If you asked one of The Mockers how long they've been together, they'd probably tell you that they've always been together, or at least maybe it just seems that way.

For Tony Leventhal and Seth Gordon , The Mockers started figuratively and probably even literally, way back in the early Seventies. By some strange convergence of the planets, these two budding popsters found themselves in the same fourth grade class (see above photo!), in a small town called Estepona , on the southern coast of Spain . Tony's parents owned the English school they attended, and both were from families of ex-pat New Yorkers looking to escape from the grind of the rat race. They soon found that that wasn't the only thing they had in common. Even at the ripe old age of nine, both Seth and Tony spent a good part of their spare time together listening to their small record collections of Beatles' albums and K-Tel compilations like Groovy Greats and Happening Hits. After a few years of living in sunny Spain, both families moved back to States, Tony's again to New York City , and Seth's to Virginia Beach . They kept up a long distance friendship over summer vacations, with both pals taking up the guitar, hoping to someday start a band of their own.

While Seth stayed in Virginia for school, Tony spent his college years in Paris , where he was a founding member of the now legendary surf-pop band The Surf Piranhas . After releasing the classic album "Both Sides of the Surf" on Underdog Records in France , Tony decided in the mid '80's to move to Virginia Beach to start The Mockers with Seth.

With a clutch of originals and a good sampling of obscure pop and garage band covers, The Mockers hit the clubs of Southern Virginia, with Tony playing bass and Seth on rhythm guitar, with old friend John Knobloch on lead guitar, and all three singing lead (and a cast of thousands on drums). Playing melodic, Beatles influenced pop in Virginia during those dark days was certainly an anomaly, but they were undeterred, and despite strange looks and sparse crowds at first, they soon had quite a following around town. By the end of that first year, The Mockers were picked by the local press as the "Best New Band" of the year.

After a few years of revolving drummers and lead guitarists, Tony and Seth added drummer Bob Morehead to the mix, and Seth took up the lead position, as they settled in as a trio. They spent the next few years playing constantly, sometimes as many as 20 or more shows a month, touring the East Coast , South and Mid-West relentlessly. An early recording of one of their songs even made it onto a Spin Magazine flexi-disc. Despite rave reviews and big crowds, a "record deal" still eluded them.

Eventually Bob tired of the grind of gigs and demos, and left the band. At this point, Tony and Seth decided to put the band on hiatus for a while, taking a much needed break, with a chance to refresh their creative juices. Seth took the time to finish studying the law, eventually passing the bar in Virginia, while Tony rejoined his family wine business in New York City.

After a few years away from the group, both decided that the time had come to release their debut CD. Michael Mazzarella of the pop band The Rooks was enlisted to produce. Former Surf Piranha Jan Press was their new lead guitarist. Drummer Shawn Pelton, now known for his work as the drummer on Saturday Night Live, also joined the band. After a few sessions, Jan relocated to Florida, and he was replaced by The Mockers' current lead guitarist, Dean Howell.

The resulting CD, " Somewhere Between Mocksville and Harmony " was released in 1995 on One Eye Open . The reviews were uniformly great, topped off at year's end by a pick in Billboard's Critics' Choice Poll -the only indie in fact. A few weeks later, alternative radio pacesetter KROQ was featuring album fave "Here Come The Lackeys " as the "Pick to Click." College radio followed KROQ's lead soon after, as the CD was added on dozens of stations, including the influential WFMU .

Not long after, Shawn left for Saturday Night Live, and Jon Niefeld , former drummer of The Rembrandts replaced him. Jon, also a singer and multi-instrumentalist, took the band to the next level. With Jon onboard, at packed live shows up and down the East Coast, the band was treating fans both old and new to their exciting and energetic brand of pop and played amazing sets at the prestigious Poptopia and IPO Festivals in Los Angeles.

While things were picking up steam here in the States, unbeknownst to the band, their debut was getting major league airplay in Spain , ironically, of all places. Apparently, a few key DJ's got wind of the band's buzz, and before anyone could blink, " Mocksville " was being featured on Spanish National Radio on a regular basis. The band sold a ton of CD's across the country, the promoters came a-calling, and to the amazement of all concerned, The Mockers were booked for a two week tour of Spain. Pulling out a few recently recorded tunes with producer Brad Jones (Jill Sobule, Marshall Crenshaw), the band released a tour-only EP with well-respected Spanish indie, Snap Records . By all accounts, the tour was a tremendous success, as the band played to packed venues all over Spain, capping it off with a sold-out show in Madrid .

After the success of their debut, The Mockers had no intention of falling into that well-worn cliché the "sophomore slump" and inked legendary producer Mitch Easter (REM, Velvet Crush, Pavement) to man the console. With a batch of fantastic new songs in hand, the group recorded through the late summer and fall of last year at Mitch's " Fidelitorium " in North Carolina. The results are no less than stunning. Easter has taken all of these guys' usual pop smarts, and added his usual blend of quirk and sonic brilliance.

Released on One Eye Open in late 2001, " Living in the Holland Tunnel " has, amazingly enough, gotten even better reviews than the debut, ending up on many critics' top ten of the year lists. The CD was also released on Italian label Club de Musique, and should be out soon in Spain. The band is planning tours for 2002 in both the US and Europe. --J. Monkadee