Steven "Meven" Maldonado
Steven, or as we know him, Meven, was born in the small town of Peanuckle, Manitoba and spent most of his childhood running away from local bullies. "I guess they didn't like me because I wore an easter bonnet to school every day," Meven explains. "They were just too young to grasp my unique sense of fashion." Weekly kazoo lessons from his grandfather sparked an ambition in Meven - a belief that something else was waiting out there for him. Something big. Landing a spot on tour playing kazoo for Shania Twain would have been enough to pacify most people. But not Meven. After relocating to Nashille, Meven set his sights on being a frontman kazooist, and after meeting the guys in The Addiction, he keeps inching closer and closer to that dream. "They're making me sing for now," he says. "Which is fine for the time being. But at some point I'm busting out with the kazoo again, and when that happens, watch out world."
Email: meven@theaddictionmusic.com
JJ Benson
The Addiction's keyboardist JJ Benson learned the hard way that trying to break the law can sometimes deliver severe consequences, especially when that law is the Law of Gravity. His nightly piano bar gig at an Omaha, Nebraska retirement home got a little out of control back in 1994; after refusing to play "John Jacob Jingleheimerschmidt", JJ infuriated an already rowdy crowd of drunken senior citizens, who shoved him and his piano from the roof of a 5-story building. After months of rehab and numerous shin surgeries, JJ left Omaha and moved to Nashville, where he worked part-time tuning kazoos. "I was fairly happy, but deep down I knew someday I had to start playing music again," he recalls. A chance meeting with renowned local kazooist Steven "Meven" Maldonado changed the course of history and ignited what would become the powerful songwriting team whose music would help build the small handful of scattered fans The Addiction has today.
Email: jj@theaddictionmusic.com
Bryan "Little B" Pyzer
Raised by wolves, Bryan Pyzer spent most of the 90's touring New Zealand with a yiddish folk band. After a failed run for the Senate in 2000, Bryan decided to return to music -- his true calling in life. "I could tell you that I became disenchanted with how special interests and lobbyists run the political process and how we're all just pawns in the big government game, but that would be a bit disingenuous," explains Bryan. "The real reason I'm back with music is because of the free beer and pizza before gigs." After a year playing tuba with the Nashville symphony, Bryan took up the guitar and joined The Addiction. His name can be found on the cover of Rolling Stone, if you come to his house and look at the address label on his copies of the magazine.
Email: bryan@theaddictionmusic.com
Rick Lay
Born in Norway to Amish shoemakers, Rick moved to the United States in the mid 70's and learned everything he knows about percussion from churning butter as a young boy. "Other drummers think my style of playing is strange, where I point my drumsticks downward & turn them in big circles," says Rick. "But that's not weird to me. What's weird to me is when I pour baked beans into my socks before each gig." After several failed attempts to form an Abba tribute band, Rick abandoned his dreams of being an astronaut and joined The Addiction, where he remains the only bandmember with a savings account.
Email: rick@theaddictionmusic.com
Robert Wright
The newest addition to the band, Robert Wright brings a slew of talents to the mix -- in addition to playing the crap out of the bass, drums, keyboards, guitar and oboe, Robert is a seasoned singer, songwriter, producer and sound engineer. But don't let all his musical experience and talent fool you. Robert's true love is whittling, and the music is just a means to support his hobby until he can afford to do it full-time. "Music is cool and all, but whittling is where it's at," explains Robert. "Music is just a way to develop my hand-eye coordination, so that I can carve even more realistic-looking elves and unicorns out of driftwood." Due to a semi-botched surgery separating Robert from his siamese twin at birth, he has gone through life with two left feet. But that doesn't stop him from making music and practicing his whittling. It does, however, make him ineligible to join the Rockettes.
Email: robert@theaddictionmusic.com
