Pencey Prep

Pencey Prep was born from the rubble of Sector 12, a band which Frank Iero started when he was in high school. Sector 12 had done their final tour and asked old friend John "Hambone" McGuire to play bass because at the time the drummer had been kicked out and bass player Bruno Rocha needed to switch to drums. Pencey Prep originally was going to be named "Whatch You Talkin Bout Willis" until Hambone gave Frank the challenge of either naming the band by the next day or using the name he had come up with. So looking to Catcher in The Rye, Frank came up with the name Pencey Prep, the school from which Holden Caulfield was kicked out. Next came Shaun Simon, a local skater kid that was also a best friend. They weren't quite sure how but they knew they wanted to fit him into the band. Grabbing an old keyboard out from under the bed and teaching Shaun a few simple riffs was the beginning of a keyboard master in the making. Next came time to look for a drummer because although Bruno was great for a few punk shows, they needed a substantial real drummer. It was at a party the members of Pencey Prep asked around if anyone knew a drummer and they introduced to a friend of Tim Hagevik's and from there the band was born. They had originally Bruno singing, Frank on guitar, Shaun on keys, Tim on drums and Hambone on bass. They recorded a demo and needless to say it kind of stunk. Bruno's vocals just didn't fit, and the band needed something else. That is when Frank turned to an old friend from a band called Stick Figure Suicide named Neil Sabatino and asked him to join the band. Neil had toured and played with bands like Saves the Day, H20, Bouncing Souls and tons of others and he had helped book tours and shows for his old band and as well had a good ear for writing catchy songs. Pencey Prep practiced 7 nights a week in the basement of Frank Iero's house in Belleville. Before the band even had a first show they had plans to record "Heartbreak In Stereo". The album was starting to take shape almost a full year before it was even recorded. With songs contributed by Hambone, Frank and Neil they easily had more than enough material to work on. The band played their first show in at The Loop Lounge in Passaic Park, New Jersey with the band Nada Surf. They were also able to get on shows with bands like Atom & His Package, Thursday, and even The Strokes and New Found Glory. "Heartbreak In Stereo" was released on November 26, 2001 on Eyeball Records. After going on a disastrous tour of the Midwest US where there were bunches of internal fights, several points where their van broke down, and low attendance, the band called it quits. Their last show was on May 7, 2002 at CBGB's. Since the band's disbandment, Frank joined My Chemical Romance. Neil now plays in Fairmont. Hambone played in Leathermouth and Brine & Bastards and was also in Fairmont for some time. Tim became an artist and posts somewhat often about Pencey Prep on Instagram. Shaun toured with MCR as their keyboardist for a while and also co-wrote The Fabulous Killjoys comic with Gerard Way in 2013. In 2021, Heartbreak In Stereo was reissued in celebration of its' 20th anniversary on streaming services, CD, and for the first time, on vinyl and cassette tape. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.