In The Beginning…

 Sonic Tonic was born on March 1st, 2015. Andrew Paffendorf, Rudy Manahan and Eyal Wigdor got together in Mira Mesa on a beautiful Sunday morning with the goal of completing nine cover songs that day and seeing if there was enough chemistry there to warrant moving forward with a full band project. Hits and misses had plagued us for close to three years at that point and we wanted the vision we had to work out this time. What was that vision? Play an eclectic mix of songs that included popular favorites, included some B-Side material and deep cuts as well. If that wasn’t enough, we wanted to inject some humor into our sets to surprise the crowd. The original nine were as follows:

Fortunate Son - CCR

Get Back - The Beatles

Tuesday’s Gone - Lynyrd Skynyrd

Blitzkreig Bop - The Ramones

Crazy Train - Ozzy

Anyway You Want It - Journey

Dream On - Aerosmith

Creep - Radiohead

Crazy (Nattie and The Casual T’s Arrangement) - Gnarls Barkley

After we got tight on those songs we felt it was time to find a singer. An ad was placed on Craigslist and one candidate stood out, and she was asked to immediately audition. She knocked “Crazy” completely out of the park and was asked to join the band. Shamini Jain was the first singer in Sonic Tonic history.

After developing a few more songs, it was time to add a second guitarist to the band. After searching high and low, we brought in the very talented Erik Moberly into the fold. Having two guitarists made us really flexible and increased our song choices ten fold. On top of that Erik could sing. We added a few more songs, deleted others, and even added in an epic or two to really shake things up!

**Fun Fact**Now comes the part where we came up with the band name and why Rudy chose the Midway for our first photoshoot. We had come up with and rejected several names. I was stuck on working the word “Sonic” in there from day one. Sure I loved Sonic Youth back in the day, but didnt really care for the drive in restaurant, so go figure. I wanted it to reflect a “sonic experience” coming to see us. A wide variety of songs from all genres. I finally threw my hands in the air and left it to a name generator. I typed in Sonic, and let it rip. Of the 20 it gave me, I think five were good, so leaving practice one day I started listing the names. The third one down was “Sonic Tonic” and when I said it, Erik and Eyal said “Yeah, I can live with that.” I liked it already, and Rudy and Shamini thought it worked…and there it was! Rudy then decided on the USS Midway because of the “Sonic” jets!

Lets Get the show on the road!

We played our first show in Temucula, CA opening for our friends, Xanadoodz, a fantastic Rush tribute band, on August 14th, 2015. We not only got our first paycheck, but our first bar tab…which Rudy’s party promptly used! (Im looking at you Paul Stanley). The show was a success and we had begun the journey!

We were off and running. We picked up gigs in The East County, Cardiff By The Sea, Carlsbad and the South Bay. Our set list grew and so did our friendships with various other San Diego bands and people that had come out to see us play repeatedly. We were learning the ropes, learning how to be professionals and working on our stagecraft…all while having the best times of our lives!

Highway 61, Revisited…

As with any project involving multiple people, be it a team or a band, each individual must carry their share of the load to be successful. As Sonic Tonic entered 2016, there was a member of the band that was being pulled in many different directions and focus on Sonic Tonic was somehow lost in the shuffle, by late spring of 2016 we were in search of a new singer. We didn’t have to look far because our former singer in a previous band that Rudy and I had played in was looking for a rock and roll gig. I reached out, she came in, learned the songs and wanted to join the band. Welcome to Sonic Tonic Natalia Hill!!!

With a fresh outlook and a renewed energy Sonic Tonic started getting shows at The Del Mar Fair, up at clubs in Orange County and invites from as far away as Pasadena. We managed to get our first “fun” song into the lineup and it was an audience participation number from British band, The Struts. “Could Have Been Me” was a call out and return song and we got the audiences fully involved. There we cue cards, there were band members egging on the crowd, it was just fun. Things were now moving along at light speed and we really expanded or set list, until that is, life came knocking at the door and our little up and coming band was once again placed back into park. Erik had some life events that pulled his attention away from the band. He needed to step away. Erik’s decision was supported by all of us and he was given an open invitation to rejoin us anytime he wanted.

