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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
J. RAD ROCKS ON WITH DEBUT FULL-LENGTH, ‘SONS OF PRIAPUS,’ AND UPCOMING LIVE DATES
Undoubtedly, one of the hottest and fastest rising rock acts in the New York area is J. Rad. Comprised of members Gino (vocals), J. Rad (guitar/vocals), Zutto (bass), and DieZeL (drums), the group quickly created a local buzz with their unforgettable live show, and have recently fulfilled their early promise with the release of their debut full-length, ‘Sons of Priapus.’ “The style is pretty unique,” explains J. Rad. “We’re kind of a chameleon, in that we have songs that are pretty ‘radio friendly,’ and ones that are brutal, ‘punch-you-in-the-face.’ It’s diverse, which is a good thing and a bad thing – it makes it a little hard to fit into certain places. But we can kind of mold into whatever the situation is.”
From front-to-back, the album (which is available for purchase through iTunes and Amazon.com) is an impressive molding of hard rock styles – classic rock, heavy metal, mainstream rock that would sound perfect on the radio are all on display. “We all contribute,” says Zutto. “J. Rad will basically come up with a riff, I work alongside DieZeL – we try to keep the rhythm section tight. And Gino is pretty much the main lyricist. ‘Sunstroke’ would have to be on the top of the list there – it’s got a hook to it, and a heavier side to it. You’d probably want to listen to it again after you heard it the first time. Pretty much the whole album – there’s not a bad song on the whole album.” “I would say ‘Crazy About You’ is definitely a favorite,” adds J. Rad, “It’s one of the more commercial/radio friendly songs. ‘Sunstroke’ is the total opposite extreme – it’s extremely heavy, but it’s also really catchy. Also ‘Earth Angel’ – we basically took the song from the ‘50s, and made it heavy.”
And as evidenced by recent shows, the new tracks sound absolutely flawless in a live setting. But according to Gino, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. “Mainly we try to go out as a real, raw power unit. One of the main things is giving the audience exactly what they get on the record. That’s really one of our utmost important things. Too many times you go out and see a band, and you’ll be like, ‘Wow, they were phenomenal, but they were running a massive amount of tracks.’ We got out there, and we want to give the audience a curveball with doing real radio friendly tunes, and then something like ‘Earth Angel,’ and then go out there like a powerhouse rock n’ roll band.”
As a result, J. Rad has wowed many standing room only audiences, while opening for other acts and building a large and loyal audience. “We’ve played with Bret Michaels a few times, and Poison, as well as Mountain, Living Colour, Twisted Sister we’ve played with a lot of times – we’re really close with them, and we’ve done blues/guitar-oriented stuff, like Johnny Winter and Pat Travers. It’s a pretty long list. We love playing with Twisted, because we’re pretty big fans and we have a great time playing with them. We really enjoyed Living Colour – they’re the nicest guys.”
With live dates being firmed up to support ‘Sons of Priapus,’ the future looks bright for J. Rad. But the goal is a simple one, according to DieZeL. “We all just want to make a living out of it. We want to be able to go on the road, play for as many people as we can, and make music. We hope to make music our lives – and play it every day.”
UPCOMING LIVE DATES:
May 19th, B.B. King’s – Manhattan
July 12th, The Great Southbay Music Festival
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT:
www.myspace.com/jradlive
GUITARSITE interviews J. Rad Guitarist – by Greg Prato VIEW
MHB Raido interview with J. Rad – The “Sons of Priapus” album by J. Rad is a phenomenal collaboration of Classic, Metal & Alternative all rolled in to one amazing album that will take the listener to all heights of music. Artistically it places in my Top 10 at MHB Radio. J. Rad is the next generation of Today’s Music.
- Matty Grant – host of the MHB Saturday Spotlight Hear Interview