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Al Millan and the Robots | Other Rockin’ Al Millan Bands | Discography | The Garage
The Robots were born in San Luis Obispo, a
bicycle ride from the mediterranean Avila Beach,
home of a nuclear power plant, Olde Port Inn, and
the legendary linguica fish. SLO Town has always
been a college town dripping with young wild
hormones, lots of local color, and home of the World
Famous Dark Room, a beer and burger joint that was
consistently hot and sweaty with live local music
seven nights a week.
Formerly known as Johnny Star and on the run in
Half Moon Bay as Billy Calm, the Lone De-Ranger made
his comeback and got his Trigger all worked it all
out at the World Famous Dark Room. His song “Modern
Days” was included on an album of Central Coast
musicians to benefit community services in SLO Town.
A concert to promote the album release of “SLO
Grown” was the event that brought the band together
for the first time. Gary Steinmann, on bass, Kirk
Handley on keyboards, and Jeff Picket on drums
played with Al, and a something took on a life of
its own that lives on today. Playing sax in a local
jazz group called New Vintage, Trent Kramasz was
real jazz snob, and when we asked him to sit in one
night at the World Famous Dark Room, he kinda
laughed at us like ‘yeah, right… but sure as hell he
showed up that night – it was completely jammed and
hot and sweaty - and that was it, he was in the band
from then on. Something to do with ‘getting lucky…’
As rock would have it, there were many drummers
until Mark Shiltz joined the band and Robots were
about as steady as it can get.
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