Child Saint Biography

CHILD SAINT

Formed in 1984 in Orange County California, Child Saint was the brain child of
lead guitarists John Spectre, Brian Scott, and manager Rick Rayl. Childhood
friends Brian Scott and Rick Rayl learned some good lessons about building a band
helping their friend Kevin DuBrow form and grow Quiet Riot. Rick wrote a
business plan for a band and presented it to Brian and John Spectre who was fresh
off some early work with Dave Mustaine. All in agreement, Brian, John and Rick rented a professional studio and advertised in Music Connection Magazine for a singer, bass player and drummer. Auditions continued with buddies filling in until Steve Hardin came for his audition. Steve Hardin’s bass playing had that familiar Maiden sound and fit right in with Child Saint and we needed him to join. The band had a drummer that Steve could not stand and made it a condition that we lose the current drummer if he was going to join the band. Out went the drummer, Steve Hardin joined and the search for a better drummer commenced.

Still with no singer, Gary Schultze showed up one night with an entourage of high
school kids. Rick rolled his eyes and said, “it’s going to be a long night”. With
that, Gary and the kids began building a mammoth TAMA drum kit with concert
toms and double bass. After running Gary through the most difficult Maiden songs we could, he blew us all away and was hired on the spot.
Finally, we found Rudy Grey and the new band went to work writing early classics
like Child Saint, To Die in the Sun and The Voyage and rehearsing cover tunes
like Cross Eyed Mary, Victim of Changes, 2 minutes to Midnight, Free Wheel
Burning and a litany of other metal tunes.
As a stroke of luck, Steve’s Dad became the private pilot for Jimmy Page on the
North American The Firm Tour. One trip letting Jimmy Page ride in the cockpit,
he mentioned that his son Steve had a band. Jimmy asked if he could hear it.
All hell broke loose when we found out that Jimmy Page wanted to hear our music.
All of us were broke, but we borrowed money from a local mafioso and made a
tape with Michael Mikulka at his Gopher Baroque studios in Garden Grove, CA.

Child Saint, To Die in the Sun, and Maid of Metal featured Rudy Grey on vocals
which were joined by the metal instrumental, The Voyage.
Child Saint held its first show at the Fullerton Lanes Bowling Alley. The band set
up in a sunken dancefloor with fans surrounding from above. This was Rudy’s
first and last show as Rudy quit the band to join Enticer.
Child Saint went back to the chore of singer auditions. John Russel was next up as
the singer for Child Saint. The next show was at the Buena Park Rec Center. The
show was a success and the band started playing local and Hollywood nightclubs.
John Russel was an odd bird, sporting purple super hero costumes made by his
wife adorned with plastic spiders. The band knew he wouldn’t work out when the
cover tune we worked on was Edgar Winter’s Frankenstein. No vocals was a big
clue.

John Russel was out and we were back to singer auditions. By this time, we would
meet candidates at a bar and only invite them if they seemed to fit. Our next singer
arrived on a Harley soft tail with a leather jacket and a New York attitude. Bob
McCormack joined and cemented the classic Child Saint Line up. Bob was with
Child Saint for several years and left the band to follow other ventures. We then
found Tim Winchester. Tim brought a whole new sound with his vocal style and
really fit in well with the band. Some of our best live shows were while Tim was in
the band.

The band was heavily influenced by Judas Priest and Iron Maiden which was
reflected in the song writing. Child Saint found success as an opening act for big
name and national acts. The band opened for “RACER X” featuring Guitarist Paul
Gilbert of MR BIG and Drummer Scott Travis of JUDAS PRIEST at The
Troubadour in Hollywood, Summer of 1986. Child Saint opened for Jimmy Crespo
of Aerosmith who was overheard saying, “Oh, great, we got blown away by the
opening band.”
Gaining success in the burgeoning LA Heavy Metal market, Child Saint was
played on KNAC radio’s local music show and featured in the KNAC Calendar.
Listening to KNAC that day, Dave Mustaine heard “Child Saint” played on the
radio. He recognized the riff he gave to John Spectre and expressed his disdain for not being mentioned as a songwriter.
The story is Heavy Metal Lore in the music press.

In reality, Dave Mustaine deserves credit for the riff which he said he didn’t like
and offered to John if he wanted to use it. John Spectre co-wrote the balance of the
song and the lyrics. Child Saint are fans of Dave and thank him for his
contribution. Dave showed his respect by using the riff in the Megadeth classic,
Polaris 3 years later.

Child Saint was discovered at the Troubadour by Jeff Clark who was the engineer
for Pasha Studios in Hollywood. Pasha is known for artists such as Quiet Riot,
Motley Crue, Carmine Appice and W.A.S.P. He approached Rick Rayl and
offered to make Child Saint his personal project in the studio. Child Saint
proceeded to record at all hours of the day and night when the studio was not
booked by paying customers.

