OC Music Magazine

“Ultra Ultra, Paranoid, Freaky Freaky.”  Though a seemingly strange string of words, these 32 letters make up one of the most toe-tapping, head bobbing and catchiest choruses from an uprising Orange County band.  

Walk In Medical hails from Orange County like a spider web: with members of the band from Mission Viejo, Irvine, Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach all coming together to re-create the beast that is alternative music.  You remember when alternative music was a real genre, instead of a potluck of uncharacterizable music?  That’s what Walk In Medical brings back to the table, meshing musical tones with Queens of the Stone Age and Muse.  

The band is of Ryan Marsh on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Scott Lusk on lead guitar and backing vocals, David Sachs on bass and Jon Mendoza behind the drums.  Each member brings all they have to offer, creating Walk In Medical’s unique sound: Marsh’s incredible vocal talent soars, each word clean and clear; Lusk presents face-melting solos, showing potential to join the likes of Santana and Satriani; Sachs lays down solid bass lines and precise fills, revealing melodic melodies with a fresh breath; and Mendoza skillfully keeps each track moving, drumming builds and phrases exactly where they need to be.

But the lineup didn’t always look like it does above, and the sound wasn’t too similar either.  Walk In Medical was actually birthed in 2006 as a two man team: Ryan Marsh and Ciavash Amiri.  The folk duo changed and evolved to envelope Mendoza on drums, lose Amiri to a move north, and take Lusk on lead guitar.  Throughout the growing struggle, bass guitar was a cursed position - no bassist stayed on for more than a few months until Sachs in 2009.  With a newly finalized lineup, Walk In Medical stands as a musical force, and will have you singing its tracks to week’s end.

I sat down with Marsh to ask him about his unique song writing process: “The songs and topics just pop out of nowhere; I’ll hear a phrase or hear someone say something and that’ll start the hook.  Scott writes the guitar parts and I’ll just lay the vocals on top – it’s stuff I pull from everyday life.”  For further clarification Marsh added, “It’s hard to explain some of these songs because I don’t write about a topic, it’s more like the phrases themselves.”  This is a very different technique than what is normally seen in song writing – Walk In Medical doesn’t use lyrics to present a song, but instead uses the song as a vessel to present the lyrics; “the phrases.”



Currently the band is gigging locally, doing the bar circuit, and always writing more music.  Walk In Medical will also be performing at OC Music Magazine’s OC Local’s Only Showcase next Friday at the Yost Theater.  This will be one of the band’s biggest shows since re-creation in May of this year.

Their 3 track EP is available from Walk In Medical’s MySpace (myspace.com/walkinmedical), and includes ‘Ultra Ultra’, ‘Runnin In Circles’, and ‘Charlatan.’