The Quakes are an American psychobilly band that started in the fall of 1986 in Buffalo, New York. The original members were Paul Roman on guitar and vocals, Dave “the ace” Hoy on drums and Rob Peltier on upright bass.

In the fall of 1987, The Quakes sold all their possessions and moved to London England. They landed a recording contract with Nervous records. The first self titled album “The Quakes” was released in June of 1988.
For the last 38 years, The Quakes have been a staple at psychobilly festivals all over the world. During the 90’s, The Quakes had a major label record deal with Sony/Japan. The band has done many tours of Europe, Brazil, Japan, Russia and North America.
The Quakes have released ten full length albums including the latest “Western Bop” released in 2024.

Quick Bio- 38 years of history in 1620 words!
The Quakes started in 1986 in Buffalo,New York with Paul Roman on guitar and vocals,
Rob Peltier on slap bass and Dave “the ace” Hoy on drums.
The band moved to London England in the fall of 1987. At that time, London was the
center of the psychobilly/rockabilly scene.The band played their first European show in
front of 4000 people at a psychobilly festival in Belgium. Upon their return to England
they were stopped at the border and deported because they didn't have work permits.
The Quakes returned to Europe supporting the Coffin Nails on tour in early 1988.
They were signed to Nervous records and released their first self titled album in June of
88.The album was very raw energetic and full of angst.It was very well received on the
psychobilly scene and remains a classic.The band at that time were living in an
abandoned apartment in London surviving on five dollars a day to feed the whole band.
During that time in London, The Quakes got to play at some well known venues such as
Dingwalls and The Klubfoot.
Upon his return to the USA, Dave “the ace” Hoy was hit by a car and killed one week
before his eighteenth birthday in October of 1988.
Paul Roman stayed in London and put together a new band called Paul Roman and the
Prowlers. Returning from some shows in Holland and Belgium, Paul was stopped at
British customs and deported a second time.
Back in the USA,The Quakes played a few shows with school friend Chris VanCleve on
rhythm guitar and a friend of Peltiers on drums. Roman returned to England in the
spring of 1989 to record a solo record. Recording was started but never finished. During
this time Paul played with psychobilly legends Demented are Go filling in for their
guitarist who had quit the band. In late summer of 1989, Roman returned to Buffalo and
put the Quakes back together with Rob Peltier on Bass and Brian Doran on drums. A
series of festivals and tours in Europe followed.
In June of 1990, Voice of America was released on Nervous records. This album was
very different from the first album with a perfect balance between psychobilly and neo
rockabilly. To many fans it is considered their best. At this time the band was making
regular trips to Europe. This time armed with work permits! There was no scene in the
USA, so the band only played around Buffalo,occasionally venturing into Canada and
the surrounding areas. It made more sense to focus on Europe as this was were the
scene was.In 1991, Brian Doran left the band and was replaced by Chris Van Cleve.
The band did a tour of Japan and released a live album from Tokyo on Planet records.
There was a lot of buzz in Japan after that tour and the band was contacted by Sony/
Japan. A deal was made and The Quakes released their forth album New Generation
on Sony records. A six week tour of Japan coincided with its release in February of 93.
This album was very pop sounding and sold very well in Japan but was not as well
received in Europe when it was licensed to Nervous records.
Later in 1993, Van Cleve left the band and a search was on for his replacement. A
permanent member was not found but The Quakes continued to tour and play festivals
in Europe with different studio drummers.
In 1995 The Quakes recorded what would seem to be their last record. The scene in
Europe had died down and there was still no US scene to speak of. The band had
shopped some demos but there was no interest from Sony or any other labels. Quiff
rock came out in early 1996 on Tombstone records. This album was a throw back to the
bands earlier style. It was well reviewed but the scene was almost at the end of its rope.
The Klubfoot a well known psychobilly venue in London had been torn down for 5 years
previous and the festivals were getting smaller and the tours shorter.
In 1997 Roman moved to Phoenix Arizona while Peltier stayed in Buffalo and joined a
new band.For the next three years ,The Quakes would play a couple of big festivals a
year in Europe with Chris Van Cleve back on drums but not much was happening.
In the year 2000 The Quakes were still doing just a few big shows a year. Paul Roman
then started the bands own record label called Orrexx Records.
The scene was starting to pick up a little in America thanks to a new record label called
Hellcat records that was a division of Epitaph.
In 2001 Last of the human beings wad released on Orrexx records.This album had all
the elements that you would expect from The Quakes with a few surprises. It was well
received by the fans and the move was on to start doing more with the band.
In May of 2003, The Quakes headlined the sold out American nightmare festival in
Pomona California. It was the bands first gig ever on the west coast. The response was
great. That summer the Quakes played a festival in Spain and did a short tour of
Finland.
In February of 2004 Roman moved to Finland and put together a band called the PR3.
The band featured two Finnish musicians on bass and drums. The group played mostly
old Quakes songs and a few new songs. In the summer of 04, the PR3 did 25 shows in
Finland,Russia, Germany. Switzerland, Austria and Spain.
