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Perusing the current post 1979 album draft going on has made me go back and look at some stuff from those years (stuff I was in to mainly).
In the mid-90's I was hanging around in the San Diego music scene quite a bit - lots of post-grunge imitators mainly. Bands that were obviously trying to be the next Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and such. Seeing as Stone Temple Pilots were from San Diego, and Eddie Vedder having his roots here, SD was branded at one time "the Next Seattle". Well, whatever, after seeing endless bands in bars around town that would never amount to much, I saw this band in a club that I worked at one night that blew my doors off. They were from LA and grew out of the ashes of a fairly popular Sunset Strip/Hair Metal scene band. IMO, they combined a U2/Nin/Ministry type thing and were head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd. They weren't trying to ride the wave of what was going on at the time and I don't think their sound can really be pigeon-holed in to a particular genre (they did use a lot of production and I do think leaned towards "industrial").
We became friendly after a show one night and struck up a friendship. Since they were from LA, they asked if we (me and a buddy) could help them promote their shows that they did down here. They released a self-produced cd and got some local radio airplay. They toured on their own across the country and, eventually, got some slots on legs of tours with some big-hitters: the Ramones, Candlebox (who were big at the time), Infectious Grooves...
They signed to a label and made an incredible record - Sonic Bloom - they toured in support of that and started getting some national airplay that led to them playing the opening slot at the huge Texas Motor Speedway show (with Jewel, Bush, No Doubt, Collective Soul, Sugar Ray, Matchbox 20 and almost every big act of 1997) to over 100,000 people. They continued to tour (their live show was like a mini Pink Floyd/U2 show) and planned a 2nd album.
Unfortunately, their record label abruptly shut their doors and they were left without a deal. The music business being as brutal as it is, they were left with a decision to make - continue busting their humps in shitty clubs or go on with their lives and actually earn a living and support their families. They were all getting in to their early 30's and a few of them got married and had kids.
So, the dream died. They now are scattered across the country: one does producing from a home studio he built in Atlanta, another is plugging away in a rockabilly band, another works for the CEO of Zappos in Las Vegas as his personal driver, and the lead singer, Dave, still lives in LA and is an Operations Manager at a vitamin supplement plant. Dave's a good dude and I am glad to still be friends with him after all these years. He has no regrets, accepts his good fortunes in life and is not bitter at all about not being a famous rock star. The percentage of musicians who actually "make it" is so miniscule and it takes a magical combination of talent, hard work and more than anything else timing and luck. He has a beautiful wife, makes a good living and performs at local bars doing solo/acoustic stuff from time to time to satisfy his artists soul. I talk to him every so often and we reminisce about the goold ol' days.
Anyway, they were sooooo close, but as fast as the music industry changed tastes in the 90's and new flavors-of-the-day popping up every, well, day, the iron wasn't able to be struck while it was still (semi) hot. Here today gone tomorrow.
Here's their only official video for the song Christmas at Brando's. Admittedly, it's not my favorite song of theirs and the video is a bit dizzying (featuring a Divine-esque 300 pound drag queen). You can still find their album on line and I suggest checking it out and letting me know. There's also a few live performances on youtube.
p.s. their original name was just 'Ultrasound' but before they released their album they found there was another band with that name and they added the 'Almighty' to it.
From the RockFest show at the Texas Motor Speedway...
AU - TMSW.jpg
In the mid-90's I was hanging around in the San Diego music scene quite a bit - lots of post-grunge imitators mainly. Bands that were obviously trying to be the next Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and such. Seeing as Stone Temple Pilots were from San Diego, and Eddie Vedder having his roots here, SD was branded at one time "the Next Seattle". Well, whatever, after seeing endless bands in bars around town that would never amount to much, I saw this band in a club that I worked at one night that blew my doors off. They were from LA and grew out of the ashes of a fairly popular Sunset Strip/Hair Metal scene band. IMO, they combined a U2/Nin/Ministry type thing and were head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd. They weren't trying to ride the wave of what was going on at the time and I don't think their sound can really be pigeon-holed in to a particular genre (they did use a lot of production and I do think leaned towards "industrial").
We became friendly after a show one night and struck up a friendship. Since they were from LA, they asked if we (me and a buddy) could help them promote their shows that they did down here. They released a self-produced cd and got some local radio airplay. They toured on their own across the country and, eventually, got some slots on legs of tours with some big-hitters: the Ramones, Candlebox (who were big at the time), Infectious Grooves...
They signed to a label and made an incredible record - Sonic Bloom - they toured in support of that and started getting some national airplay that led to them playing the opening slot at the huge Texas Motor Speedway show (with Jewel, Bush, No Doubt, Collective Soul, Sugar Ray, Matchbox 20 and almost every big act of 1997) to over 100,000 people. They continued to tour (their live show was like a mini Pink Floyd/U2 show) and planned a 2nd album.
Unfortunately, their record label abruptly shut their doors and they were left without a deal. The music business being as brutal as it is, they were left with a decision to make - continue busting their humps in shitty clubs or go on with their lives and actually earn a living and support their families. They were all getting in to their early 30's and a few of them got married and had kids.
So, the dream died. They now are scattered across the country: one does producing from a home studio he built in Atlanta, another is plugging away in a rockabilly band, another works for the CEO of Zappos in Las Vegas as his personal driver, and the lead singer, Dave, still lives in LA and is an Operations Manager at a vitamin supplement plant. Dave's a good dude and I am glad to still be friends with him after all these years. He has no regrets, accepts his good fortunes in life and is not bitter at all about not being a famous rock star. The percentage of musicians who actually "make it" is so miniscule and it takes a magical combination of talent, hard work and more than anything else timing and luck. He has a beautiful wife, makes a good living and performs at local bars doing solo/acoustic stuff from time to time to satisfy his artists soul. I talk to him every so often and we reminisce about the goold ol' days.
Anyway, they were sooooo close, but as fast as the music industry changed tastes in the 90's and new flavors-of-the-day popping up every, well, day, the iron wasn't able to be struck while it was still (semi) hot. Here today gone tomorrow.
Here's their only official video for the song Christmas at Brando's. Admittedly, it's not my favorite song of theirs and the video is a bit dizzying (featuring a Divine-esque 300 pound drag queen). You can still find their album on line and I suggest checking it out and letting me know. There's also a few live performances on youtube.
p.s. their original name was just 'Ultrasound' but before they released their album they found there was another band with that name and they added the 'Almighty' to it.
From the RockFest show at the Texas Motor Speedway...
AU - TMSW.jpg
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