WARPIG - The Band's Official Website

Seldom has the formation of a Rock group involved the uniting of four such diverse and eclectic individuals. Each Warpig band member brought with them an exceptional experience of writing, performing and creating that led to the pioneering of a new style of heavy rock music in the late 1960's and early 70's.

Rick Donmoyer, lead singer and lead guitarist gathered together Terry Brett on bass guitar, Dana Snitch on vocals, guitar and keyboards and Terry Hook on drums. Based in Woodstock Ontario, this would become the group called "WARPIG".

Donmoyer, born in Woodstock Ontario Canada, brought with him a long musical history that began as a young teenager learning to play lap steel guitar and singing. His early aptitude showed as he quickly overcame the supposed limitations of this first instrument by learning to play rock n' roll guitar licks and pop hits on this odd guitar intended for Hawaiian style music. That was the beginning of a long and varied musical career. Rick toiled with several rock and R&B bands over the years, most notably the "Kingbees", the" Wot" and "Mass Destruction". From the musical links developed in these forerunners he eventually met Terry Brett who had just returned from England and would audition for the "Kingbees" bass gig, switching away from his usual lead guitar roll.

Brett, while living in England, received his musical training in both school and in private instruction with a master musician, specializing in classical guitar. He then purchased a 12 string acoustic guitar and began playing rhythm guitar and then on to lead guitar in several small rock bands in England before returning to Canada in the 1960's. Having successfully completed the audition for the bass gig in the "Kingbees", Brett played on with Donmoyer through the days of the "Wot" and later "Mass Destruction", where Donmoyer and Brett were the first building blocks of a newly forming very heavy rock band.

The period between bands, the "Wot" and "Mass Destruction" saw Donmoyer move to Toronto in search of new musical challenges. He there met Dana Snitch, a transplanted northern Ontario rock musician and song writer who was at that time exploring the world of folk music.

Snitch hailed from Coniston Ontario and although having learned to sing in grade school, played no instruments until high school, where he joined the school band and took up trumpet. Intrigued by the various other band instruments, he would take different ones home on weekends and learn to play them. Then the British invasion of the "Beatles" arrived and Snitch was off to the music store where he purchased his first 12 string guitar and within weeks was playing and singing in a local rock 'n roll band "The Interns". After a couple of years with the group and finding other band members were much less dedicated, Snitch left the band and began a career as a solo folk artist and songwriter. The lure of bright lights and big city drew him to Toronto where he explored the folk scene and through a convoluted chain of events met Donmoyer who was by then working in a downtown music store. The two hit it off and attempted to put together a group to play the R&B (Toronto Sound) hits of the day shuffled up with rock standards.

It was here that Snitch took over the bass guitar as they sought more players to complete the band. Rehearsals were difficult to stage and all attempts to put a cohesive group together were eventually abandoned. Snitch packed up his guitar and returned to college, to sing and play his way through school as a folk artist. Later he graduated from College and again re-located, soon finding himself featured as the opening act for "Mass Destruction" with Donmoyer and Brett. A renewed friendship developed and Snitch was asked to join the band as rhythm guitarist/vocalist in the dying days of "Mass Destruction".

With this unique collection of backgrounds, ideas and musical abilities, Donmoyer, Brett and Snitch, decided to form a band that would play new original music that followed their own developing musical direction. To complete the ensemble they required a strong percussionist and auditions were again held. The obvious gem of these applicants was Terry Hook.

Hook was a determined self taught drummer who displayed a concise, innovative style and machine like timing. He had followed the stylings of some top British rock drummers, his idols of the day, and built on that platform. At every opportunity, he played in local bands as he meticulously honed his craft. This was the final piece of the hard rock puzzle. The combination of Donmoyer, Brett, Snitch and Hook spawned the formation of what would eventually become "WARPIG" the heavy, 'take no prisoners' rock band. These early pioneers of heavy rock were now a complete unit.

Early rehearsals were held in the Hook basement and as the music and band began to mature and take shape, Snitch expanded his roll to keyboardist. "WARPIG" was the focal point of the drive, desire and originality of these four, so different individuals, who finally found a medium to express their musical leanings. The band honed their craft and continued to write original material, using the rock club scene as a testing ground of song writing and musical experimentation. This was an eclectic group of diverse talents and taste who were able to compose, play and record some ground-breaking and potentially "rock anthem" quality heavy rock music.

It was in one of these clubs that producer Robert Thomson first heard the band. Not really understanding the music, but amazed by the nightly line-ups outside the club to hear the band, he felt intuitively that something big was happening! WARPIG was soon signed to his Fonthill Records label, and they headed to a Toronto studio to record their first album of original material with sessions often scheduled in the early morning hours after finishing an engagement. The album was full of raw power, and unbridled passion featuring the pounding, driving rythyms of bass and drums married with soaring guitar solos and medieval-bent keyboard techniques. Here was a young band doing it their own way!

Soon, London Records and a new management group became very interested in "WARPIG" and bought out the bands contract from Fonthill. The album was re-mastered, re-packaged and re-released in 1973. New recordings of the songs Rock Star and Flaggit were featured and also issued as a single that was charted in RPM's top 100 during the summer of the same year.

Meanwhile, the group continued to write material and play their own larger venues and opening concerts for many British and American touring groups that included Manfred Mann, Savoy Brown, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Joe Walsh.

When scheduling allowed, WARPIG started back in the studio to begin recording their next album with engineer Tom Brennand of Deep Purple fame.

Unfortunately, around this time the new management team was making decisions and demands that were not in the shared interests of the group's members and their chosen musical direction and the planned 2 nd album was shelved. This created discord within the group and by the mid seventies Hook departed, followed shortly after by Snitch. The band was effectively gutted and attempts to continue seemed futile. Band members later followed various individual musical paths but eventually, all moved to alternate career choices and locales and lost all contact with each other.

Jump forward about 30 years and add a bit of curiosity and internet surfing, Donmoyer and Snitch were re-connected on the phone from across the country one Sunday afternoon. Contact was re-established with both Terry's and soon old friendships were revived. WARPIG is now re-united and once again writing and rehearsing with renewed drive and power. The completion of that long unfinished second album is now underway and with some archived early recordings of early unreleased material along with some new compositions now beginning to unfold, this "unfinished business" will be completed!