It was at this time, Natalia said, “We should add keys to this band. When we post an ad for a new guitar player, we should also post for a keyboard player.” We all looked at each other and said that would be a cool idea. I know Rudy and I were chomping at the bit to add “Joker And The Thief” from Wolfmother and to actually have “Starlight” from Muse sound like the original version. So the search was on…

Timothy and Tommy The Cat

I posted an ad in the usual places and the search was on! One small issue was that we found plenty of guitar players, and no keyboard players. We moved forward on the assumption that we would find a keys player eventually, but, could wait, as long as we got that much needed second guitarist. Auditions were held and hands down, Tim McCabe was our choice. Not only was he just a good dude, he just fit our band. It was evident right from the get go. We also had another guy come in, young kid, funny as hell, just a great dude AND he played both guitar and keys, but he was there for the guitar spot. While he was a good player, we decided on Tim. As we were about to call Tim, Natalia asked us if there was anyway we could get the kid, Tommy in the band. All of us liked him instantly and thought he was just a great personality fit, so I took a chance. I wrote to him and said “You didn’t get the guitar part, but how would you feel about playing keys?” He said yes, and Tommy Chacon joined Sonic Tonic.

With A Little Luck…

So now you are all saying…OK, I know these guys, seen them play a bunch of times, lets go check out the new guys. The line-up looks solid and they are ready to go! As luck would have it, one of the founders of the band, Eyal, was just starting out his young family and for those of you who have just gotten married, and/or had your first little one, you know there is no time for things like playing in a band. On the eve of the first show with Tim and Tommy, Eyal was forced to bow out. We figured we would just move forward that night with one guitar. Tommy then spoke up and said “I learned all of the guitar parts, I can handle it.” Sure enough, Tommy played his ass off that night and we had a hugely successful night. The funniest part of the night was meeting Tommy’s family for the first time. His brother approached me and said “Tommy said he was in a band, but I didn’t think it was a BAND, band.” I told him yes we were real and would be playing all of San Diego. We were now comfortable knowing that Eyal was under no pressure now because Tommy could fill in at any time. We carried on through the winter, spring and into the summer of 2017. It was during the summer that some cracks started showing. We were gaining a bigger following and playing in more places than ever before. In 2015 and 2016 we played 16 shows, in 2017 alone, we were on a pace to play closer to 30 shows. Natalia, who was also the singer in another local band, was starting to run into a lot of conflicts with her schedule, and our push to get into even more places and play even more shows was not working for her. We mutually parted ways in the summer of 2017. So here we were, again, looking for a permanent singer in our band.

I COME FROM A LAND DOWN UNDER…

We wanted to get back up to speed quickly after Natalia’s departure. Normally, a three or four month wait to get someone up to speed was acceptable, but we, at this point really were starting to take off locally and we were getting all kinds of gigs thrown at us. We had momentum. We didn’t want to cancel, so we put the impossible task of being ready in less than a month on our new singer. It was basically “You want to join this band, we have a gig in about four weeks up in Encinitas, you gonna be ready?” Those of you who follow us know that we play all over the place. Hard rock, Metal, Alt, you name it, but when a rock star falls into your lap oh those times they are a changin’. That rock star was Kes O’Hara. Bon Scott, Lemmy, Rod Stewart and Wendy O. Williams got together and had a baby, and it was Kes O’Hara from Orange, NSW, Australia. The fit with Sonic Tonic was not as exact as we would have liked, and we would have to change up our act a bit to accomodate her, but what the hell, lets go!

The Kes O’Hara era, while fun, was further straying away from what we set out to do. We dropped many of our crowd favorites for songs that fit our singer better. We incorporated more AC/DC, Alice In Chains, Guns N Roses and heavier stuff to make the most of the voice that we had been gifted. We also noted a decline of our regular audience and we needed to get back to what we had set out to do. During this time original member, Eyal Wigdor, whose family was growing, could no longer participate as much as was needed to remain with the band. We said goodbye and left the door open for him to play with us anytime he wanted. Kes lasted with us about six months before she headed back to Texas, then NOLA permanently.

