History & Biography Regent St. Claire and drummer Matthias Montgomery formed this San Francisco band in 1983 as Foxx. The four boys obtained a few gigs north in Canada and called it The Quest For Pelts. A demo dubbed Ready, Willing And Able was issued before the band changed its monicker to Castle Blak in tandem with a move to Los Angeles.
With the addition of guitarist David Chayce (a.k.a. David Victor) and bass player Keith Beattie, the band recorded its debut Babes In Toyland through T.O.M. Records. This album was licensed by France's Black Dragon Records for the European territory. This line-up never played live in support of the album.
With a line-up that was revamped, the California glamsters recorded a second album entitled Another Dark Carnival. The album featured side 'sluts' and side 'balls.' Regent produced and drew the cover artwork, which was changed for overseas. This one was issued by St. Claire's own Stiff Kitten imprint and licensed for Europe by Black Dragon subsidiary High Dragon. Guitarist Chuck More was with the band from 1986 to 1988. He would die in 2025. St. Claire, in the meantime, produced an EP for California's Rare Breed. Rare Breed. The man also produced a band called Femme Fatale, which was not the more famous female-fronted act. Castle Blak opened for Y&T in 1987, as it had in 1985.
With success not being forthcoming for the band's brand of hard rock in Northern California, the act relocated to the more hospitable environs of Los Angeles. A slight change of direction occurred here and the group was now compared to The Sweet and The Georgia Satellites. At this point in time, the group renamed itself Monster Island. This incarnation's guitarists were a Matt Lee and a Paul Houston. A couple of years later drummer Scott Sanders' drug use got him fired from the act. Upon returning to San Francisco, Sanders shot and killed his girlfriend and himself in quick succession.
The band was engulfed in the rise of thrash metal and called it a day.
In 1990, the line-up of St. Claire, Montgomery, Brian Crow (who tried his hand at stand-up comedy) and Kev Mueller (who had been St. Claire's school-mate) regrouped under the Blak moniker. This line-up recorded a demo, entitled Serious As A Fucking Heart Attack, using the services of producer Alex Woltman who had previously worked with W.A.S.P. Once again, the band found itself without a market, having regrouped during the alternagrunge era, and split up in 1993. The band did manage to release a cassette-only album through Stiff Kitten called No Bed Of Roses in 1992. The girl on the cover struck an impossible pose. St. Claire did some solo recordings and formed a pop band called CandyAppleBlack. He, furthermore, released a comic book called CandyAppleBlack in 1993, got involved with film scores and published several books of poetry and prose. The band Head On featured Frank Wilsey on lead guitar who went on to play with Sea Hags.
In late 2002, the band was supposed to be the subject of a compilation CD issued by Fastlane Records called Glamour And Damnation. With Fastlane not seeing the project through to completion, Glamour And Damnation: Greatest Hits & Dirty Little Secrets was released by The Good Intentions Paving Co. owned by Regent St. Claire in 2006.
The band returned and played a free show live at Dans Bar in Walnut Creek, California On February 18th, 2017. This was released as One More Sin Live. The line-up was singer Regent St Claire, guitarist Brian Crow (Kamikaze/Strange Toys), bassist Keith Beattie and Matthias Montgomery. The band was even contemplating new music, but that never came to be.
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