Discovery Surprises the Band and the Discoverer

After moving to Orange County and starting to play local clubs, Mr. Mirainga made such an impact that promoter J.P. Boquette, who regularly booked the group at Club 5902 in Huntington Beach and the Thunderbird in Newport Beach, would typically ignore the band and take a fresh-air break when Mirainga got up to play.

Then, suddenly last summer, Mr. Mirainga got its big break in the music business, without even trying.

“I was cleaning my room one day. I always have demo tapes stacked a mile high, and I saw the Mr. Mirainga demo,” Boquette recalled. “Mr. Mirainga was the most overlooked band in Orange County, even by myself.

“I thought, ‘I really like these guys [as people]; they’ve always been nice. Me liking them personality-wise, I put the tape in, and it hit me in the face like a ton of bricks,” he said. “Needless to say, I never finished cleaning my room.”

Without Mr. Mirainga knowing it, Boquette began playing the tape for music-business contacts, and he soon became convinced that the band could land a major-label deal. He went to their practice studio to break the news.

“I said, ‘Hey, do you guys want to get a record deal?’ And they laughed at me and told me to get out of the studio.” Boquette says he persisted until he got a “yeah, whatever” from the band.

As their manager, he soon negotiated a contract with Way Cool/MCA. As it prepared to record, Mirainga recruited Steve “Drt” Garcia, a friendly, easygoing drummer who had gone to high school and played in D.I. with Hedge. The EP and album were done quickly and cheaply on a 24-track portable studio the band bought for itself, with producer Jim Goodwin assisting.

“Jim Goodwin ended up being a bigger help than we thought,” notes bassist Hedge. “He was a sensible ear when we were all drunk and not knowing heads from tails.”