For our next singer, we wanted to push back into our variety style, multi genre style that people had been accustomed to. We also wanted to integrate some of that humor we had talked about earlier in our formation. Keeping this in mind the search was once again on for our perfect lead singer.

Hail To the King!

For those of you that have ever watched American Idol, the show is more real than you would ever think. For every one singer that can hold a note, you get three that can’t, and this audition cycle was right on track for that outcome. We reached out to a lot of singers this time around to make sure we got exactly what we wanted. We had a few known San Diego personalities audition, as well as some first timers, a few men and just some really talented people. In the end it came down to two people. We had already planned to keep our St. Patricks Day gig and use Erik as our lead singer for that night, but then decided to have our two finalists come out and grab six songs from sets two and three. Trial by fire was going to be the order of the night, from there, we could make our choice. I could make the story longer by saying it was neck and neck, and we had to flip a coin, but, no, there was one clear winner and that was Katrina King. On March 17th, 2018, Katrina King became the singer for Sonic Tonic. You can actually see me shoot a look at Rudy as she is singing the bridge to “Anyway You Want It”. I knew my choice from that exact second.

We were now a complete band. We had the singer we needed. We had the musicians in place we wanted, and we were ready to go! We immediated dropped some of the harder stuff we were playing and added some really challenging songs from Halestorm, The Vines, Heart, Steel Dragon, Journey and Lenny Kravitz. Oh and remember the “fun” I spoke about earlier? Well that was DEFINITELY a priority!

The first fun songs we were working on were “Sunshine Day” by The Brady Kids, “Tribute” by Tenacious D and “Its Not Unusual” by Tom Jones. We would later add “She’s A Lady” by Tom Jones and “Ja Ja Ding Dong” by Fire Saga from the motion picture soundtrack of Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. We also tried a double speed version of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N Roses, but soon learned people do not enjoy it when you mess with the classics! “Sunshine Day” in case you were wondering, did not make the cut.

**Fun Fact** Our Tom Jones covers are our most highly viewed YouTube videos with over 3000 views!

From the addition of Katrina in 2018 thru 2020 Sonic Tonic started receiving more booking requests than ever. For the first time in our short history did we have to start turning down shows. If we didn’t turn anyone down we would have ended up playing every single weekend, Friday thru Sunday! We also started picking up some recurring gigs at some of the best venues in town. We were picking up private parties, the big stages at the fair and we even got a call to play in Pennsylvania and London, England! (Probably a mix up with another Sonic Tonic but I’m taking it!) We had finally set out to do what we wanted to do and it was working! We would hear from bookers that the staff loved us because they had no idea what we would play next. We had everything we wanted and worked for. Unfortunately, we suffered a huge setback in late 2019. The increase in shows had started to interfere with Tim’s schedule. He could not play as frequently as we were playing. He stepped out of his permanent role and into a fill in role in which he still is doing today. We haven’t gotten to the “Fuck Tim” stage yet, but I promise we will! Erik was more than happy to rejoin the band and we were off and running! The gigs flew by so quickly and we were having an absolute blast! Then it happened…

Touch Me I’m Sick

Yup, you remember it…Covid 19. The virus that brought everything to a stop. We played five shows before it all came crashing down. Every show past March 15th, 2020 was cancelled. It was illegal to rehearse. It was illegal to visit each other to rehearse. No shows were allowed anywhere. It was going so well until it wasn’t. By the June of 2020 they had lightened up on the restrictions to the point where we could rehearse (with a mask in a private home) and could play, outside, in the driveway. Crowds had to maintain a distance of 6 feet apart. We put on one show in Rudy’s driveway and another in a parking lot in the South Bay. The clamps were again put on in early July and we were cancelled thru at least November and possibly the rest of 2020. We played what we thought was our last show, a Halloween show in Rudy’s driveway. Yes, of course we dressed up like Fire Saga to bring everyone “Ja Ja Ding Dong” in all its glory!

