Board Of Governors is a power-rock trio formed in Chicago, IL.  Their music is distinguished by energetic, riff-driven, modern hooks infused with a heavy vintage appeal. BOG continues to surprise fans with an array of teasing dynamics, defiant key changes, and passionate soundscapes.   

Although the band was formed in Chicago, BOG’s individual members represent the musical stylings of an entire nation.  Raised on the West Coast, Trevor Hougardy owes much of his guitar and vocal influence to the grunge-rock 90s of Seattle.  Born on the other side of the country, John Marino gained popularity touring in the punk-rock scene of the East Coast. Bassist Frey Brown, a Chicago native, grew up playing in and around the Midwest with various jazz-rock bands.   Together, the three merge a youthful excitement and a specific energy from their rock, punk, and jam-band backgrounds.

BOG formed in 2008. For two years they wrote, experimented with different lineups and developed their sound. In the spring of 2011, Frey Brown joined the band on bass.  With a completely refurnished rhythm section, the band evolved into a heavier, more groove-oriented powerhouse with a massive stage presence.

The Governors currently are touring throughout the midwest, including Indiana, Wisconsin and Chicago, at venues such as The House of Blues, Double Door, Lincoln Hall, Schuba’s, Elbo Room, Martyrs’, and Reggie’s.

In the spring of 2011, Solo Picture Studios released Board Of Governors’ first music video “Like You Wanna Be.”  After the success of their first endeavor with director Jonny Diaz, the Board released the “Lines” music video during the summer of 2011 and a third music video, “Dirty,” was released in the fall of 2011.

After recording, filming, acting, traveling, promoting dozens of shows, and winning I AM Fest in 2011, The Governors recorded their second EP at Uptown Recording with engineer Dan Stock during January of 2012.  It was released on February 18, 2012.

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TREVOR HOUGARDY (Singer/Guitarist) Born in Eugene, Oregon, Hougardy has fond memories of classical music constantly streaming from a radio in his family’s living room.  Growing up he was surrounded by music:  Many members of his family played multiple instruments, so it was not a matter of if he was going to play an instrument, but which one.

At 10 years old, Hougardy decided that the tenor saxophone would be the perfect instrument to launch his musical education.  He played in numerous jazz, concert, marching and pep bands through out high school and college.  It didn’t take long, however, for him to fall in love with another instrument: the guitar.

Hougardy began playing the guitar at 11 after his grandmother presented him with a classical acoustic guitar (which he mistakenly strung with steel strings), and he quickly started to learn CCR and AC/DC songs. He bought his first electric guitar out of a Sears catalog soon after, and expanded his repertoire to include songs by Led Zeppelin and Van Halen, but still kept his rehearsals confined to his bedroom. During his freshman year in high school, Hougardy played his first live song, You Shook Me All Night Long as lead guitarist at a school dance, the only song the band allowed him to play.

Throughout high school Hougardy was in two more bands, Solstice, and Attribute to Alias which were his first attempts as lead singer and guitar player. In his early years of playing guitar he drew on influences from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Weezer, Foo Fighters, Rage Against the Machine, Beck, Third Eye Blind, Incubus, and Stone Temple Pilots, along with many classic rock favorites.

In college, Hougardy was able to dive into the classical music world when he took a swimming scholarship at Drury University, where he studied music composition with a concentration in jazz guitar.  He became more confident in his own music writing when he was able to learn the tools and language of music theory and how it applied to all kinds of music.  His influences at that time were composers Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Ravel, and Schoenberg. He employed his classical knowledge in rock music with two other bands: Bentley and Beautiful Losers.  The latter had minor success in the Midwest and cut one album, then toured the Midwest and East Coast.  Beautiful Losers recorded an EP at Deep Diner Studios in Manhattan with producers Bob Mann and Allen Schwartzberg.

After five years of playing gigs around the Midwest, Beautiful Losers moved to Chicago.  A friend of Hougardy’s had a chance meeting with a friend of John Marino’s, and told him that their band needed a drummer. It was soon after that Hougardy was introduced to Marino. The two played a few gigs as Beautiful Losers and were prepared to go on tour, until the band quickly (and surprisingly) broke up, one week before they were supposed to hit the road. Hougardy and Marino bought a van, wrote eight songs and completed the tour, including one show at Double Door in Chicago, and thus the Board Of Governors was born.

