The Factory was a swaggering, bluesy, punk-tinged, metal band from the stomping grounds of my youth; the Nation’s Capital. Band members included Vance Bockis (vocals), Robbie Limon (guitar), Bruce Katsu (lead guitar), Scott Sartorius (bass), Mark Kermanj (drums) and Willie Massey (saxophone). I LOVED The Factory. They embodied everything I love in rock n’ roll - they had the looks, the sound, the style, the whole package. Here’s my story about the greatest band that you’ve never heard. This is going to take some time…..
I will get to The Factory, but some pre-history is required first:
I grew up in the suburbs of D.C., attending the fabled T.C. Williams High School (Remember the Titans) in Alexandria, VA between 1977 and 1981. Sometime around 1978 I discovered punk rock and started attending shows at little clubs all over D.C., using a rather dumb looking homemade fake I.D. at the age of sixteen. Later, when home from college, I regularly attended those same clubs. One such club in Old Towne Alexandria was called The Verona (named after the Italian restaurant downstairs), which was later renamed The Upstairs 704 (the club was located at 704 King Street). On one fateful evening, probably in about 1982, my best buddy and I went to check out a band called The Obsessed. The Obsessed were fronted by none other than Vance Bockis. As we waited for the band to take the stage (well, the floor I guess-- it was a very small club) we knew we were in for a treat. The leather-clad guitar player wandered in with his leather-clad blonde knockout of a girlfriend handcuffed to him. Vance, the vocalist, swaggered in and looked spectacular. He had the leather, the hair, the makeup. He had that dangerous look about him. When the band blasted into their set, which was a combination of punk covers and originals, Vance delivered one of the best performances by anyone that I had ever seen up to that point. He had all the moves down, strangling himself with the mic cord, sticking his head in the bass drum, you name it. If Stiv Bators of The Dead Boys or Iggy Pop had done it, he did it too, but maybe even better. I vowed that night that I would see Vance every chance I got. I saw The Obsessed open for The Dead Boys at the old 9:30 Club, but not too long after that Vance left The Obsessed and they morphed into a doom-metal band with no vocals. That change is something I discovered only after paying my way into a club called The Wax Museum and witnessing the transformation. What a huge disappointment it was when they took the stage and Vance was nowhere to be seen.
I believe I have my chronology right when I say that the next time I saw Vance play was in an arty punk-rock band called 9353. 9353 was a strange but entertaining band with Vance playing bass, not singing. The few times I saw them, all I really wanted to see was their cover of “Born to be Wild,” which Vance did sing. And he killed it every time. He was such a dynamic vocalist. Ah, but then The Factory came along and my prayers were answered.
By now it’s around 1987. I don’t know where I first saw The Factory. I know I saw them more than once at a D.C. club called The Roxy. I may have seen them at The Outside Inn in Rockville, MD, but that could have been The Obsessed. I saw them at D.C. Space at some point. There was a showcase of bands at The Bayou. I know I saw them anywhere that I could. They drew big crowds and had opening slots for The Ramones, Iggy Pop, P.I.L., Johnny Thunders and more. I saw the Johnny Thunders gig. But no matter, I will rely on my clear memories of The Roxy shows. At the peak of their powers, the band was just simply perfect to me. They opened all their shows with everyone but Vance coming onto the stage and the band would play “Peter Gunn” as their intro music. That song is absolutely perfect for them. I would always get chills thinking of the show that was about to blow my doors off and give me an hour or two of pure joy. At one of the Roxy shows, the tall stage was flanked on each side with dancing girls in cages. They may have done some backing vocals too. You can groan all you want to, but that shit was fantastic to me at the time. It was rock n’ roll excess. I know I loved it. Every member of the band was a showman and fun to watch, but there will never be another Vance Bockis, not ever.
Alright JCE, if these guys were so great, what happened, you might ask. Good question.