After the Halloween show on the driveway, we just decided to pack it in until 2021. It was getting tiring being told it would reopen, then not, then open, then not, so we just said “Enough!” and packed it in. Barely two weeks went by and I noticed a band had played a new venue in town called “Aquarius Bar And Grill” out on the Quvira Basin Jetty. Intrigued, I went downtown for a work related matter and stopped in. I spoke with the owner, and sure enough, they had relaxed resrictions for outdoor venues right after Halloween. She said she really wanted us in, and we became the first rock band to play at Aquarius. We ended our 2020 year on a Saturday night at the jetty and picked up another returning gig site!

Back Where You Belong…

In early 2021 the restrictions were slowly being lifted, but, we were still relegated to outdoor venues. Most places built temporary outdoor stages and it felt as if we were getting back on track. We lined up several outdoor gigs and when word got out that indoor gigs would be allowed starting in May, our schedule filled out very quickly! It was if we were going to pick right back up where we left off…or so we thought…

Norwegian Wood…

Remember that little thing I mentioned earlier called life? Yeah, it struck again in March of 2021. Our Katrina was the recipient of a scholarship to get her Masters Degree…in Norway. Not a town called Norway, but the country that shares land with Sweden and Finland. That September we would have to say goodbye to our Katrina and her time in Sonic Tonic. She poured her heart and soul into our band for over three years and the amount we grew and the fun we had cannot be defined in one short paragraph. This was a blow of epic proportions. We were cruising along on autopilot, songs were coming very quickly and we just had a great chemistry. Losing Katrina was easily the biggest low of our time together.

We made sure we got a ton of dates for 2021. We wanted to make sure Katrina got in as many shows as she could before she headed off to school. We played all the best venues, The Rock And Roll Marathon, private parties and holiday events. We had a big, blowout, final show with her family present. We even had shirts made up for the guest of honor! They featured…the guest of honor!

We played two more shows with Katrina after the “final” show, and, her final appearence with the band was on September 6th, 2021.

Keep Running up that hill… (Hi, I’m Kate)

I wish I could tell you that the process to replace Katrina was an easy one, but it was easily the toughest thing we had done as a band after six years of existence. At this point we all had something a little different we were looking for. There was no “replacing” Katrina with an exact replica. There was no “different but the same” types out there, and to make the challenge even tougher, the high cost of living in San Diego was starting to chase people out of town and available artists were growing slimmer and slimmer by the week. We placed an ad in several places this time and even made show announcements that we were looking. By the time the auditions rolled around, we had four pretty viable choices. There was a fifth, who I had contacted, and Rudy liked, but she was not returning my calls. We went ahead with the other four, passed on one and kept three others. We held two auditions with each, cut it down to two and began serious discussions over Katrina’s replacement. It was a really tough process on all of us, and our loyalty to Katrina made it extra difficult. We consulted outside the band, and with people associated with the band, and yeah, it was difficult because everybody kept thinking about Katrina in their decision making process.

Then it happened…the woman I had reached out to, Kate, dropped me an email and wanted to talk to me on the phone later that day! I waited and waited, nothing. So I took my dog out for a walk and wouldn’t you know it, my phone rings and for the first time, I speak to Kate Incremona.

I told her what we were all about, our philosophy and that Rudy was dying to play “Paris”! After my big speech and introduction, Kate revealed to me why she was hesitant to call me back…She hated our name. She thought what we played was great, she liked the vibe of the band, but she could not get into the name. She explained she hated the name of her last band and she wanted to like her next bands name. I spent the next few minutes explaining that we were a known band, with a website, Facebook and Instagram following and the name would be remaining Sonic Tonic, but I told her she seemed like the perfect fit for us. Her vocal range was was the same as Katrina’s, she knew a lot of our songs, and if you know Kate, she isn’t shy. After all was said and done she agreed to audition that Thursday in La Mesa.

What can you say about Kate? She is a huge personality and instantly likeable, but she is a Jersey girl, and has no problem telling you what she likes or does not like. Thursday rolled around and we finally got to meet her. She apologized for not being 100% because she had not been singing formally for quite a few month, but she killed it. Ladies and gentlemen, Kate Incremona.

