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Aor Dream Zones By Nicky
Baldrian
Name
:
AJ FedZ
Birthday :
April 17 ?
Current Band:
Snakeryder
3 Fav Bands:
Kiss, Aerosmith, Van Halen
1st album bought:
Meet the Beatles
Last album bought:
The last would have to be Snakeryder D.O.A.! LOL! The band has to buy
their own CD, believe that? Other then D.O.A. I would say,Y&T
Ultimate Collection!
Record that changed your life:
That would be the first Kiss Record. I was about 12years old. I was only
listening to the Beatles stuff in those days. When I first put the album
on, I was blown away! I never heard music that sounded like that before.
I actually thought my parents were going to give me shit for listen to
it. They we cool about it! Like any other parent they were always
telling me to turn it down. One day I had Aerosmith's Dream On Record
playing, now remember there were no CD's at that time. It was vinyl! My
old man ran up the steps screaming to turn the music the F--k down, then
grabbed 3 albums I had on my bed and smashed them! I turned it down
after that... LOL
1st Gig attended:
Aerosmith in 1977. Styx actually opened for them. At the time I didn't
have a clue who Styx was. I couldn't wait for Styx to get off the stage.
Then a month later I bought the Styx "Grand Illusion" Album. I
thought it was great!
Last Gig attended:
That would have to be when I played with Adriangale, we opened up for LA
GUNS! I definitely hung around for their show...
Person most influenced by: If
this question doesn't pertain to music, that would have to be my father.
I thought my father was the greatest man in the world. He passed away in
1985. He was only 45yrs. old. What sucks is, I never told him how I
felt! I think he knew!
Favorite Film:
I can't pinpoint my favorite. #1 Would have to be horror. I love the
type with the young girls, the dark house and one by one they all get
sliced & diced!
Favorite Food / Beverage: Pizza
would have to be # 1. I usually by a large plain pie. I don't care for
the toppings. I rent a horror dvd, then gorge till I need Pepto Bismal.
LOL
If we be talkin bout alcohol, that would have to be wine. The cheaper
the better. Nothing like a good hungover! LOL
Thought for the Day: If you want the f--kin thing done right, do the
f--kin thing yourself!
Tell me a little about your history and the
whole deal between you and Adriangale?
In October 1999 Dino Castano and I had a hand shake deal with Kivel
Records.
John had hand picked the songs I had wrote to be on the album. Without a
full band or a dime for recording cost. Dino Castano & I started
recording the Record at my studio that was to be released on Kivel
Records.
Dino on drums and me doing all instruments and vocals. John and I had
discussed a band name, we through a few names in the air and Adriangale
was the name to be. John wanted to spell the name as Adrienn Gail. Dino
and I thought that sounded too much like a girl was in the band. We
fought with Kivel to have the correct spelling as Adriangale. This
spelling was suggested by a friend of Dino's.
Several months into the recording, I got a phone call from a club. They
wanted to know if a prior band I had, would do a show opening up for
Warrant. That is when we had to put the band Adriangale together real
fast.
John, had recently met Vic Rivera. He said I have a guy you can try out.
Dino and I met with Vic & we thought he would be perfect for the job
as guitarist. We had tried several bassists out for the position and not
one we tried out could cut the mustard.
Vic said I know a guitarist who doubles on bass, he would be perfect.
The man of choice was Ed Campbell. We got together and it was magic. We
only had 30 days to get ready for the show. We rehearsed about 6 times
together, then did the show. When the show was over {to make a long
story short} we got screwed by Kivel Records. We did an opening show for
Warrant and didn't make a dime. I slept on the shows financial out come
for a few days. I thought if we didn't make money at a live show when
John Kivel was handling the business, we probably weren't going to make
money on the CD we were about to release on Kivel Record's.
I called John and told him the deal was off!
Kivel had made notice in his web site that Adriangale and the label had
split due to creative differences.
The band Adriangale continued to do shows on the New Jersey club scene
& shopped for another label. Two months later I got a call from Vic
Rivera, he said he didn't want to continue with the band anymore. Ed
Campbell also left. I was very disappointed of this news. Dino and I
continued as Adriangale, we still had not trade marked the name at that
point. Six month's later I get a phone call from Dino saying "check
out the Kivel web site", he's releasing a Record under the name
Adriangale. John beat us to the punch, he stole the name right out from
under us. We had been shopping our demo at that time as the band
Adriangale. We were pissed! To top that off, John mailed Dino & I a
copy of the Feel The Fire CD. This was only to bust our balls!
Nevertheless we wish Adriangale the best of luck! They are a great band!
Can you tell me more about the songs on
your new record?
The songs were among 50 I wrote from 1995 to 1997. The songs for D.O.A.
were picked from that assortment of songs. They were the ones that would
compliment each other. MMM was looking for a uniform sound. The ones
that we didn't use were going in a different direction. I may use some
of them on the 2nd Snakeryder CD. A few titles are Back For The Kill,
Wake Up The Nation & Love Steals. Definitely heavier stuff!
