My girlfriend and I went out to Anaheim, CA, for a wedding recently, and during our travels, I met up with an old high school chum. She happens to be dating a bass player who is in a metal band from Italy. His name is Maxx and he barely speaks English. The name of his band is Idols Are Dead, and apparently they’ve done some touring and have played some pretty big shows around Europe. Well, Maxx has brought his band to the United States and they’ve been making quite a name for themselves since landing on our soil. Maxx gave me his band’s debut CD, Mean, and it totally rocks! I liked almost every song on the CD, especially the Guns ‘N’ Roses cover of “It’s So Easy.” The songs “This Is Not The End” and “Pain For Sale” are riff-tastic and what really impressed me was Maxx’s brother, Luka, on the drums. Holy double-bass, Batman!
Idols Are Dead is a vision encompassed by singer Mana and drummer Luka. They were just two Italian dudes who played in two of Italy’s more successful metal bands (Electrocution and Folder) together through the years. They have reunited once again to pay tribute to their love for heavy music, and planned to burn people’s ears with the heaviness of their new music. To reach their goal, they called upon two shredders from their hometown of Bologna, Italy. They’re names are Alley-X and Ico. The final member to join Idols Are Dead was Maxx, the bassist, and Luka’s brother who played with Luka and Mana in Electrocution and Folder.
Since solidifying the line-up, Idols Are Dead have won the Heineken Jammin Festival Contest 2007 by beating out over 2,000 other bands which helped them share a stage with the likes of Iron Maiden, Mastadon, Slayer, and Stone Sour. In December 2007, the band inked a deal with indie label, Scarlett Records, where they released Mean. Go over to myspace.com/idolsaredead to buy it now! Or go there and massage the band and tell them to play in New Jersey/New York! Trust me, you can’t help but to like these guys!
NORTH JERSEY NOTES UPDATES:
Last week I mentioned that my bud Dan Lorenzo from The Cursed, Non-Fiction, and Hades, had posted an old Non-Fiction video on the band’s MySpace page, myspace.com/nonf ictionnj. This week, Dan told me that his other legendary band, Hades just got a deal with Cruz Del Sur Music to release their first ever live DVD, Live In Boston, from a show that they did in December of 1988 when they opened for Manowar and Nuclear Assault. Find out more about Hades at myspace.com/hadesrock.
The boys from Atom Strange have been making some noise since returning to the scene with their new line-up. They were recently seen on Tuesday Night Rocks, a show on a Public Access Network that airs in the Deer Park-Port Jervis area, where they performed two 25- minute sets. To find out where Atom Strange is playing next, log onto myspace.com/atomstrange.
And finally, Lisa over at Dexter’s Entertainment Center in Riverdale, NJ, has two openings to open for Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow/Deep Purple) on October 4. There is a ticket sell requirement of 100 tickets. Trust me, opening for Joe Lynn Turner is a lot of fun! Plus he sells out Dexter’s so this could be a good gig. If you’re interested, email Lisa at lisa@dextersentertainment.com. And just a reminder, my band Hostel Inc. is playing at Dexter’s tonight, Aug. 6, opening for the legendary Dokken! Hope to see some of you there!
That’s all for now! If your band is from North Jersey and you want some exposure, send your demos and press kits to Arts Weekly, c/o Tim Louie P.O. Box 1140 Little Falls, NJ 07424. No cover bands, please!
Just remember… We’re all in the same boat, so every little bit of exposure counts!