Dirty Little Secret (But Not Really)…

The Kate chapter started out with Kate being “The Other Woman”. She was brought onboard a few months before Katrina left. We focused our rehearsal time on working with Kate to get her up to speed. We took new publicity photos. Kate even attended a few shows before she took over. Now, I know this sounds bad, but nobody was sneaking around, Katrina gave her rehearsal time to Kate. They knew each other and were friends, but, still it was weird that we had two singers over a three month period.

Kate’s debut was at Aquarius Bar and Grill on September 23rd, 2021. To say Kate owned an audience would be an understatement. We got to see full Kate Incremona that night. We had definitely made the right choice. Our last few gigs in 2021 were a blast, from the “Oh Shit” video (Look it up on YouTube) to us meeting the group of people that we called “Kates Krazies”.

“Kates Krazies” were a group of Kates friends and coworkers that NEVER failed to entertain us as much as we entertained them. I would name them here, but I would feel bad if I forgot anybody, so we all know who you are and you are unforgettable and a fun chapter in Sonic Tonic history.

Fuck Tim!

I’m going to stop telling the band history to explain the “Fuck Tim” chant because it started under Kate. In much the way Primus fans scream “Primus Sucks” any time we saw Tim, he was greeted by “Fuck Tim!” This was not derogatory towards Tim at all, in fact it was from love. During Kates first year, Tim would sub in quite a bit for Erik when Erik traveled. We would have other bands or people that followed us ask if Tim was playing that night, and I would say “Fuck Tim” he won’t be playing but he might show up. From then on out, Kate would give a “Fuck Tim!” shout out at every show he attended…well let me correct that…she would say it at every show and it became a staple from Sonic Tonic.

Love Removal Machine

Since I am the author, I get to decide what stories to tell. My whole motivation from being a guy that dabbled around on bass and guitar and became somebody that had to play in a band changed one day in 1987. I was sitting in Grand Central Station, NYC, and I was perhaps a little tipsy, when somebody played a song on the video juke box called “Love Removal Machine” by the Cult. I loved the Cult from the first time I heard the Love album and this was a stripped down rock tune and I just HAD to play it. Long story short it got rejected at every Sonic Tonic new songs meeting until Kate arrived. It was added to our set and still remains to this day. I have told Kate, probably a thousand times, that I can now die happy, thanks to her. It took 35 years, but I got to play “Love Removal Machine”. I will be forever grateful to her for this.

Back In The NY Groove…

From 2021 to 2023 we were flying high. We had all the shows we could handle, Kate was the perfect fit and the stormy seas had passed. Rudy can tell you that in the early days he and I would email, call and visit various venues around town that we hadn’t gotten into yet to try to book a show. By 2023, we pretty much had our set venues, and they were spread around town so that the driving was shared equally among us. We had our set events like the San Diego Gulls and the Rock and Roll marathon. At this point we could really enjoy each show and each venue and rarely did it feel like work. This is when, of course, something has to go sideways. Erik was leaving San Diego for the next 14 months and had to leave the band. (Again) We are not only bandmates, but also friends, so as we wished Erik good luck, he knew he would always be a part of this band when he came back. Again the ads went up and the sessions were scheduled. We had a vast array of talent come through the doors some great, some not so great, one a little smelly and then there was David Zepp. David was from where I was from in NY. We knew the same people and most of the same places. (A lot changed in the 35 years since I had left) One thing was evident from the audition, David was a perfect fit for our band. Kate said it the second he walked out the door. A few days later we welcomed David Zepp to Sonic Tonic.

And So It Goes…

With David we didn’t miss a beat…2023 into 2024 we played more shows than ever before! What could possibly go wrong? We had five dedicated musicians, we had a great following, we played anywhere we wanted any time we wanted. It seriously could not get better than that! Then, something I talked about earlier reared its ugly head…

San Diego is a beautiful place. I first lived there in 1983 for half a year and then came back permanently in 1989. The 80’s and 90’s were easily the best years of my life there. I met Rudy there. We have been friends since 1994. Unfortunately, in the past few decades it became really expensive to live there. Of the five Sonic Tonic singers up to this point, only one still resides in San Diego. The cost of living was starting to cost bands long term members and replacement musicians were even more scarce. This hit us again in the spring of 2024. After almost three years leading Sonic Tonic, Kate was off to Texas. She played her final show with her whole family present in March of 2024 at Wongs Dragon Room.

