I think Mike Shear might have tried doing vocals with us at one point.  Otherwise, it was an all-instrumental group.  We only played one show, which was at Skank Skates in May of 1997, I believe.  I had a great time playing drums, taking Back of Dave and Braid’s drumming as my starting point.  The music was kind of like that, and kind of like Dennis and Chris and Eliot’s previous bands Ostrich Syndrome, Spontane, and Freightline.  I recorded a couple of sweet instrumental songs by myself on a 4-track in spring of 1996, and we played one of those.  We parted ways basically when I decided to stay in Urbana for the summer of 1997, and then Jordan basically replaced me on drums and Otto joined the group as well at that time.  Thus became Shooters and Senders in the summer of 1997.  (And there’s a little more behind that band’s name, too.) – Ben S. Jacob

These fellas didn’t stick around too long, and it’s really a shame, too!  When ingot folded in 1995 or 1996 (I don’t remember which year it was), my heart sunk.  I’ll never forget that last show at On Broadway.  I still remember it like it was yesterday.  Some time passed, and I guess a couple of the fellas just weren’t ready to stop making music.  So…they (and by they I mean Jordan Schultz and Otto Junker) teamed up with some other local musicians, Dennis Belogorsky, Eric Perez, Mike Shear (not sure if I got the last name spelled correctly) and a couple of others and created Shooters & Senders.  The arrangements were more complex, and musicianship certainly showed with this band.  The one thing that I REALLY liked about these guys is that they had 3 guitar players — Otto, Dennis and one other dude who’s name I do not know.  Yeah, I know, big deal, right?  Well…each guitar played a completely different part from one another, and when it all came together, man…it was pretty incredible!  Jordan held down the drums just as he did in ingot, and Eric kept things chuggin’ along on the bass and Mike Shear yelled.

Another unique thing about this band is they actually got signed (sorta) for a VERY short period of time.  I don’t know of many Springfield bands that can say this.  They got picked up by Deep Elm Records.  They were going to release a 2-3 song 7″ pressed on blue vinyl from what I can remember, but the band split up before anything could really materialize with the record company.  From what I was told, Mike didn’t want to go through the touring that Deep Elm wanted them to, so he said, “I’m done”, and well….that was pretty much it from what I understand.  Deep Elm did manage to put out ONE song by the fellas called, “The Wrath” which was included on the compilation CD, “A Million Miles Away: The Emo Diaries Chapter Two“.
– Anthony Bollero (Some Things Can’t Be Ignored)

Pancho Villa members:
Dennis Belogorsky – guitar
Chris Waage – guitar
Eliot Brodsky – bass guitar
Ben S. Jacob – drums

Shooters & Senders members:
Dennis Belogorsky – guitar
Chris Waage – guitar
Eliot Brodsky – bass guitar
Otto Junker – guitar
Jordan Schultz – drums
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related projects:
Freightline
ingot
Ostrich Syndrome
Spontane
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links: Some Things Can’t Be Ignored
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