Sheeplovr
12-07-2001, 03:02 PM
Call them the comeback kids
Friday, December 7, 2001
WHO: 40ft. Ringo and Tesla.
When the grunge movement spread its tentacles out of Seattle and delivered its wrecking-ball blow to pop-rock's hair bands in the early Nineties, who couldn't feel sorry for Trixter, those long-locked boys from Paramus and Ridgefield who were MTV darlings before they could legally drink?
The unforgiving music industry treated glam-metal as a horrible disease, and suffocated such bands as Poison, Warrant, Scorpions, and Slaughter. Glam musicians were relegated to top-bill status at the local watering hole.
But Trixter founder Steve Brown, now the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of 40ft. Ringo and on the verge of another major-label recording journey, would bronze his Eighties blow-dryer if given the chance.
"Pearl Jam and Nirvana put my band out of business, but if I died tomorrow I would have achieved every goal and dream,'' says Brown, who quickly adds that a new dream is beginning 14 years after the first took hold in a Paramus middle school. "I met my idols. I played volleyball with Eddie Van Halen at his Malibu beach pad. I signed a million-dollar record deal. I toured with KISS. I traveled the world.
"Guys in other bands laugh at me and say, 'That band was a joke.' You know what I say? I had an album that went to No. 28 on Billboard, three No. 1 videos on MTV, and sold a million records.''
And he still has his best friend and confidant, ex-Trixter P.J. Farley, the 40ft. Ringo bassist who thinks nothing of spending 18 hours in Brown's home recording studio on any given day to work on demos. You see, rock-and-roll has given them everything they've ever had, and they're not done paying homage to it. It's not easy to give up that first job, the one that happened to start paying them both when they were 13 years old.
And Brown and Farley's steadfast, persevering natures (they also play in a cover band called SugarBelly) seems to have rubbed off on fellow Ringo members: Drummer Brian Gabriel drove to the band's first gig with a flat tire, no headlights, and a failing engine.
"David Lee Roth always said, 'You don't work music, you play music; music is play,' '' Brown says.
"And success is an addiction of the worst kind. You'll do anything to keep it.''
Now 40ft. Ringo is the new entity in their rock-and-roll mind-set. The band, which also includes guitarist Steve Mazza, produces witty pop-rock that effuses melodies worthy of longevity -- an addictive sound that's been around since the Beatles. As the band's press release says, "Take Foo Fighters, Lit, Third Eye Blind, Blink-182, and The Offspring and put them in a blender.'' Their humorous, tub-thumping sound makes it impossible to label them a trend.
40ft. Ringo has been hopping around Manhattan's top clubs in support of its self-released, untitled nine-song CD (more information at www.40ftringo.com). They open 7:30 Sunday night for another of rock's resolute, Tesla, at the State Theatre in New Brunswick.
Meanwhile, major-label executives are hot on Ringo's trail, and Brown says a deal will be struck soon. But having gone through lawsuits and bankruptcy after the demise of Trixter, he politely declines to discuss specifics.
"To sum up 1988 to now, there's been the fight [to succeed], the spotlight, the decline, the lost record deal [on MCA], the lawsuits, and then completely reinventing yourself,'' Brown says. "Now we've got some major players and good friends in the business who want to take us places. We have the look, we sound good live, and we've been told we have five songs that can be Top Five singles.
"My piece of advice for any young band is if you sign anything, even if it's a napkin, it's a legally binding contract. Have an attorney go over every word. If you only concentrate on music, you're a fool. You have to be a businessman. Never take your eye off the ball.''
WDHA-FM (105.5) in Dover has been a staunch supporter of 40ft. Ringo, whose opening track on the CD, "Anyway,'' is a station staple
Friday, December 7, 2001
WHO: 40ft. Ringo and Tesla.
When the grunge movement spread its tentacles out of Seattle and delivered its wrecking-ball blow to pop-rock's hair bands in the early Nineties, who couldn't feel sorry for Trixter, those long-locked boys from Paramus and Ridgefield who were MTV darlings before they could legally drink?
The unforgiving music industry treated glam-metal as a horrible disease, and suffocated such bands as Poison, Warrant, Scorpions, and Slaughter. Glam musicians were relegated to top-bill status at the local watering hole.
But Trixter founder Steve Brown, now the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of 40ft. Ringo and on the verge of another major-label recording journey, would bronze his Eighties blow-dryer if given the chance.
"Pearl Jam and Nirvana put my band out of business, but if I died tomorrow I would have achieved every goal and dream,'' says Brown, who quickly adds that a new dream is beginning 14 years after the first took hold in a Paramus middle school. "I met my idols. I played volleyball with Eddie Van Halen at his Malibu beach pad. I signed a million-dollar record deal. I toured with KISS. I traveled the world.
"Guys in other bands laugh at me and say, 'That band was a joke.' You know what I say? I had an album that went to No. 28 on Billboard, three No. 1 videos on MTV, and sold a million records.''
And he still has his best friend and confidant, ex-Trixter P.J. Farley, the 40ft. Ringo bassist who thinks nothing of spending 18 hours in Brown's home recording studio on any given day to work on demos. You see, rock-and-roll has given them everything they've ever had, and they're not done paying homage to it. It's not easy to give up that first job, the one that happened to start paying them both when they were 13 years old.
And Brown and Farley's steadfast, persevering natures (they also play in a cover band called SugarBelly) seems to have rubbed off on fellow Ringo members: Drummer Brian Gabriel drove to the band's first gig with a flat tire, no headlights, and a failing engine.
"David Lee Roth always said, 'You don't work music, you play music; music is play,' '' Brown says.
"And success is an addiction of the worst kind. You'll do anything to keep it.''
Now 40ft. Ringo is the new entity in their rock-and-roll mind-set. The band, which also includes guitarist Steve Mazza, produces witty pop-rock that effuses melodies worthy of longevity -- an addictive sound that's been around since the Beatles. As the band's press release says, "Take Foo Fighters, Lit, Third Eye Blind, Blink-182, and The Offspring and put them in a blender.'' Their humorous, tub-thumping sound makes it impossible to label them a trend.
40ft. Ringo has been hopping around Manhattan's top clubs in support of its self-released, untitled nine-song CD (more information at www.40ftringo.com). They open 7:30 Sunday night for another of rock's resolute, Tesla, at the State Theatre in New Brunswick.
Meanwhile, major-label executives are hot on Ringo's trail, and Brown says a deal will be struck soon. But having gone through lawsuits and bankruptcy after the demise of Trixter, he politely declines to discuss specifics.
"To sum up 1988 to now, there's been the fight [to succeed], the spotlight, the decline, the lost record deal [on MCA], the lawsuits, and then completely reinventing yourself,'' Brown says. "Now we've got some major players and good friends in the business who want to take us places. We have the look, we sound good live, and we've been told we have five songs that can be Top Five singles.
"My piece of advice for any young band is if you sign anything, even if it's a napkin, it's a legally binding contract. Have an attorney go over every word. If you only concentrate on music, you're a fool. You have to be a businessman. Never take your eye off the ball.''
WDHA-FM (105.5) in Dover has been a staunch supporter of 40ft. Ringo, whose opening track on the CD, "Anyway,'' is a station staple