After years away from music, four Flint-area friends rediscover the power of playing together in The Headless
By Mark Spezia
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE HEADLESS
(From left) Phil Danne, Gary Behling and Andy Lenox of The Headless will perform at Local 432 on Sept. 12. Not in photo is band member Jay Gauthier. Photo courtesy of The Headless
Andy Lenox admits to feeling a tad intimidated upon meeting future bandmate Gary Behling for the first time. He had just settled into an art class as a freshman at Flushing High School.
“In walks Gary, who is a grade ahead of me, with his long hair and leather coat and starts coming toward me,” Lenox recalled. “I’m like, ‘Am I sitting in your seat or something?’”
Despite the shaky introduction, the two soon bonded over a shared passion for music. Lenox’s musical appetite had been whetted through piano lessons and the eclectic mix of music emanating from his father’s sizable home stereo, including Talking Heads, Devo, the B-52s, Frank Zappa and the Alan Parsons Project.
Behling already played guitar and frequently brought it to school.
“We talked about how Gary had his guitar with him quite a bit and, before I knew it, I was at his house and he was teaching me how to play,” Lenox said. “Gary taught me four chords and I played them all weekend at his place. The rest is history.”
Lenox, now 45, soon fell in love with the instrument, expanding his repertoire well beyond those four chords. Not long after high school, the pair helped found a five-member band called Diver in which they both played guitar.
Diver became a staple of Flint’s local rock scene, frequently performing at Local 432. A pair of Diver albums and an EP, released between 2003 and 2018, can be found on Spotify and other platforms.
Those years also found Lenox juggling music with earning a computer science degree, launching a career in technology, getting married and starting a family. Eventually, the band members’ growing life responsibilities and some musical frustrations led to Diver calling it a day in 2018.
He eventually put his guitar away altogether. However, the idleness and isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic left him longing for his band days.
“The lack of making music really started to get to me once the pandemic hit because, like most people, I felt isolated and missed being part of something bigger, like a band,” he said. “I battled a bit of depression and felt ready to end my break from music. Plus, my kids were getting older and could do things like make their own lunches, so the time felt right.”
Andy Lenox performs at a past concert at Local 432.
Finally, in late 2024, Lenox reached out to drummer and friend Jay Gauthier, who had also been part of Diver’s final lineup, and Behling.
“I hadn’t picked up a guitar in five years but was like, ‘Let’s get together and jam,’” Lenox recalled. “Jay was good with it, but Gary said he had too much going on.”
Behling’s reluctance, however, soon melted away. “We sent Gary a recording of what we were playing and he was like, ‘Dammit, okay I’m in,’” Lenox said.
The trio flirted with the idea of re-forming Diver, but the band’s former vocalist and bass player were not available. To fill the bass vacancy, Lenox reached out to friend Phil Danne. Danne was on a musical hiatus of his own after stepping away from a Lansing-area cover band in 2022.
“Andy and I first became friends when we started working together about 15 years ago because of our love of music,” Danne said. “I knew how much it had meant to him and I was ready to get back into playing. Andy offered me a great opportunity.”
The closest way I can
describe our style is new grunge, space rock combined with some alternative metal, but also developing songs into the kind of cinematic epics I love to create.”
— Andy Lenox
The Headless was born, but the group was still lacking a lead singer. Lenox volunteered for the role. “I had always liked singing but never considered becoming the lead singer in any band,” he said. “I needed to put vocals to some new material I was writing and discovered my singing was improving as I did that. You can get better at something by practicing, who knew?”
Still, Lenox was reminded of his rustiness when it came to composing and producing his own work.
“Originally, I had not intended to write original music for the new band, but realized how insufficient my actual musical knowledge is,” he said. “I had played a looser, more punk rock style before and needed to fill in the gaps to become more refined.”
Lenox also threw himself into studying music theory and spent the summer of 2025 creating demos of his original compositions on newly purchased home recording equipment.
“It’s amazing how good everything sounds these days using home equipment,” he said. “I could record part of a song, then layer in bass, drums and vocals. I would keep adding to a song when the next part popped into my head.”
