Personnel: John Whildin, keyboards, guitar; Pat LoSasso, lead guitar, vocals; Sean Mulroney, bass; Dan Leali, drums.
Formed: 1986, when LoSasso met Mulroney through a friend of a friend and then hooked up with Whildin and Leali at the De Paul School of Music, which LoSasso was also attending. The original foursome has remained intact.
Sound: ”We call it groove rock,” LoSasso says. ”There`s a lot of attention to a groove feel as well as a guitar edge and various keyboard textures.”
Influences: ”Everything from Living Colour to John Cougar,” LoSasso says. ”We try to keep a real American element in our music.”
Songwriting: LoSasso writes the songs, which ”basically range from thoughtful reflection to passion and the physical drive that pushes us all on.”
In-concert cover versions: David Essex`s ”Rock On,” the Rolling Stones` ”Bitch” and David Bowie`s ”Cat People (Putting Out Fire).”
Namesake: ”The name means rhythm, basically,” LoSasso says. ” `Tick tock` is what it`s derived from. If you don`t finish `tock,` you get `tah.`
” As for the umlaut over the ”a”: ”We put it on there just to make the name look a little more interesting on the page.”
TV debut: The band competed on ”Star Search” a few months ago and defeated a rock band from Athens, Ga. But on the second day, Tic Tah tied a hip-hop group and lost in an audience vote. ”It was pretty disappointing,”
LoSasso says. ”The singer wrote all the material in the studio and just hired these guys to go up and dance with him.”
Recordings: The band has recorded four demo tapes, including a new three- song cassette done at Chicago Trax with the money from ”Star Search.” The band is sending them to labels, not selling them to the public-though LoSasso says they would consider a CD release after recording the next demo.
Outlook: ”We`re just a hard-working rock `n` roll band, basically,”
LoSasso says.
Goals: ”To get a record deal and expand our following in Chicago,”
LoSasso says. ”We`d like to stay here.”
Next appearances: Cabaret Metro, Friday; Easy Street (in Glenview), Dec. 8.
