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Band page - Infernophonic
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Band Profile
What is your name and your current position in the band?
Kevin Bolembach - Bassist and overall ringleader of Infernophonic.
How would you categorize the style of the band? And did you ever consider or try playing other styles of music than the one(s) you are playing now?
I think "female-fronted melodic hard rock" is a fairly apt description. As far as other styles go - I've been playing for over 30 years, so there's certainly been a variety :)
What is your latest album and why should people buy it?
Our latest and first CD is "Spark It Up" and people should buy it if they dig funky, 70's-style groove-rock with ripping guitar leads, interesting arrangements, and amazing female vocals. Otherwise, they should just buy it because we have a lot of them, and need to get rid of some :)
Tell us about the history of the band. More specifically, when was the band formed, how did you meet, and have there been any particular highlights or low points in your career, any crucial events that have taken you where you are today?
I started the band around 2000, mainly because I was bored and hadn't been playing music for a couple of years. I had a bunch of funky Bass riffs with a lot of cool effects on them, and I decided to record them so I asked my friends John Bednar and J-Bomb (of the Sex Slaves) to play guitar and drums respectively. We recorded 4 songs in John's basement on a 4-track, and that's where it all began.
From there we added a male frontman named Sydney. Then Jay moved down to South Carolina for a while, so we had to get a new drummer - Forrest Leighton from the band All Time Low joined on drums, and shortly after that we replaced Sydney and got Bo Bailey from Subcommittee/Step Kings/Nastasee fame to sing and play Trombone. We named the band Tang! And started to play local gigs and then recorded another 4-song demo with new tunes.
Bo had trouble doing both Tang! And Subcommittee, so one gig we got female singer Elaine Tuttle to fill in for him when he was double-booked. She quickly became a permanent member, and we wrote a bunch of new material.
After about a year John left the band, and shortly after that Forrest left as well. They were replaced by Pat Piegari of Lourds on guitar and Joe Altomare of Seven Witches on drums.
By that time we had already been approached by Alan Evans of Soulive, who wanted to produce us, so in the fall of '06 we quickly wrote about 7 new tunes and in February of '07 we went up to Vermont to record them. We mixed at Applehead Studios in Woodstock, and released "Spark It Up" in December of 2007. Since then we've just been doing promotion on the CD and playing as many shows as our schedules will allow.
Was there ever a time when you wondered if your band would remain just a local outfit and never make it in the industry?
I still consider us a "local" outfit, although with the advent of the internet the definition and confines of that term have pretty much become obsolete - even a "local" band that doesn't tour can reach an audience of thousands on the web.
Can you share with us one or two of your favourite moments with the band?
Recording our debut CD "Spark It Up" was a big moment for me, because there were a lot of hurdles put in front of me during the process - it took a LOT of effort to bring the project together. Another recent high-point was opening for ex-Rainbow singer Joe Lynn Turner and playing to a packed house at Dingbatz Nightclub in our hometown of Clifton, NJ but in general the highlight is that I can still go out and write and record my own music and some people actually care!
How is the writing process in the band?
We have experimented with many different writing methods, but typically Joe and I will play and come up with a cool bass/drum rhythm with a couple of changes, and then we'll bring that to the band and let Pat and Elaine layer their parts over it.
Sometimes we have to re-arrange the song slightly to fit Pat or Elaine's parts, but for the most part the final arrangements stay pretty much the same as when Joe and I finished them.
Other times we'll get together as a full band and bang around on a riff and then see who can come up with the 2nd part and arrangement. That method is not as typical as the first one, though. I feel that to have a solid song you have to build it from the bottom up, which is why I like to start with bass and drums first....
What brought you on the path to becoming a musician? Did you ever consider or take any other paths through life besides music?
When I was around 4 years old, I had Dr. Seuss' "My Book About Me" which is a book that you can fill in the answers to all these questions about your life - one of the questions was "what's your favourite instrument" and I wrote "guitar", so I guess I always knew what I wanted to do. My mother was very supportive of me learning an instrument, but she made me take Upright bass lessons instead of guitar because we were poor and the lessons were free at our school. From there I started rifling through my older sister's record collection and got turned onto Led Zeppelin, Queen, AC/DC, Judas Priest and other 70's bands - soon after I sold my upright bass and bought a Fender Precision, and the rest is history!