 Are
there any particular meanings to the songs and do you have any preferred
tracks?
The one that stands out the most, would have to be the song I wrote.
'The Price You Have To Pay'! This song was the only song on the record
written in December 2000. This one was written to an Inde label I had a
deal with in 1999/2000. I will not mention any names, cough - sneeze -
KIVEL RECORDS choke! DAMN will somebody give me a glass of f--kin water.
OK I spelt the beans. LOL... To keep it short & sweet, my band at
the time was Adriangale. We did an opening show for Warrant. Mr. Kivel
handled the BIZ, the band went home with ZERO.
We had sold 78 tickets out of the 100 tickets given to us by the club
promoter & 10 were missing. The band had the cost of the tickets
deducted from their pay. This had inspired me to write the song...
"You broke the trust - it left you 10 steps behind - tickets
vanished in the dust" The lyrics in the second verse referee to the
10 missing tickets.... As far as preference, I would say I really dig
singing Danger Zone. I like the lyrics & mood on that one.
How has the reaction been to the album so
far?
I have read nothing but great reviews. I
have gotten e-mail from fan's globally. I read one bad review out of 10!
The guy that did the review was an anti - 80's type of guy with an
already been there, done that attitude. Plain and simple, he was an
A-hole!
The production is very good, how did you
get it to sound so proficient?
Thanks much for the compliment Nicky! I wasn't supposed to tell any one
this. You see I was a bad kid growing up and I listened to no one! LOL...
So here goes! Metal Mayhem gave me a $2,500.00 advance & I did the
whole damn thing in my home studio. I have a 24 track adat set up in my
basement, a 32 channel Mackey mixing board & a rack of out board
effects & processors. I also took a recording coarse a few years
back. The CD was mastered at Dannziland. I'm sure everyone has heard of
Dannziland! It is kinda like Disney World meets Guitar Center.... LOL
Will you be playing any shows in support of
the album?
There have been no plans so far. I'm sure when the time is right, shows
will take place.
Have you been involved with any other
projects over the years that we should know about?
I have played in many band's through out the years. I was in a band
called White Fox in 1990. Guess who the original guitarist was? Jeff
LaBar from Cinderella! Jeff left White Fox when Cinderella got signed.
They had a long string of guitarist after that. I was one of them!
What is it about this style of music that
you find so unique?
I wouldn't say I find it unique. As the saying go's, you are what you
eat! When I write a song, D.O.A. is the shit that happens. LOL
How did you hook up with Metal Mayhem
records and what are their plans to promote your band?
I met MMM through Kivel Record's. Damn you made me say that name again.
LOL...
As far as their plans, They don't tell you much about their business
strategies. You have to just sit back, buckle up and see were the road
takes you. I'm still waiting for my first royalty check. LOL
What are your expectations of the rock
scene as a whole now?
When the 90's hit and everybody was getting their hair cut, my
expectations were that hair was going to be fashionable again. Well,
that hasn't happened yet and it's 14 years later. So my expectations
have diminished. I'm just doing what I do and that's all anyone can do!
I hate when 80's bands get labeled as HAIR BANDS. Why? Because to me,
Rock & Roll was always about being a rebel with long hair. I grew up
always wanting my hair long. The short hair thing to me is a joke!
Musically and spiritually who are your
inspirations?
I grew up idolizing Paul Stanley. I actual met Paul, Gene and his Paul's
father at the New York City Kiss convention in 1995. When Kiss left the
stage I saw an elderly man on the side stage. I looked up at him and
said, are you Paul's dad? He looked down and said with a smile
"Yes, I saw you walking around out there earlier"! That was
pretty cool! Then Kiss came out to sign autographs. When everybody was
scream like woman, " Gene, Paul" I put my hand out, shook
hands with Gene Simmon's and looked him in the eyes and said, "
It's nice to meet you Gene" he took a step back and gave me a 10
second stare! There were 1,500 people screaming "Gene, Paul"
behind me! I think he knew I was a musician with respect for him!
What is next for you?
We just recorded & mixed the song SWEET FA for the Fastlane Records
Sweet Tribute CD. It will be released sometime in 2004. We also are
getting ready to do another studio Record.
What have you learned about the music
industry so far and what tips can you give to others?
If you have a deal with a record company, you are like the IRS to them.
In the USA that would be the tax man. Record company's have the real
books & the fake books. The fake books are the ones the artist sees.
If the record company spends $1,000.00 on your band, their book keepers
will tell you they spent $10,000.00. This is deducted from your
royalties.
Get as much of an advance as posable. By some KY JELLY, lube up and hope
you don't get
f--ked to bad! Buy some industry book's and READ!
Finally is there anything that you would
like to say to the fans?
Anyone that has a copy of Snakeryder D.O.A. Thank you much for your
support & we hope you enjoy the disc. If you don't have one, get-um
while there HOT! I'd also like to thank Nicky and the staff at
Aordreamzone for your support! Without dynamite sites like your's, we
wouldn't be selling record's!
AJ FedZ
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