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Pat Briggs came to New York city in 1982, with a need for the excitement and glam of showbiz. He became a dancer at the Cat Club, and formed his first band, R.U. Ready. 
They didn't have much success, and disbanded in the late 80's. Pat then brought the idea of forming his own club to his friend Mike Schmidt. They took part in it together, and formed the Squeezebox. It happened every Friday night at Don Hill's, and it became an instant success. The crowds they drew were bigger and bigger. One of Pat's friends, Tommy Salmorin, who worked at the Squeezebox, kept pressing Pat to start a band. But Pat, still bitter about his lack of success with RU Ready, was reluctant. Finally, after months of convincing from Tommy, he accepted, on the conditions that he would sing, and that they'd be called Psychotica. Pat and Tommy both hand many 
connections all over New York City and got these musicians together. From a local punk band Youth Gone Mad, they found Ena Kostabi, a proficient guitarist and producer, and Buz, an energetic drummer. Pat brought in his friend Enrique Tiru-Valez, who was a professionally trained celloist. And Pat also recruited a woman named Reeka. She was a waitress who Pat had met at her job, and they had exchanged tapes. Reeka was Sweedish, but had an almost Jamaican style of vocals. She was fulent in French, Spanish, Enligsh, Sweedish, Norweigan, and German. And quite often during her singing, she would sing in multiple languages in one 
song. From looking at his diary, you could tell Pat was very excited about this band. Psychotica's first practice was at a garage on Manhattan, on a very busy street. The second was there as well. The practice was going well, and the band was playing wonderfully together, when all of a sudden a woman walked in. She identified herself as a representative of American Records, a leading industrial and other fringe genres label. She asked them if they wanted a contract. Right then and there, at their second practice! Pat, who was still hurt from his experiences with R U Ready, nonchalantly told her to show up at their first show the following night at the Squeezebox. After she saw them, then they would talk. 
Though he was rude to her, she still came to the show, and loved every minute of it. Afterwards, she was talking to the band, and offered them a quite generous contract. The band was flabbergasted, but signed right away. Also, after their next show a man came up to Pat and told him that he wanted to put him in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. They were doing an exhibit on style in rock, and a wax figure of Pat was put up next to wax figures of David Bowie, Trent Reznor, and Marilyn Manson. Early in 1996, Psychotica was invited onto the Lollapalooza '96 tour. Lollapalooza was the premiere alternative touring act in the nation. This would give Psychotica a whole new audience to reach. They accepted, and landed the opening spot on the main stage at Lollapalooza. 
Unfortunatley, their album wasn't quite ready for release on the beginning leg of the tour, so they put out a limited edition EP. This EP had the two singles from the forthcoming album, Ice Planet Hell and Freedom of Choice, plus two tracks that weren't slated to be released on the LP, Valentine and Rain. These 2 tracks ended up being the most beloved by the fans, and in a recent poll of over 100 Psychotica fans online, Rain and Valentine placed #1 and #2 (respectively) as fans' favorite songs. On July 12, 1996 Psychotica released their debut album, Psychotica. It drew highly varied reviews. For the people who loved it, it was the greatest album they'd ever heard. For the people who didn't, it was trash rubbish and a waste of music. The fans adored it. It had the combination 
of Pat's raw emotion and his beautiful lyrics, with some twisted guitar sounds, and great melodies. Songs like Ice Planet Hell and Little Prince will get in your head and not leave all day. And songs like 180 degrees and Little Prince evoked such emotion that the listener feels just what Pat is feeling as he's singing it. It was a wonderful album. The sales, though not phenomenal, were good, and people were buying the album. After the Lollapalooza tour, the band still toured extensively, including headlining tours with the Impotent Sea Snakes and the Vulumptuous Horror of Karen Black, plus a tour with Tool. Their fan base rapidly grew, and the internet soon caught on to it too. Web sites popped up
everywhere, and a mailing list was formed. The band was doing quite well. Then, in a sudden decision, the band decided to fire drummer Buz for his over-use of drugs, and because of his lack-of-talent. It was a strange decision, but it was warranted because his drum playing was greatly impaired by his use of drugs. Soon after this, bassist Tommy Salmorin left the band because of "artistic differences". We may not know exactly why Tommy left, but we do know that he was unhappy with the band. Soon after this, Reeka was fired from the band, because she was not willing to comply with their pleading for her to gain US Citizenship. This was impairing them from advancing further. Another 
blow rocked the Psychotica camp in 1997, when American Records was bought over, and they dropped almost every act on the label, including Psychotica. This was a crushing blow to the bands fans who were anxiously awaiting a new release from their beloved band. But Psychotica didn't let these misfortunes stop them. They picked up Greta Brinkmen and Pete Asirisi from the Squeezebox band, and did some shows with them. They also aquired Sophia Ramos, who toured with them on Lollapalooza, because Reeka couldn't [contractual difficulties]. Then the band lay low for a while, during which time Pat worked on his 
autobiographical book, which was to be turned into a movie. Then in February of 1998, the band announced that they had signed a record deal with Zero Hour Records. The contract was good for an EP and an LP both to be released in 1998, plus a solo record from Pat Briggs. The LP, Espina (which is Spanish for "thorn") has been released recently. The tracklist is:
1. Ding Dong Dead (5:34)
2. Bleeding (3:57)
3. Too Late [a new recording of "Rain" from the debut EP] (4:17)
4. Blind (8:20)
5. Breakable (2:19)
6. Psychopharmocologist (1:50)
7. MacArthur Park (4:52)
8. February 14, 1979 [a new recording of "Valentine" from the debut EP] (3:20)
9. Soldier of War (6:29)
The album is incredible, and Psychotica fans everywhere are going crazy for it!
All photos [except promo's] taken by EVB. thanks to her for permission to use them.
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