I got an email from my bud, Dan Lorenzo, recently, and he told me that he was teaming up with his former Hades bandmate, Alan Tecchio, and drummer Ron Lipnicki from Overkill to form a metal cover band called Screaming Metal. Also reaming up on the project are Fuse TV’s Talking Metal duo, John Ostronomy, and Mark Strigl. Normally, I don’t write about cover bands, but each member of this cover band has a long resume of playing all original music which makes this project okay with me. Dan said that he never ever wanted to be in a cover band, but he couldn’t deny how much fun it was to jam songs like, “Mob Rules” and “Walk All Over You” just like he did when he started playing the club circuit back in the early ‘80s. As of now Screaming Metal, will perform one night only and that will be Saturday, Feb. 7 at Dingbatz in Clifton, NJ, with my bros from LowBuz opening and performing their last show ever. For more info, log onto dingbatznj.com.
Across the hall from my band Hostel Inc.’s rehearsal space down at Factory Studios 2 in Clifton, NJ, is the rehearsal space of the boys from Bled For Glory, whom we run into every now and then. Well, as of recently, I’ve also been running into more characters coming out of that particular room. I’ve also run into former Dead Letter Box/Havoc Effect bassist Dan Grossberg and the kid known to the North Jersey music scene as “Books” or “Tattoo’d Soul” as he’s known on MySpace. Turns out, Books’s band Dragstrip Grind, the band that everyone seems to know about but has never heard, is sharing the rehearsal room with Bled For Glory. I guess that might be because joining Books and Dan in Dragstrip Grind is none other than Erik and Vinnie from Bled for Glory. Upon checking out Dragstrip Grind’s MySpace page, myspace.com/dragstripgrind, I learned that the band is currently in the studio finally putting their collaborated ideas to tape. If their rehearsals are any indication of what the recordings are set to sound like, I think we might have a new heavyweight in the North Jersey music scene. The boys sound great! I can’t wait to hear the recordings, Books! To find out more about Dragstrip Grind, log onto myspace.com/dragstripgrind.
My bros from Atom Strange are playing a huge Halloween Bash over at The Mean Fiddler in NYC on Halloween night, Friday, Oct. 31. If you don’t have any plans yet, the boys from Atom Strange have advanced tickets available via their MySpace page, myspace.com/atomstrangeband, for only $10. Put on a costume and go down to the Mean Fiddler to see this new Atom Strange line-up! Also performing that night will be Social Hero and Lovers Lane.
Speaking of Halloween, making their debut on Halloween night at Riddles in Pompton Lakes, NJ, will be a band called The Road Zombies. Who? I said The Road Zombies! It’s Matty Z’s new band. Matty Z has been locked away working on this new project and rehearsing like a madman. The finished product is finally about to be unleashed in Pompton Lakes. They’ll be playing a 45-minute set of original music mixed in with some rockabilly rock ‘n’ roll classics. To find out more about the Road Zombies, log onto myspace.com/theroadzombies.
And finally, last week I mentioned that the mighty Trixter was making their first appearance in 13 years back together again in NJ on the day after Thanksgiving (Nov. 28), better known as Black Friday. What I didn’t know, as of last week, was that my band Hostel Inc. was going to be added to the bill. That’s right! The night just got even better! So, now the night looks like this: Hostel Inc. opening, T.N.A. supporting, and Trixter returning! The night is expected to sell out quick, so if you want in on this show, you can buy tickets online at myspace.com/hostelinc. Yes, we need the credit and I still do hate selling tickets!
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!
