LIVIN—Morristown, NJ
I recently received an email from LIVIN guitarist Dave Stann via theaquarian.com, asking me to give his band’s self-titled debut CD a listen. I checked them out right away, and they’re not too bad at all! They’re a funk/jam band that reminded me of my boys Echofission. The tracks that I listened to were “In Your Soul,” “Take Me,” which had an amazing bass line, “Get On It” and “Text Message,” all of which I felt were pretty well-written songs, and pretty jam-tastic!
Singer Teddy Ames and guitarist Dave Stann formed LIVIN while they were on tour in Europe with their very popular NYC-based Rolling Stones Tribute band, The Rolling Bones. Wanting to try something new, they decided to start writing their own music. They recruited drummer Fernando Menendez, who is best known for his work with Gordon Gano of The Violent Femmes and bassist Chuck Bernklau, who is known for his session work, to complete their lineup. According to the band, their music style is described as upbeat jam rock with a bit of extra funk, a little blues and some classic alternative rock. They’ve even been billed as “Rock and soul for your heart.”
LIVIN is currently on the road to promote their debut, which can be downloaded or listened to at ilovelivin.com, where you can also go to find out where LIVIN is playing next. They decided banned computers at the recording sessions for their CD, which was recorded entirely using analog tape at Showplace Studios in Dover, NJ. Give the CD a listen at ilovelivin.com.
NORTH JERSEY NOTES UPDATES:
My bass bro J.V. Bastard from Doomsday Prophecy has his side project up and running. The band is called Darrow Chemical Company and was started as a writing outlet for J.V. after his departure from his previous band, Mister Monster. His writings began to pile up, so J.V. decided to do something new. As of now, the live version of Darrow Chemical Company consists of J.V. on vocals and guitar, Loki from Mister Monster, Gotham Road and Michale Graves’ band on guitar, Germs from Mister Monster on bass and Matt Johnson from Michale Graves’ band on drums. You can catch Darrow Chemical Company live at The Clash Bar in Clifton, NJ on July 10 or give them a listen at reverbnation.com/DarrowChemicalCompany.
Speaking of bass bros, my bass ‘big’ bro Rob DeLuca from Spread Eagle, Sebastian Bach and U.F.O. recently sent me an email with an update on his busy career. First, he recently unleashed his new band, Of Earth, this past weekend at Local 269 in NYC. This has been a project Rob has been working on whenever gets a chance to come home for a little while, and he just debuted the band live! Check them out at ofearth.bandcamp.com, where you can download the debut self-titled CD for free! Secondly, Rob will be hitting the road again this summer with Sebastian Bach in support of Whitesnake, and then he will be heading to do some more shows with the legendary U.F.O. towards the end of the summer. That’s not all for Rob either! Rob also stated that he and his old Spread Eagle singer and my old Hostel Inc. brother Ray West have decided to put Spread Eagle back together with Dennis Kimak on guitar and Rik DeLuca on drums, who also plays with Rob in Of Earth. Rob said that the shows they played this past winter were so powerful that the band decided to write some new material for a long-awaited third Spread Eagle CD!
And finally, last week, I mentioned that Incognito And DePalma were added to the Bullet Boys show at The Brighton Bar in Long Branch, NJ on Aug. 26. Well, that show just got better because the band Rahway were recently added to the lineup! Check out Rahway at reverbnation.com/rahway.
That’s all for now! If your band is from North Jersey, and you want some exposure, send your press kits to Arts Weekly, c/o Tim Louie P.O. Box 1140, Little Falls, NJ 07424, or you can email me at tim@theaquarian.com, where you can also let me know where you’re performing next!
Just remember: We’re all in the same boat, so every little bit of exposure counts!
Tim Louie is the author of S**t Happens.
NJN Concert Calendar:
6/29—Steve Brown—The Grasshopper Also, Carlstadt, NJ
6/30—The Dirty Pearls/Panzie*/Star Killer/Sweet Fix—The Bowery Ballroom, NYC
6/30—Incognito and DePalma—Bar A, Lake Como, NJ
7/1—Charetta—(CD Listening Party) Double Down Saloon, NYC
7/2—The Paul Gargiulo Band—Hill Country, NYC
7/2—Audio Insight—The Saint, Asbury Park, NJ
7/6—Kosmic Daydream—Mexicali Live, Teaneck, NJ
7/7—Wildstreet—The Highline Ballroom, NYC
7/7—Audio Insight—Bar East, NYC
7/7—Dead Fish Handshake—The Grape Room, Philadelphia, PA
7/10—Darrow Chemical Company—The Clash Bar, Clifton, NJ
7/15—Dead Fish Handshake—The Cup Complex, Linden, NJ
7/16—Livin—Alphabet Lounge, NYC
7/21—Killcode/Charetta—Irving Plaza, NYC
7/22—The Dirty Pearls/Wildstreet—Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY
7/22—BoundAlive—The Saint, Asbury Park, NJ
