Living Karma

LIVING KARMA 1997-1998

you try to end it then you have more
living karma |
ABOUT

The
original Living Karma, the foursome that recorded “The Sin City
Symphony,” consisted of Misty Bennetts (Misty Raindrop) on vocals
and percussion, King Lizzard on Keyboards, Rick Bell (Whitewolf) on
Guitar, and Mark Maynard (the Phantom) on Bass.

This incarnation played
at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino.

Lizzard met Misty
Bennetts on the Internet and they formed a very unique bond of
understanding the complexities of the music.

Bell was a friend of
Lizzard’s who played in a country band, The Renegades.

Maynard was a Buddhist
acquaintance of Lizzard’s, who also performs as a Frankie Valli
impersonator for the Legends in Concert series.

SO
WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS MEGA-POP GROUP?

In
King Lizzard’s own words, “The music of Living Karma was so
intensely complex, with as many as thirty tracks of sequence and
enough rhythm to keep four drummers busy, and had such depth and
nuances, that, basically, we couldn’t play it ourselves in a live
environment.”

In order to perform
live, the group needed sequencers, multiple computers, and at least
five keyboards. Not to mention rhythm machines and MIDI drum machines.

“And. .
.invariably as Murphy relishes in this fact, anything and everything
that could go wrong DID go wrong.”

Inconsistant power
supplies and massive power consumption caused equipment to fail during
the concerts. Computer crashes and glitches always sprang up, and, in
many stage environments, the balance of sound and inadequate sound
systems meant that the group couldn’t hear the computer generated
music well enough to keep in-sync with it.

“The live shows
were train wrecks. Misty and I were so traumatized by the mountain of
mishaps that we actually hated to perform live. This caused an immense
strain on the professional relationship I had with Misty.”

On November 2, 1999,
Living Karma played its last show live. The performance ended early
when Bennetts could stand the usual technical difficulties no longer
and walked off stage.

On that date Lizzard
decided that Living Karma is not a live band and “With one fatal
blow,” killed Living Karma.

“Living Karma is
one of the best studio bands I’ve ever been associated with. I’ll
always say that Living Karma was the ‘Greatest band that Never
Was.’”

Seems like I walked Down This
Lonely Road Before | LIVING
KARMA II

The second incarnation of Living
Karma consisted of Lizzard taking over the guitar duties from Whitewolf,

bringing onboard a live drummer, Tommy Gamliel, vocalist and keyboardist Marcey
Snow and Bassist Alan Niles.

This version did not record any
CDs, this was the “Live” Living Karma which performed at various
venues throughout Las Vegas.

The sound of Living Karma began
to mutate into a harder, rock-based format, which eventually turned into King
Lizzard’s Hearts of Darkness Band.

In 1999 Lizzard re-united with
Misty Bennetts to do some live shows with Alan Niles on Bass and Mike Dowe on
Keyboards.

A Most Heartfelt Thanks to All
the People Who Were ‘Living Karma’:

K.L. Lizzard; Misty Bennett
(Misty Raindrop); Rick Bell (Whitewolf); Mark Maynard (the Phantom); Jocelyn
Rotella (Star Angel); Johnny Colmus (Papa John); Candy Streickland (Candy Lane);
Dick Smothers, Jr.; Marcey Snow; Alan Niles; Tommy Gamliel; Tammy DiCristina;
and Mike Dowe