Overdrive was a powerful 4 piece rock band drawing on 70's influences.

Mark and guitarist pal Mike Carsey, did massive amounts of woodshedding as they prepared to Rock the world!

The connection was strong and the two would meet in the early morning hours after finishing their paper routes with Winchell's donuts, coffee and imitation Gibson Les Pauls in hand to further plan their attack on the music scene.

They began to build the beginnings of the band with bassist and local hotshot Brian Blewer and drummer Mark Pena. Brian's stay was brief and the band recruited bassist Randy Ferraira.

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As a band doing mostly cover songs, they were now in search of a lead vocalist. After many auditions the band eagerly convinced Mark to handle the job as he was naturally directing the auditions. Hesitantly he accepted but now is grateful it happened. In the beginning Mark played and sang through Pena's Marantz stereo receiver which had a nice tube driven sound. Mark's first real guitar amp was a Mitchell 'Sands Amp', a gift from Pena's Uncle Tino (aka Vincent). Many blessings were bestowed on the band from family and friends that helped keep their dream moving forward.

 

 The commitment to the music and the dream was fierce and together they were going to take over the world! The bands main goal was always to write their own songs and the very first Overdrive composition was an instrumental with a long spacey intro titled 'Music In my Head'. It was also the very first song ever written by Mark. The floodgates had opened and many more songs would follow. By 1980 the band began performing live in halls and parties until working their way into the professional Bay Area clubs. Guitarist Mike Carsey was pivotal in securing many shows for the band with his pushy personality and this helped them break through some of of the loud noise in the busy music scene. Other people along the way had taken notice of the quartet and really helped give the band a boost.

 

John McNulty was the first journalist to offer them a feature story in the first issue of the 'Alameda Journal' which immediately raised the bands profile in their home town and the East Bay. Another boost was bestowed on the band through their rehearsal spot 'Warehouse Studios' in Oakland, CA. The band had begun to wear the colors red and black at the live shows and soon one of the studio managers Bob Jordan and his friend Ira Kelsey would hand build several 4x12 speaker cabinets (aka 'The Red Wall') They were then striped with black tape and they weighed a ton! This addition to the stage set soon had them known as the 'Red and Black attack'. Before they knew it, LA band Stryper would adapt a similar image dubbing themselves as the 'Yellow and Black Attack'. It seemed hardly a coincidence and there's no question there was a competitive rivalry happening between the Bay Area and LA scene. It was a healthy, thriving time for creativity and their were great original bands everywhere you looked. Violation, Roadrunner, Dammaj, Laaz Rockit and Tyrant to name a few!

 

Soon venues such as 'The Stone', 'Old Waldorf' Keystone Berkeley & Palo Alto', Oakland Auditorium Ballroom, Mabuhay Gardens, Ruthie's Inn and The Stage in Danville became OD's home turf with re-occurring show dates and a growing fan base! Moving up the ranks they were a featured opener for Ratt, Blue Oyster Cult, Y&T, Metallica, Quiet Riot, Randy Hansen, Loudness as well as playing co-headling shows with Exodus (w/ Kirk Hammett),  Blind Illusion (w/ Les Claypool) and others. Overdrive's devoted followers appreciated their musical prowess and conviction and songs like 'Those Eyes',  'Queen of the Night',  'Running from Destruction'', 'Gettin Ready' and 'Maniac' were fan favorites.

 

Club managers like Toni Isabella and Rachel Matthews at the Old Waldorf and the Corona brothers from the Keystone clubs were  supportive of the band which allowed many opportunities! The bands driver and dear friend Roberta Briggs (aka Birda) always got them to the gigs and without her who knows what would've happened as the band were mere teenagers with no drivers licenses. Mark spent countless hours practicing on her nylon string acoustic guitar when away from home.

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It was a magical time in the Bay Area music scene. You could go out and see unknown original bands on Mondays thru Thursdays and at the same venue see acts like Joan Jett or AC/DC on the weekends! To go see unknown original bands was a cool thing to do! There were important watchful eyes in the scene that really made a difference with the the documenting of these special years. Journalist John Strednansky (creator of the legendary Metal Rendezvous Magazine and co-creator of Bay Area Godfathers) along with photographer Bill Hale! 

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Around this time the band brought in new bassist Jimmi Ward which added a new positive energy to the band. The band pressed on for several months with more shows and working up new material. However, as Mark's musical vision was expanding with new more broad perspective, it became clear that he and partner Mike Carsey were not heading in the same direction. Mark decided to take a leap of faith and move on in pursuit of new ventures.

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The Overdrive era was a proud time for the teenage rockers and together they achieved a lot. No albums were recorded but their presence in the scene is fondly remembered. They were featured in the 2 part music documentary titled ‘Bay Area Godfathers’ , available on most streaming services.  Check it out and hear Mark talk about it!