Audio: Interview with Cliff Stankiewicz and Pete Lents of ABACAB

Genesis were giants of progressive rock. Their ambitious and adventurous brand of music won the group a dedicated legion of fans, critical acclaim and lasting influence. But the group was more than a great prog band. Over the course of the group’s history, 1967-2022, with breaks, Genesis went through a number of radical changes, both in personnel and style. Along the way, they sold more than 100 million records worldwide. The band’s catalog is extensive between studio releases, live albums and compilations. And that body of work doesn’t even consider the solo careers of lead singers Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins, nor that of Steve Hackett, Tony Banks, Mike and the Mechanics, and on.

Today, more than half century after Genesis released its debut record, the band’s music still holds an important place. And though Genesis ceased operations, the Charlotte based group ABACAB carries on, bringing the band’s music to 21st century concert audiences. Since 2015, ABACAB, founded by bassist Cliff Stankiewicz, has played regionally and beyond, exploring the vast body of work from the British progressive and pop music giants. Ahead of the band’s July 2025 show here in Asheville NC, I spoke with Cliff and with lead singer Pete Lentz.

Here’s a transcript:

Tell me about the inspiration, the original inspiration of putting the group together.
Cliff: I was in a Metallica tribute at the time. I don’t know, things just were not going the way I was hoping they were going with that. And so I was sitting home one day and like, okay, well what else is there? And there weren’t any Genesis tributes. Certainly not, certainly not like one like ours. So that was basically the germ of the idea right there. Ten years ago this summer, actually.

The earlier material is fairly complex and challenging. How long did it take for the group to get up to speed?
Pete: A while! When we initially put this all together, I was actually brought to him as the first keyboard player, but I’m a decent keyboard player. But I knew that there was going to be stuff that were going to be tackling that I was just not going to be able to play. I mean, I know my limitations. So we ended up getting somebody else to play keys and I moved out front. I’m much more comfortable being a frontman than I am like playing keyboards in a Genesis tribute.
Cliff: You got a band that had two very out there front people, you know, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins, like two of the greatest of all time. I mean, the band really needed to have that focal point out front.

When people look at Genesis, they think of it as having phases. There’s either two phases or four, depending on how you count. I think there’s four. I mean, there’s the Gabriel era, then there’s the incredible shrinking band era, then there’s the pop era, and then there’s the Ray Wilson era, which nobody remembers. And they even made a point of not mentioning him when they made their documentary…
Cliff: That’s a shame.

…Which of those do you focus on and why?
Pete: Personally, I actually do focus on the Gabriel and incredibly shrinking band era, but I really, honestly like it all. I was at the time, I was being raised on Selling England by the Pound, and, like, I had to be told, wait, this is the same band? That doesn’t even sound like the same guy. That’s. That’s the “Sledgehammer” guy. How is he? When I was coming up, like, they. To me, they weren’t the same band. And then when I started connecting the dots, and then I finally got a hold of albums like Trick of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering, and then there were three, I started realizing, wait a second: once you hear it all the way through, their discography all the way through, you can see a through line and an evolution of how they changed from the pomp and circumstance English art house concept songs to more bite sized for the masses, pop things.

You don’t go in for the visual theatrics like a band like The Musical Box out of Canada…
Pete: No, we don’t. And I think that’s really by design, because, you know, from the outset, we already knew we didn’t look like the band. I certainly don’t look like Phil or Peter, you know, and it was like, well, why am I going to get the bat wing helmet for one song? Or why am I going to get the cape for one song? And I don’t want to travel with a wardrobe. So we decided instead to make the whole band an homage to the music. Like that. It’s more, hey, we’re a bunch of regular guys, but we love this stuff and we think that you will, too. We play it from the mindset of a fan. We’re doing our best to replicate this music. We’re not trying to act or be or look like the band.

What’s the biggest challenge in playing this music?
Pete: Practicing!
Cliff: Learning it! Yeah, practicing it. I’m going through the songs that we’re doing for the next two shows. Orange Peel and Visual 8 Theater back to back. You know, we’re doing some things we haven’t done in a while. When we all show up to rehearsal, we are pretty solid. You know, everybody’s done their homework and, you know, it comes together really quick.

What’s been the band’s biggest break so far?
Pete: The House of Blues was one that was able to catapult us a little bit. A lot of people saw us there that first time when we played with. With the Rush band. A lot of people saw us that hadn’t seen us before, and we gained a lot of followers from that. But the one that was the. Was the biggest we’ve done was this one in Rochester. Last week, we did a benefit for the Barnard firefighters.

What can people expect at this show at the Orange Peel?
Cliff: My business model from the day one was: It’s all going to get represented fairly. I mean, I think we’ve carved out a nice little niche for ourselves. And here we are ten years later, and we’re playing bigger shows than we ever have.