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FREY BROWN (Bassist) The band’s youngest member has lived his entire life in the greater Chicago area.  Music became an early passion for Brown, whose father was also a songwriter and guitarist.  Although his first musical instrument was a junior Kingston classical guitar, Brown honed most of his early band experiences on the drum kit he received when he was 12. Examining classic rock influences such as John Bonham, Mitch Mitchell and Ginger Baker became his second education after school let out. Countless junior high cover bands followed his decision to take up the drums – all lacking the low register powered by a bass guitar player.

At the age of 14, he suffered a broken right arm, and it became apparent that bass guitar was the only conceivable option for a musician with a full-arm cast.  Even after his arm had fully healed, however, the bass had become Brown’s more prominent band identity.  It didn’t take long before his musical focus switched over to classic rock’s epic bass players, namely John Paul Jones, Paul McCartney, Jack Bruce, Chris Squire, and Chuck Rainey.

For most of high school and college, Brown played bass and was the voice of Distance, a blues/rock trio.  The band drew heavily on classic rock and blues influences, and quickly entered the Chicago blues scene playing several venues underage.  The self-managed band cut four albums and covered much of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs during what Brown considers the most impressionable stages of his music career.

Distance disbanded in late 2006, and in the summer of 2008 Brown formed The Hudson Landing.  The Landing was a jazzy-rock project with certain folk undertones that explored the influence of experimental songwriters such as Walter Becker, Donald Fagen, Thom York, and Jeff Tweedy.  Brown led The Landing, doing most of the writing, arranging, and managing.  In the competitive music environment championed by Chicago, The Hudson Landing gigged mercilessly throughout the Midwest, went through countless incarnations of lineups and cut one studio album, but dissolved in late 2010.

Musically exhausted, Brown stumbled upon a Craigslist ad posted by Hougardy while looking for a future employer.  Little did Brown (or Hougardy) know, the two were neighbors who had never before crossed paths. Brown stood through a weeklong tryout that included rehearsals, gigs, hangouts and even moving furniture with the band tour van!  He was officially added to the Board Of Governors in April of 2011.

Brown’s musical influences stem from a wide variety of players and bands from many different eras.  His father introduced him to classic influences from the 60s and 70s including The Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Traffic, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and Steely Dan.  Remaining close to rock roots, Brown is also an avid listener of the modern rock monoliths, such as: Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, The White Stripes, Alice In Chains, Primus, NIN, and Chicago’s own Wilco.

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JOHN MARINO (Drummer) John Marino is from the East Coast, and will always contest that the drums chose him – not the other way around.  Marino ventured into percussion at 10 years old with a Yamaha drum pad and a book of snare rudiments, but quickly adapted to the entire kit in junior high school.  Usually regarded as one of the loudest and most flashy drummers during his school years, it is no wonder that Marino accredits his early influences to many famous hard rock drummers, such as John Bonham of Led Zeppelin and Ginger Baker of Cream.

Marino’s first band, Just Passed, was formed in high school and was a high-energy punk rock band, reminiscent of bands like NOFX, Bad Religion and Good Radiance.  With Just Passed, Marino toured locally and regionally, establishing himself among the new school punk sounds of the East Coast.  After disbanding in 2001, Marino joined a hardcore band called Saving Throw. By this time, Marino was used to gigging heavily around the East Coast and Midwest, and had developed a ferocious drumming style that remains as his onstage identity today.

After high school, Marino moved to Philadelphia, where he joined the indie band All American Radio. Finishing out his years on the East with the Radio, Marino moved to Chicago with high expectations.

While in Chicago, Marino met Hougardy, a West Coaster who was just as eager to explore the sounds of the Midwest.  The two debuted their collaborative efforts when Marino joined Hougardy’s then band, The Beautiful Losers, which had been a part of the Chicago music scene since 2005.  In late 2008 Hougardy and Marino began to lay down the foundation for their tight groove/rock element, later to resurface in Board Of Governors. The Beautiful Losers split up in the spring of 2009, but the duo had not finished their contribution to rock and roll.

In April of 2009, Board Of Governors was born. Marino transitioned with Hougardy through multiple lineup changes in BOG as the band incorporated bass players, synth players, and other studio effects.  Marino persevered through these evolving times, never losing the edgy hard rock element that he helped establish.

The unmistakable drive that Marino puts behind Board Of Governors still incorporates the rhythm influences of his youthful ambitions, and is amplified by the hardcore East Coast movements he entertained before meeting Hougardy. Marino’s honest and hardworking approach to his instrument has always been defined by his precise riff-binding dynamics and monstrous onstage performance.