Lenox continued refining demos until presenting them to his bandmates.
“What really clinched it for me about our prospects as a band was when Andy played some of those early demos,” Danne said. “I was blown away by how well everything he did was blending together.”
The work reflected the influence of the 1990s grunge era combined with Lenox’s penchant for rock anthems that are spacious, thematic, over-the-top and a bit bombastic.
“The closest way I can describe our style is new grunge, space rock combined with some alternative metal, but also developing songs into the kind of cinematic epics I love to create,” Lenox said. “I’ll actively put in too many key changes so a song comes out the other side differently from where it started. It’s like if Jim Steinman joined Alice in Chains.”
Steinman, who died in 2021, was a Grammy-winning composer, lyricist and producer known for his work with Celine Dion, Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler, Billy Squier and many others.
Lenox, a senior software engineering manager for the wildly popular youth sports app GameChanger, has been part of past tech startups and applied that same approach to his new musical venture. “The startup aspect of being in a band has been really cool for me too, everything from creating digital ads and marketing and the design of our website,” he said. “Of course, artists can market themselves online these days without playing any live shows, but that was never an option for us.”
On May 30, Lenox, Behling and Gauthier played together at Local 432 for the first time since Diver’s final show there in 2018, joining Danne for The Headless’ first live performance.
“That first show was amazing, what a huge thrill for me and we really fed off great energy coming from the crowd,” said Danne, who has been playing guitar or bass since age 11. “Playing original songs, especially for the first time live, is more challenging than playing covers, but the greater the challenge, the higher the reward.”
Lenox worked some of the production values he is fond of into the show, including catchy outfits, theatrics, lighting effects and creating a memorable opening.
“The show was mostly attended by friends and family, which is typical of a first live show, but it was incredible to be back performing at Local 432,” Lenox said. “It was a beautiful homecoming for us, but we want to keep pushing our live show.”
Creating new music underscored what Lenox had missed about being in a band.
“I didn’t realize how important being part of a band and part of the overall local music scene was to me until it was gone, especially the camaraderie,” he said. “I really missed interacting with a larger community of musicians, seeing what other bands are playing at places like Local 432 and just being part of a social space.”
“Another Cloth,” the band’s debut single, was released July 7 on major platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and SoundCloud.
“Another Cloth is an example of why I delved so much into music theory because my hand would just go to certain chords when making new music and I wanted to break those habits,” Lenox said. “The song came together well and I was able to compose the music and write lyrics in linear fashion over three days.”
Lenox then sent his creation to friend Justin Ford, lead singer and songwriter for Flint band Kinetic Stereokids.
“Another Cloth,” the band’s debut single, was released July 7 on major platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and SoundCloud.
“Justin contributed some great vocal ideas and helped me refine the lyrics,” he said. “The main vocal hook on the chorus was his idea.”
The band recorded the final version at Rancho Recordo on the outskirts of Fenton. “Another Cloth” features thick, fuzzed-out guitars balanced by atmospheric textures and soaring vocal runs.
“When I heard the finished product, I was a little in awe of how much we had stepped up our game since the Diver days,” Lenox said. “Somehow, we had gotten better with all the time off. Gary’s guitar playing was moodier and Jay had incorporated some things he had picked up watching video of Motown-style drumming. Phil blended into the group effort perfectly.”
Added Danne: “Hearing everybody’s part in the song come together for the first time, I thought we nailed it. Hearing it on Spotify for the first time was especially rewarding.”
The Headless’ second single, “Cast Into The Firmament,” was released Aug. 11, and their third, “Digging My Feet in the Earth,” is scheduled for release this month.
As if The Headless, a career and a family were not enough, Lenox also began playing guitar in Mid-Michigan metal band War on the Horizon roughly 20 months ago.
He will be pulling double duty when both bands play Local 432 on Sept. 12. The Headless play at Ann Arbor Funhouse on Nov. 28.
“We’re stoked about the future and will continue putting out singles until we have enough for an album, and we’ll be filling out our booking schedule with shows at festivals next year,” Lenox said. “Of course, we’ll be building out the live show to make it more elaborate and crazier.”
