

Stylistically, no. Their punk/ska hybrid wasn't what we were going for, especially back when Chris Kendrick was singing for us.

What other bands influenced you?

There has always been a wide array of influences in the band. Joe Cote (keyboards) loves funk and R&B. Charlie Esparza (bass) and Claudio DePujadas (drums) were always into hardcore punk. Andy Hocker (sax) was a dyed in the wool 3rd-wave ska enthusiast. I have a soft spot for death metal and early 70's rock steady reggae. To narrow down the list to a few specific influences that really made a difference in our sound is too tough a job for me.

What are your views on Houston's music scene?

For my tastes, there's not a lot going on. The proliferation of generic modern rock bands who insist on wearing make-up and calling themselves "emo" kinda makes me want to stay at home. Of course, I have two sons under the age of seven and I live thirty miles from all the good live venues, so I tend to stay at home anyways.

Where was your favorite place to perform and why?

The best shows were always at Fitzgeralds. All ages, cheap door, big room. We could usually pick the openers. The staff knew us and we didn't hate them. Added all up, it's pretty much what any band could hope for as far as a "home base" goes.

If you were a Houston landmark, what would you be?

I think I can speak for all of my bandmates; if The Suspects were a houston landmark, we'd be The Summit. Not some churchutainment venue, not the Compaq Center, but the fuckin' summit.

What can old Suspect fans expect at Friday night's show?

A great time. The rehearsals have been great and the room is going to be packed. Get ready to rawk!