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Kik Tracee was a 1990s glam metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1988, during the last years of the glam metal movement, before the influx of grunge and alternative rock.
The band was formed in a Los Angeles suburb in 1988 by guitarists, Gregory “Hex” Offers & Michael Marquis, bassist Rob Grad, and drummer, Scott Donnell. The four had played in the Los Angeles club scene from the age of 16. Singer Stephen Shareaux hailed from Minneapolis, MN and joined the group that would call themselves Kik Tracee. Drummer Johnny Douglas replaced Donnell during the making of the first record, as Donnell sighted creative differences with producer Dana Strum. The band was sometimes accused of being a clone of Guns N’ Roses. Others argue that the band’s complexity and depth placed them on a higher level than the average band in Los Angeles.
Despite their technical skill and musicianship, Kik Tracee is of the many third-wave glam metal bands in the early 1990s swept out of commercial visibility due to the popularity of the alternative music scene. The band had a very short stint on MTV’s Headbangers Ball in the 1990s. Their sound has been described as being similar to L.A. Guns, Britny Fox and Faster Pussycat.
Dana Strum of Slaughter fame produced Kik Tracee’s 1991 No Rules under BMG Music. Despite the lack of significant chart success of their first album (which spanned music videos for “You’re So Strange” and the title track “No Rules”), Kik Tracee released the Chris Goss-produced 1992 EP Field Trip before later breaking up. A video for “In Trance” was shot for this EP.
In 2002 Shareaux was one of the many singers who auditioned for Slash, Duff Mckagan’s and Matt Sorum’s “The Project” (later dubbed Velvet Revolver) His audition was featured on the documentary “The Rise of Velvet Revolver”. He submitted a track “Stripper Girl,” but was rejected in favor of Scott Weiland
Shareaux joined Flipp before creating a new psychedelic band called Revel 8 while bassist Grad is currently fronting the band Superfine and guitarist Hex pursued placements in film and TV as well as a project called Deep Audio. Shareaux also recorded with former Tomorrow’s Child and Engines of Aggression guitarist Rik Schaffer under the name Nectar; their sole album, Afterglow, was released in 1997 by German-based label Dream Circle.
In 1997, Superfine appeared on the T.V. show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” with Rob Grad performing as a band member on the episode, “Teacher’s Pet”. In 2010, Grad left Superfine and put out his solo CD.
In November 2013, Shareaux released his debut solo album, Golden; former Small Faces and Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan makes a guest appearance on the song “R&R”.