Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Singer says band is ‘Like whiskey-drinkin’ rock ‘n’ roll’

By Sarah Poulton

Tweet

When ThunderRider releases their self-titled debut album Saturday at Barleys, not only will you not pay a cover but you’ll take home the album for free.

“If this doesn’t get people to come out, what will?” bassist Ken Zitello asks. “...We’d rather have 1,000 people have our CD and not pay anything than have 50 people pay $10.”

The band says their objectives are to write good music and play packed shows, so what better way to do that than to entice present and future fans with a free show and free CD?

“We’re at the point where we want to get our names out there,” vocalist Mike Ilich says.

ThunderRider began writing songs immediately after they formed and had enough material to go into the studio by October. The album was recorded by Mike Vennetti at V-Nutt Recordings in Warren.

The album includes 10 original tracks, plus a bonus-track hidden at the end of “Let it Ride.” The unnamed song is a collection of Ilich’s vocal-outtakes dubbed over a hip-hop beat.

The band unanimously agrees that “Beard Mountain” would be the single, but encourages people not to disregard other fan-favorites such as “Yuma” and “Let it Ride.” You can preview those three songs on V24 radio.

“Like whiskey-drinkin’ rock ‘n’ roll,” Ilich says. “We’re all about drinking and having fun. We want music to be fun again. Sometimes metal gets too serious.”

And for three of ThunderRider’s members, that’s already happened.

Drummer Nick Huffman and guitarists Paul Misko and Rob Hileman were in local metal band, From a Second Story Window, which disbanded in May 2008.

“We formed straight out of them breaking up,” Zitello says.

The former members of FASSW say they toured Europe twice and had great success, but it was hard work. So for them, this experience is all about having fun.

“Moving from one to another was hard, but I’m glad I’m still playing music,” Huffman says.

Hileman agrees: “It’s two different levels of playing, but it’s still playing guitar, hanging out and having fun.”

Saturday will also be Misko’s last show, as he is moving to Hollywood in the coming weeks. He will be replaced by scene-newcomer Chris Wilson.

As a formal introduction to the band, Wilson will play the guitar solo he wrote in “Beard Mountain,” Misko says.

“I love the music and I’m definitely going to miss the guys and playing the shows,” Misko says. “Chris is definitely a great guitar player. He’ll fill my spot well.”

Since playing their first show in September at Aces Wild Wings, the band credits Viking Jim from CD 93.3-FM The Wolf and Jason Tibolla of Third Arm Promotions for their heightened popularity.

“In the short time we’ve been together they’ve turned us into one of the most talked about things [in local music],” Ilich says.

ThunderRider will be playing at the Clutch pre-party May 7 at South Bridge Billiards.

“A lot of people compare us to Clutch,” Zitello says. “We’re Clutch nuts.”

Other upcoming shows include April 10 at Peabody’s in Cleveland, April 18 at Cedars Lounge and May 16 at University Pizzeria.