At Pasha, Child Saint and I Am Future were recorded for the 1988 LP Child Saint.
Additionally, The Horseman rounded out the songs completed at Pasha.
In early 1988, Child Saint opened for “HERETIC” featuring Mike Howe shortly
before he departed to join METAL CHURCH at Gazzarris in Hollywood. Child
Saint enjoyed big show success in September 1988 opening up for SAXON at
Jezebels in Anaheim for their Orange County California stop on their Destiny tour.
Also opening up for “KEEL” at Jezebels in September of 1988. The boys also
opened up for “SAVATAGE” on their Gutter Ballet tour at Jezebels in August of
1990. Keeping up steady pace of live performances, the band played extensively in
Hollywood and Orange County as regulars at The Troubador and Gazzarris in
Hollywood and Jezebels and The Marquee in Orange County. In early 1989, Bob
McCormak departed and the band found Tim Winchester to take over the singing
duties. Child Saint continued to headline Southern California venues with Tim out
fronting the band giving some of the most energetic performances in the band’s
history. The band disbanded in early 1991 and went their separate ways.
The members reconnected via Facebook and stayed in touch in the early 2010s.
With the passing of founding member Brian Scott in December 2016, the core
members reunited in person in January of 2017 for the first time in 26 years.
Through the tireless efforts of Bassist Steve Hardin leading the charge, Child Saint
will be completing their Anthology with Lost Realm Records, Fall of 2021
featuring lost studio recordings.
Tim Winchester along with his son Shayne completed vocals on 5 unfinished
songs summer 2021 to make the Anthology complete. The LP and CD will feature
vocalists Rudy Grey, Bob McCormack and Tim Winchester.

MORE TO COME !

	John Spectre John Spectre on lead and rhythm guitar, as well as backing vocals and sometimes lead vocals were always killer and top notch. John, along with Brian Scott and Rick Rayl are the founding members of Child Saint. John Spectre is the primary song writer in Child Saint. John's writing talent was the starting point for Child Saint. John's killer shredding leads really lead the march at double speed. His timing and talent launched the beginning of Child Saint. John along with every member of Child Saint are the reason for the killer Metal you hear on Anthology! Here's to JOHN! Cheers my friend!
	Brian Scott One of the heaviest of Metal guitar players, Brian Scott was a founding member of Child Saint along with John Spectre and Rick Rayl. Brian was a driving force behind the grinding sound of Child Saint. His solid rhythms and leads created the hard driving crunch of Child Saint. Brian, as well as all the members were instrumental to the Child Saint sound itself. I’m taking a moment to recognize Brian Scott for all he did for Child Saint and his dedication to the movement of Heavy Metal. RIP my Friend!
	Rick Rayl Rick Rayl along with Brian Scott and John Spectre are THE founders of Child Saint. Rick managed, financed and produced the first recordings in 1985 as well as the super rare 1988 EP. Rick continues to support the band and helped produce the new release of the 2022 Child Saint Anthology. Very thankful to Rick for his input and support. We could not have done this without Rick. Pictured to the left is Rick Rayl of Raylway Rock Management along with his two Sons Nick and Willy Rayl standing at the one and only Child Saint Pool Table. - Cheers my friend!
	Steve Hardin Steve Hardin on Bass. Steve joined Child Saint in 1985. At that time the band was just John Spectre, Brian Scott, Rick Rayl of Raylway Rock Management and a really shitty drummer. Steve joined on the condition that the shitty drummer be replaced. Poof! That shitty drummer was gone. Steves bass playing helped shape the sound of Child Saint with accents, timing and tempo very few bass players could produce. Steve was the perfect match for Child Saint. Steves influence on the Child Saint sound is clearly heard on the Anthology recordings.
	Gary Schultze Gary Schultze on Drums! Gary joined Child Saint shortly after Steve got rid of the shitty drummer. The first singer came along near the same time. February 18th 1985. In 3 weeks time we had written 4 songs and went into the studio March 1st to record our first demo. When Gary auditioned I knew he was the right one within seconds of the first song we ever played. The Trooper by Iron Maiden. We quickly offered Gary the gig hoping he would join. He did and we are thankful that he accepted. Gary's strong playing style, solid timing, spot on fills really fit Child Saint. We played countless shows with Gary holding the count perfectly and never failed to get it right. The concrete foundation of any GREAT band is the drummer. Gary was ours! Thanks Gary! Cheers my friend!
	Rudy Gray Rudy was the first singer for Child Saint. Rudy joined in 1985. Rudy had a killer voice that can be heard on Anthology. "Maid of Metal" and "Die in The Sun". Rudy was also featured on the 1985 demo that included the first recording of the song "Child Saint" that was played on the radio (KNAC and KLOS) that same year. This song was re-recorded in 1988 and can be heard on the super rare 1988 EP. Rudy was only with the band for a short time. We recorded 3 songs with Rudy and he only did one live show with Child Saint. Rudy left the band to join Enticer. Enticer was featured on the 1987 KNAC Local Bands Calendar... Child Saint was on that same calendar...pictured without a singer. Glad we had Rudy even though the time was short. Thanks Rudy!
	Bob McCormack Bob joined Child Saint in February 1987. Did our first 2 shows with Bob at The Troubadour in Hollywood California and Jezebels in Anaheim California in June of that same year. In 1988 we went in studio to record the super rare Child Saint EP. This EP is really cool and sounds great. Its also very difficult to find. If you find one online, buy it! Bob was a great performer on stage and fit in well with the band. Bob was fronting the band when we opened for Saxon and Savatage. Bob was also the longest tenured Singer in the band and can be heard on the 1988 EP singing "Child Saint" and "I am Future". Bob is also featured on the 2 CD + DVD Anthology disk set doing "The Horsemen". The DVD features Bob in the FULL Live show. Thanks Bob!
	Tim Winchester Tim joined Child Saint in 1989. He brought a whole new singing style to the band. Headlined many shows in Orange and LA County. We recorded 4 songs at a little studio in Anaheim and Tim did the vocal tracks on 2 of those 4. In 2021 we asked Tim to complete those recordings. Tim came back with a vengeance and really nailed the recordings. Tim's Son Shayne helped with the recordings as Shayne had a home studio. Shayne also did some backing vocals. The 4 songs Tim re-layed vocals on can be heard on the 2022 Anthology. Thanks Tim!