Sophia (Jam)

I put up ads in the usual places, but this time, the responses were VERY scarce. Nine years prior, I was getting over 100 hits in a weeks time. In 2024 I had gotten eight, in a month! The good news was, with eight I figured there would be two viable candidates in there and hopefully our new singer. I scheduled what I considered my top four and set up auditions at the studio. During a pre-audition search one stood out immediately, but it was hard to know if she could handle the harder rock and roll tunes. She had several videos posted, but they were more of a lighter tone than we normally brought. Audition night arrived! The first one who auditioned I thought was going to be a finalist, for sure, and I could have not been more wrong. After her audition, the third candidate called and cancelled, so, we were down to two people left. The second person came in, and she was the one I thought would be good, and I mentioned earlier. Well, she was great and could handle the heavier stuff. Since the third person cancelled we asked her to stay and just work thru some tunes with us…not only did she improvise with us seamlessly, we got to know her and knew immediately that we had our girl. After the 4th audition was a no show, we called Auditioner #2 and asked her to join the band. We were not going to let her get away…welcome to the band (and the current lead singer) Sophia Elsheikh!

The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia

I was not looking forward to writing this part. With the addition of Sophia, we did not miss a beat. We added new songs, Sophia fit right in and we were off and running. Sophia didn’t even quit when she had to be at the stage for the Rock And Roll Marathon at 4AM! 2024 was going just great and our gig schedule was full. Then life happened, but this time, to me. As much as I would like to say that it was easy, and it was time for me to go, that would be a lie. My work schedule was always challenging, but earlier in 2024 I was promoted and had direct reports. I was out of town more than ever and it was evident that I needed to be in Utah with my team full time. I thought about going and kept putting it off. I wanted to evaluate my choices during 2025. At the end of 2024 leading into 2025, however, major life events happened that pushed me out of San Diego in February of 2025. I flew in and played a few dates, culminating with my final date of March 15th, 2025 at the San Diego Sports Arena. 10 years, 15 days, 186 shows, countless rehearsals, Christmas parties, BBQ’s, concerts, and Covid-19. My time in Sonic Tonic was over. I miss it to this day, I miss my bandmates, I miss all the people that I met along the way and I miss playing the music.

Substitute

Now I switch from internal writer to external writer. Though my time in the band was over, I stayed on as website developer. I am more than happy to support these guys, my friends and everything they do. They are all amazing musicians and great people and Sonic Tonic will forever be a huge part of my life. The plan was simple at this point, find another bass player and give them from March until the beginning of June to learn the set. As luck would have it, people called Rudy to book some gigs. Rudy took the gigs and the very talented Jules Whelpton played a few Sonic Tonic shows.

New Kid In Town

After a few auditions, Sonic Tonic found their permanent Bass player…welcome to the band Glen Dorgan! Glen focused on learning the set and debuted with the band at the San Diego Rock And Roll Marathon 2025. Glen is approaching his first year with the band and enjoying his time with Sonic Tonic.

One Step Beyond! 200 Shows (And Counting!)

Staying together for 10 shows is great. Staying together for 100 shows is a huge milestone. Making it to 200 shows means we are never going away!!!! We held a 200th show celebration at Full Circle Saloon on November 21st, 2025. We had appearences from former bandmates and played songs from the various Sonic Tonic eras. Katrina King, Tim McCabe (Fuck Tim) and Erik Moberly all made appearances. It was a night of fun and music!

Look Into The Future

As we move into 2026, we thank you for all of your support. We plan on being at the best venues in town playing you the best music ever recorded. Thank you for the years and the memories, we love you all! Come see us soon, say hi and prepared to get rocked! -Sonic Tonic-