Based upon what I know, the band was on the verge of a major label deal, and even got as far as sitting in the offices of CBS Records in N.Y.C. Sadly, Vance had fallen prey to habitual drug use and simply didn’t have it together enough to get that final step of signing done. The Factory disbanded in 1992. They never even made a proper record, independent or otherwise. I was heartbroken. At one show I asked sax man Willie if he could give me some demo tapes or recordings of any kind. He went as far as to give me his address and told me to send a blank cassette which he promised he would fill and return. I sent it, but never heard back.
But the story does not end here, not even close. It does end for a long time however. In his own words, Vance descended into a junkie world for years. Again in his own words, he should have died or gone to prison. But he did not. He got clean after many years of extreme drug abuse. At some point, another fan of The Factory, Rick Ballard of Acetate Records, reached out to the band members he could find hoping to release a record. With some persistence, the project got a green light and Acetate released a CD simply entitled The Factory. The CD was released in late 2010. With Vance clean and happily married, The Factory decided to reform and start playing again. In 2011, they played a handful of shows, one of which I was fortunate enough to see. The Factory opened for label-mates Rhino Bucket at a club called Jaxx in Springfield, VA. I thought the band was in outstanding form.
Not long after that, the band Kix, who had also recently become active again, announced a show at the Howard Theater in D.C. I reached out to Vance and suggested that The Factory try to grab that opening slot. A few weeks later Vance got back to me and said that The Factory would be opening that show, thanks to my suggesting they pursue it. He invited me to be on the guest list, and to come backstage. I was stoked to say the least. Devastatingly, that was never going to come to fruition. Vance passed away just a week or two before the show. He died in September of 2012 at his home in Fairfax, VA a few days after undergoing rotator cuff surgery which apparently caused a blood clot. He had been clean for six years and The Factory was writing new material. He was 50 years old. The Factory’s remaining members played a touching rendition of “Amazing Grace” at his funeral. R.I.P. Vance.
Wow, that’s sad, JCE. Is the story over now? Nope, not for me it’s not.
I knew, correctly, that without Vance, there would be no more Factory. It would have made no sense for the band to carry on. So, I consoled myself with the Acetate Records release and figured that was it. I did reach out to Rick Ballard to see if the band had gotten anything recorded to release before Vance passed. He said there was a little bit, but the band would have to decide whether any of it was worthy of a release. It sounded like the answer was really just no. Some years later, I saw that Robbie Limon, former Factory guitarist, was playing an acoustic set at a winery near my house. My wife and I decided to go check it out. He played a great collection of classic-rock covers, mostly ‘70’s stuff that day. I was able to talk to him between sets and he was stunned to stumble upon a true fan of The Factory. Since that day, I have seen Robbie play dozens of times, both solo and with his full band. He even played my retirement party. We have had long conversations about his days in The Factory. I consider him a friend for sure.
Now it is 2026, and out of the blue - new music by The Factory is leaking out. Holy crap. Robbie told me there was some live stuff showing up online, and strangely enough, he was unaware of its release or who was behind it. I searched and found a few live tracks on Bandcamp tacked onto the end of the Acetate release and being called The Deluxe Edition. It wasn’t much to get excited about. Then Robbie told me more stuff was appearing on Spotify. I rushed to check my streaming service, and sure enough, it’s there. And it’s pretty damn good. There is a studio release called Vault and a Live at the Roxy show. The studio stuff is fantastic and does not repeat any of the previously released material. The live collection is extremely good quality and captures the band’s full set at the club I most enjoyed seeing them play. What a treat.
If you read this far, then you now have no excuses. You HAVE to go listen to The Factory, my favorite D.C. band ever. Here’s a couple of videos to get you started.
JCE, or John to his friends, is a lifelong music fan living in rural central Virginia. From his first plastic record player, to his transistor radio, to his years immersed in the music scenes of D.C., and then Charlottesville, he has never stopped pursuing new music.
He is 62 years old, married 34 years and has a grown daughter. He is retired and life is good.