The Nixons

The Nixons (formed in 1990) were a US-American post-grunge rock band, finding some commercial success in the mid-1990s.

Band history

The Nixons were founded in Oklahoma City by singer/guitarist Zac Maloy, guitarist Jesse Davis, bassist Ricky Brooks, and drummer Tye Robison. The group released their debut EP Six in 1992 (after a self-titled album, released in 1990) on Dragon Street Records and replaced Robison with John Humphrey, before releasing Halo in 1994 on Dallas-based Rainmaker Records. This album features several songs also included on Foma, their official debut LP, released in 1995 on MCA Records. Foma included the radio hits "Sister", " Happy Song", "Wire", and "Passion". The group capitalized on their success with big tours (about 300 shows a year), including dates with Soul Asylum, Radiohead, and Toadies. Foma eventually peaked at #77 on the Billboard 200.

The group replaced Ricky Brooks with Ricky Wolking and released a self-titled album in 1997, which featured three singles: "The Fall", "Miss U.S.A." and "Baton Rouge". The band was subsequently dropped by MCA, though their consistent gigging ensured a strong cult audience for 1999's Scrapbook EP (featuring b-sides, live and acoustic performances, including covers of Elton John's "Rocket Man" and Cheap Trick's "Heaven Tonight"), which saw the band return to Rainmaker.

Their fourth album The Latest Thing, was released by Koch in early 2000. It featured songs co-written by Marti Frederiksen and Jack Blades of Night Ranger fame. Though Jesse Davis and John Humphrey recorded The Latest Thing, an unknown dispute caused them to leave the band before the subsequent promotional tour, which featured Ray Luzier on drums and Scott "Scoob" Bush on guitar.

After a brief tour in support of The Latest Thing, the Nixons went on hiatus. As of early 2009, they have not released any new material or re-formed for any shows since that time.

Later projects

Davis, Brooks, and Humphrey reformed in early 2001 as Huver, with a new lead singer, Garin Murdock. The band gigged heavily and reportedly signed a recording contract with Epic Records, but broke up in the summer of 2002 after independently releasing one EP. John Humphrey has gone on to play drums in the band Seether. Ricky Wolking now plays bass for the Dallas-based rock band Edgewater and has recorded a solo album as Honky Mofo. Jesse Davis has a roots-rock/psychedelic jam band called 4 Points West which has released one EP and one full-length album. Davis also has a recording studio in Oklahoma City. Zac Maloy released two albums and an EP as a solo artist which were fairly popular in the Southwest but did not chart nationally, and has since become a songwriter and producer, working with such acts as Our Lady Peace, Supercell, The Daylights, Hanson, Chris Daughtry, David Cook and Bowling for Soup. Maloy also recently opened his own recording studio, Rosewater Studios, in Tulsa. Original drummer Robison is a co-owner of January Sound Studio in Dallas, and has worked as a producer/engineer with Drowning Pool, Chatterton, and Collin Herring. Co-wrote songs with other songwriters including Jonny Hetherington from Art of Dying.

Discography

• 1990 - The Nixons (self-released, on cassette only)
• 1992 - Six EP (Dragon Street Records)
• 1994 - Halo
• 1995 - Foma - #77 US
• 1997 - The Nixons (MCA) - #188 US
• 1999 - Scrapbook EP
• 2000 - Latest Thing

Singles

Band members

• Zac Maloy - vocals, guitar (1990-2000)
• Jesse Davis - guitar, backing vocals (1990-2000)
• Ricky Brooks - bass (1990-1997)
• Ricky Wolking - bass, backing vocals (1997-2000)
• Tye Robison - drums, backing vocals, programming (1990-1992)
• John Humphrey - drums, backing vocals (1994-2000)
• Ray Luzier - drums (2000)
• Scott "Scoob" Bush [Guitar] [Backing Vocals]

External links

• The Nixons on Myspace.com
• Zac Maloy on MySpace.com (contains Nixons songs)
• Nixons' AllMusic page
• Tye Robison's studio in Dallas