In October 2004, The Quakes headlined the Wreckers Ball in Hollywood. This was only
the second time out on the west coast and again the crowd was amazing. This is
something the band never expected, having started in 1986 and touring mostly in
Europe and then coming out to California to find 16 year old kids who knew all the
words to their songs.
In January 2005 Paul Roman was back in Finland with a new lineup to the PR3, this
time doing a few shows in the Ukraine.April found the Quakes on tour in France and
Germany. In June The Quakes did a mini tour of California with friends form Finland- 9
lives.
September 2005 The Quakes returned to Japan for the first time in ten years. A five
show mini tour was a big success.
A new album,Psyops by The Quakes was released in December of 2005 on Orrexx
records. This Cd is very new wave meets psychobilly.
The album received great feedback from fans.
In 2006 the Quakes celebrated their 20 year anniversary and hit the road. They toured
all over the USA and Europe doing a total of 57 shows.
In 2007 The Quakes had some line up changes. Bassist Kenny Hill was brought in at
the start of a southwest tour.Drummer Mike Minnick was brought in on drums but was
replaced by Chris Van Cleve for a 10 country 28 show European tour in the fall of 07.
The Quakes also re released the album Quiff Rock on their own Orrexx records after
the rights were obtained from Tombstone records. The release has brand new
packaging as well as 8 bonus tracks.
In 2008 drummer Juan Carlos was brought in to solidify the line up. The Quakes
headlined the Psychomania festival in Potsdam Germany in May and then did a sold out
show at Safari Sam's in Hollywood.
In 2009, The Quakes did a 20 show west coast tour starting with a sold out show in
Hollywood at the Fonda theater on Valentines day. The tour
was to promote the release of the new album "Negative charge". This is the seventh
studio album from The Quakes and it was released on
Orrexx records. April-played at the 22and Satanic Stomp, a long running psychobilly
festival in Germany.
The band also did a 14 show east coast tour starting in May. In September, The Quakes
headlined the Hollywood Showdown festival.
In 2010, The Quakes Headlined the Psychobilly Meeting, a long running festival in
Spain. June-headlined the Rock nRoll Jamboree
in Finland. July-The Quakes made their first trip to Brazil. They were featured on a
national television show as well as a radio interview
as well as an article in Rolling Stone magazine/Brazil.
In September, the band headlines the Bedlam Breakout festival in the UK.
In October, a series of warm up shows around Arizona before heading to Europe for a
10 country, 21 show tour to promote the
vinyl release of Negative Charge.
In 2011,Paul Roman and Kenny Hill recorded a cover version of Duran Durans’s “Planet
Earth” for a compilation album on Cleopatra Records.
In 2012 The Quakes welcomed Wes Hinshaw in on bass taking over for Kenny Hill.Wes
had been practicing with the band for a year prior because Kenny lives in San Diego, a
6 hour drive from Phoenix.
On May 10, the new album Planet Obscure was released on Orrexx records. Later that
year,The Quakes played at the Ink & Iron festival in Long beach California as well as the
Psychobilly Meeting in Pineda,Spain.
A European tour started in September 2012 taking The Quakes to 13 countries for a
total of 31 shows to promote Planet Obscure.During the tour,The Quakes headlined The
Psychobilly Earthquake festival in Bremen Germany.
In May of 2013,The Quakes headlined The Psychomania festival in
Potsdam,Germany.They played at The Vex in Los Angeles in June and did a special
Halloween show in Chicago. In December The Quakes returned to Brazil for a show in
Curitiba and Sao Paulo.
In September of 2014, The Quakes headlined the Long Beach Psyclone festival in Long
Beach California. A new
Ep called “Live By The Sword” was also released on Orrexx records that same month. A
European tour
followed in October taking The Quakes to 13 countries in 4 weeks including headlining
the Psychobilly Earthquake
festival in Bremen Germany.
In 2015 The Quakes were one of the headliners at the Psychobilly meeting festival in
Spain.
In 2016 The Quakes celebrated their 30 year anniversary by playing their usual yearly
shows in Phoenix,SanDiego,
Los Angeles and a trip to Northampton England to headline the Bedlam Breakout
festival.
In June of 2017, a documentary was made by Paul Roman chronicling the bands early
days and was released
on YouTube. The digital single “Psycho fest” was also released. In October, The Quakes
Headlined the Tawastia Stomp in Finland.
The new single “Winter Drag” was released in January of 2018. A video for the song
was shot in Flagstaff AZ. In
April, The Quakes played in Las Vegas and then headlined the Mayhem festival in Los
Angeles. In July, they were one of the headliners at the Psychobilly meeting in Spain.
In 2019, The Quakes played in St.Petersburg and Moscow Russia. It was the first time
the band had played there in
13 years.
In 2020,the band did a full west coast USA tour opening for The Horrorpops. Many
festivals were planned for that year and then covid hit..
In 2024 The Quakes were back with a new release called “Western Bop”. The band
played at the 30th anniversary of The Psychobilly meeting in Spain and also played in
London for the first time in 8 years.
Note: for the full bio, please visit The Quakes web site
https://www.thequakes.com/about