<<i went to a rova show a few months back (improvising with nels cline and some others) here in sf. the drummer's name was ches smith... he looked really young and impressed the shit out of me :) he's in a band called theory of ruin i haven't heard at all. i also recognized him from the cobra performance in sf earlier this year. does anyone know anything else about him? any good cds to check out?>> i think he also toured with mr. bungle on the last leg of their tour for 'california' in place of william winant. let's see, i am not a big fan of theory of ruin's type of aggro-math-groove rock/metal (although people who are into shellac, jesus lizard, or the guitarist/singer's old band, fudge tunnel, might be), but they are tight and i guess good at what they do. (in fact, i have a copy of their cd ... if you're in sf...). he also "slums" in a band called murder murder here in sf, which has a rotating lineup but almost always with two drummers, and recently he has often been one of them. that calls for less chops and more all-out wildness (in sets of 10-12 min. max). they are usually pretty fun and destructive. on the more "pedigreed" side of things, the bayimproviser.com web site lists some other stuff about him, too. will