There have been many times where I've become completely frustrated with music and wished I had taken other paths in life. In the late 1990's I stopped playing in bands altogether to focus on starting my business, but I soon got bored and missed the interaction of a band environment. So, I sometimes get frustrated, but I always come back to my first love!
Do you have any idols? If yes, who?
I'm a fan of Howard Hughes for triumphing over tremendous adversities and overcoming great resistance to his ideas - I pretty much respect anyone how does this and does not conform to the standards set out by others. There are so many people throughout history who fit this description, they would be too numerous to list...
Do you have any regrets looking back at your career? For example any songs or even full albums that you regret recording? If so, what made you regret it?
I don't spend a lot of time listening to my old recordings - I'm always looking forward to the new stuff, rather than resting on my laurels.
Are there particular songs in your catalogue that the fans love but you're not particular fond of yourself?
I'm a little sick of "Eye of the Jedi" at this point, but the fans seem to still dig it....
How important do you rate the lyrical side of your albums?
In the past I wrote a lot of lyrics for the band, and my style and content is much different from Elaine's, who writes all of them now. However, I do like the message that she's trying to get across, which is one of positivity, hope, self-empowerment and freedom from oppression - I think those are pretty important messages to bring to the world!
What do you think about the state of the music industry today?
I really don't think about it that much - I do my thing and it's really not related to the inner workings of the music industry so much. To me, the words "music" and "industry" are completely contradictory - you can't have truly free and expressive art when there's a price tag attached to it and a financial concern about return on the investment.
What do you think is the best way to fight music piracy?
With cannon-fire.
Do you have a life philosophy? If yes, what is it?
Have a good time, all the time. No wait - that's Viv Savage of Spinal Tap's life philosophy! I don't know, I guess mine is "if it can go wrong, it probably will...."
Can you describe a typical day in your life?
Get up around 9 AM, feed the dogs, grab a coffee and then hit the e-mails! I run my own business distributing guitar effect pedals, and I work a LOT of hours - sometimes 70-80 a week - so I don't have a lot of free time. When I do get a few free moments I like to watch movies, read, and spend time with friends....
What do you like to spend your time with besides music?
I work in a music-related field, so I'm surrounded by music and bands and instruments most of the time. When I'm not doing band or work-related stuff, then I like to just hang around with my two dogs and watch movies....
What's the craziest thing that has ever happened on a tour?
A few years back I did some touring with the metal band Seven Witches as their bassist. We were on tour with Iron Fire and Demon in Europe, and one night we got cancelled in Vienna so all the band's headed out to a local bar and got totally pissed.
My friend Rob was playing drums, and when were back on the bus he woke up in his sleep, stood up in the bus aisle and proceeded to "relieve himself" in his sleep! We all stood there watching him "sleep pissing" and laughing our asses off, then we all went to bed and didn't think anything more of it...
The next morning we got up and surprisingly, the aisle carpet was completely dry with no sign of Rob's "accident" from the previous night. When we got outside the bus we began talking to the guys in Iron Fire - their Bassist Martin couldn't figure out why when he woke up and got dressed and put on his sneakers, they were all wet inside - Rob had peed in Martin's sneakers the night before! So, even when drunk and asleep, Rob had perfect aim!
You're heading off to live on a deserted island for a couple of years with your portable entertainment system... Which albums, movies or books would you bring? (Max. 3 of each)
Albums - Black Sabbath "Mob Rules", the Cars "Candy-O", Carnivore "Retaliation"
Movies - Fight Club, Jaws, the Shining
Books - Tolkien "Lord of the Rings,"Stephen King's "Gunslinger" Series, Michael Moorcock's "Elric" saga
What is your favourite joke?
My life.....
Can you tell us about any future plans for you and your band?
We took a few months off around the holidays so that I could catch up on some work- and family-related issues. Now we are just beginning to write music for the next record and play some shows. Hopefully we can just keep making great music and getting it out to whoever wants to hear it.
Thanks for answering these questions. Now you are free to write a few lines to our readers.
Thanks for the opportunity to talk about myself and my band! Please check us out online and continue supporting original music of all kinds!
Cheers,
Kevin
Infernophonic
Added by Steen - 10/7/2009
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