life, as cliche as that sounds. Paul, Tim & Derek get together every now and then, drink some beers, eat Mexican food
and retreat to Tim's basement and play the songs that stretch from 1989 til present. Sometimes they record. They have
three CD's available by contacting the webmaster. (webmaster@dereksee.com). They are reasonably priced.
Brought back together by a force that no one could ever control. Paul, Tim, & Derek were born to play music together
and have a telepathic way of performing together. The band has no egos and no personality clashes. The sole purpose
is to write and play music that they enjoy without compromise. As Derek has said "When I write a song and bring it in to
the others and want them to play what they feel is the best part for the track. I feel so lucky that these guys are able to
emotionally connect to the music and add such a large part of their souls to it. Tim is a rock solid and ultra tasteful
drummer. Paul's basslines are at times bizarre, but always make sense. He plays like no other ever could, which is a
direct reflection of his own life experiences and it translates to the music.
I Sharko "broke up" in 1997 to pursue individual life journeys and college. Tim began drumming for WHIMSICAL, Derek
joined, quit and then rejoined LONG DIVISION, and Paul forward to the day when Sharko would reform, which he says
he was always hopeful that it would happen. When getting back together in 2000, the name THE VEGETABLES was
used briefly.
Press:
Illinois Entertainer, September '03: I, Sharko's three-song, self-titled CD is for people who embraced The Lyres' raw
1960s revivalism long before "garage" became a buzz word. "Stop Stop" is a playful rocker about boredom and
frustration that opens with lead vocalist/guitarist Derek See singing, "You can't use your stupidity as a prop." "Insatiable"
is even more reckless, as Lee and fellow lead guitarist Sam Carlson cut loose on their instruments. Sandwiched
between these two cuts is the more melodic "Slow Down," which features Lee and Carlson on some nice harmony vocals.
"One Kind Radio" September '03: I, Sharko "Lives In Gray" I, Sharko's sound might have changed... but the attitude still
remains the same. Keeping with it a sound like if the White Stripes had found out how to play true indie rock!!! This is
one great raw recording... might need a bit of work in the studio before I would call it a radio collection, but who has the
money these day to afford a stronger monkey behind the boards. If you like a raw, garage sound from a band that has
put out hits that no one has heard... pick this one up for your earger listening garage indie-rock ears.
Alternative Press, September '96: Like a more concise My Bloody Valentine or Spiritualized, or an Americanized,
more garage-band Ride, Chicago's I, Sharko play atmospheric songs with a hard-edged rock base. On the six-year-old
groups self-titled effort, they merge spacey psychedelia with a structured rock style that works nicely on the fuzzy but
focused "Water", which combines attitude with atmosphere (along with song weird synth effects), and on the reverbed,
vibrato, melodic guitars and chorused vocals of the poppy "Sun Comes Early."
The Big TakeOver, September '96: They cite Ride and Spaceman 3 as influences, but these guys sound like they
just strode in from the last volume of Nuggets. Derek Cullimore's voice (sonic) booms over the swells of sound. He
doesn't swathe himself in the psychedelic stir, and he doesn't have to. The songs are all sturdy--guitars and lots of
keyboards swimming gracefully, with Paul Grafton's controlled bass lines towing everything along nicely. The shorter
tracks ("Soul So True", "Fallen Hope") are gentle and balmy, while longer pieces ("Untitled", "Eyes") tend to develop into
full-on firestorm jams. More inclined towards whetted riffage than drone, I, Sharko are a refreshing antidote to the lazy
hordes of electric mainliners.
Chaotic, Critiques, September '96: This interestingly-titled band plays some dreamy pop that reverberates around
in the your head like Jell-O in a mild earthquake, and closes the gap between retro and modern rock with out falling
entirely into a single category. Relaxing and hypnotic. I, Sharko navigates its daze with confidence, dripping unobtrusive
psychedelics into your consciousness and sweetening your mind like thick honey. Opener "Sun Comes Early " is the
most direct song, leaving the remainder of the album a dreamy, smoke-filled playground drenched in discursive,
effects-laden solos and wavering vocals that drift like a mirage on the desert horizon. On occasion, the band will break
the spell and launch demeanor. Well-meaning and contemplative, I, Sharko put forth a very convincing platter of
psychedelic that is experienced as much as it is heard.
Magnet #24: I, Sharko opens its album with "Sun Comes Early"' a romping sprint that's popped along by dashing
chink-a-chink guitars, with typical but tolerable sinbg-a-linging by guitarist Derek Cullimore. The nest track, "Eyes"
reveals Sharko to not be some indie rock, Slumber land-like outfit, but a psychedelic hound who's no doubt memorized
Smashing Orange's recordings circa 1991. The third track, "Flowers For You " jumps up and down with more chinking
guitars of the strummy, flowery sort; it's followed by the drifting-on-water "For Anybody", where the guitar evokes images
of an empty bottle floating in the ocean.
New City, April '96: There are quite a few sharp turns on the self-titled debut from Chicago's I, Sharko. While it
starts out sounding like common distorted jangle fuzz, the Kramer-produced CD gently veers off into ethereal shoe
gazing. On the Expansive "Eyes", a song that highlights the crack production, layers of echo-laden guitars, crisp drum
and bass and keyboard doodles inconspicuously weave in and out of the mostly instrumental jam. While the acoustic
songs bring to mind a more psychedelic Aztec Camera, the extended electric workouts summon a modern-day blend of
Youngian guitar mixed with a twisted rock language of My Bloody Valentine and a less Manchester-beat influenced
Verve.
Bucketfull of Brains, August '96: Given the tenuous advance information I had, I was expecting the sound of their
debut album to fall somewhere between that of Spiritualized and Bongwater. Actually though, only the shimmeringly
translucent euphony of the second track, "Eyes" and the complex dynamics of the closing "Untitled" live up to
expectations. For the most part, this Indiana band's sound is unassuming, harmony laden, 12-string pop which reaches
a head on the Sundial-ish "For Anybody", with its rousing guitar/keyboard close. More of the same next time would be a
real treat. *Phil McMullen
Astro Zombie webzine: A youthful quartet who play drug-induced indie pop, which is not a particular favorite genre but
nevertheless they do it well. Imagine the Wonderstuff and Pop Will Eat Itself vacating to the US for six years, having a
huge identity crisis because nobody there wants their over-inflated ego shaw and so to gain any attention they must
remove their inflated heads with poser hair-extensions from their very loose backsides and come to grips with reality
and you have I, Sharko who are far more musically superior. There are many free-form, tangential spiralizations where
incredibly well performed, the bass wraps around you spine while the keyboards shuttle up inside the spinal column
towards the back-brain. I'm describing the last three minutes of "Eyes". The vocals are acidic folk similar to REM, Thee
Morning Glories and the Petals, made distant by tons of reverb and giving that essential psychedelic quality to an
otherwise nineties Indie pop band.
