11-26-00 This week marks a special event
for Neurotica. The band will be playing their very first show in
the L.A area! While Neurotica invades L.A. we decided to throw antiMUSIC
open to the rockers from Florida to celebrate this momentous occasion.
Therefor this officially kicks off Neurotica Week here at antiMUSIC!
Our relationship with this band actually
predates antiMUSIC. Our sister site Rocknworld.com was first exposed to
their incredible sounds when they released their debut album, Seed in 1998.
Lead vocalist Kelly Shaefer was kind enough to send our managing editor
a copy of the CD and this band has been a favorite of ours ever since.
In 1999 they released their sophomore album
Living in Dog Years, which simply blew us away. So much so that in our
year end special at rocknworld.com, Living in Dog Years was named the best
album of 1999!
This Wednesday the band will make their
L.A. area debut. We here at antiMUSIC are excited because no one here has
ever seen these explosive hard rockers live! Add to the mix the fact that
the band will be showcasing for several record labels at this show, which
is sure to lead to a major bidding war!
So we invite all of our Los Angeles Area
readers and friends to join us at the Viper Room in Hollywood - Wed Nov.
29th at 10:00 to see Neurotica in their Hollywood debut! We will be on
hand, watching the show plus giving away t-shirts and other cool stuff!
Don't miss it, because this may be your last opportunity to see this band
before they launch into super-stardom.
Now kick back and read a quick history
of the band, hear some words from lead vocalist Kelly Shaefer, and then
check out some cool sounds.
We'll see you at the show!
antiGUY
Q
& A with Kelly Shaefer
aM: What has the band been up to lately?
Kelly: Oh man we have been very busy
writing and playing out a lot, gearing up for the big debut LA show and
for the new York show in Dec. things are really looking good these days!
aM: How far along are you on the
new album?
Kelly: Well we actually have about 23
skeletons of songs and we have just demoed 4 of them, and man its thick,
we have been so busy shopping this to majors that we have not had the time
to get in the studio to get some more finished, but we are stoked about
the 4 we have done.
aM: What can the fans expect from
the new songs? Any new approach in the songs or
song writing?
Kelly: Well its the same formula, just
more defined, we are working again with producer "Doug Kaye" and we have
really gelled a lot this time around, cause there is less resistance from
us hahahah, its very hard to have a producer, but its very needed, we tend
to get very "jammy" so it helps to have someone trim stuff up for us, our
current fav has got to be this tune called "ALL MY FRIENDS CRUSH YOU" its
over the top cool, I cant wait to get it out, also another tune called
"CAN YOU FEEL THIS” which has been in our live show for some time now,
and another called "RED ROOM" we could not be more happy with the
results so far, its very heavy, but very catchy!!
aM: You’re coming to LA for the first
time to showcase for some labels. If you nail the deal, are you going
to re-release any of the tracks from Seed or LIDY on the major label debut?
Kelly: Well that’s what we hope, we
feel like to waste the dog years record and the tunes on there would be
a shame, so we hope that they will pick all the good tunes from each record
and then throw in some new stuff with it to make a virtually unstoppable
major label debut, that would the perfect scenario for us we think!
aM: I notice the band opening up
for you guys at the Viper Room is a Christian band.
Kelly: That should be wild, once those
people get a load of Neurotica! yeah I did not even know that until you
told me about it, actually they are having there own little showcase there
for some Christian labels as well, we each will only play maybe 6 or seven
tunes, but yeah that should kind of odd, I wish them the best of luck,
they better eat there wheaties though cause we are coming out west with
a vengeance hahahah!
aM: Have you guys done anything lately
with Brian Johnson from AC/DC? Any chance of you guys opening for them
when they return to North America next year?
Kelly: Brian has been super busy
touring as of late, he stopped over right after the first u.s. leg of the
tour to see what was going on, he is very excited for us right now, we
have been building this ship for some time and we owe a lot to him, you
and many others that have kept us afloat thus far. I am not sure if we
will be able to make it on this upcoming leg of the tour, but anything
is possible, rest assured there will be at some point a date we will do
together I hope!
aM: I heard rumors of an Atheist
Reunion. Is this true?
Kelly: Well, I have chatted with the
atheist boys and they are into it, it will take some time to get it done,
but yes I think it will happen, it takes an enormous amount of time to
write songs that complicated, so I will have to try to fit it in with all
that is going on with neurotica at the moment. We have begun jamming together
though, and it went really really well!
A
Brief History of Neurotica
as told by antiGUY
In 1994 Neurotica was born out of the ashes
of the progressive death metal band Atheist. Vocalist Kelly Shaefer formed
the seeds of Neurotica after the tragic death of Atheist Bassist Roger
Patterson on February 12th 1991. Atheist attempted to carry on after the
tragedy but without their friend and bandmate, the band decided to call
it quits in 1992.
Two years later Kelly joined forces with
guitarist Shawn Bowen, drummer Jason West and bassist Migwell Przybyl and
Neurotica was born. The band paid their dues for the next few years, developing
a distinctive sound and a loyal local following in Florida.
In 1998 Brian Johnson of AC/DC discovered
the band. The band's original bio told the following story: Playing
a routine gig in an itty- bitty punk orientated sandwhich shop called the
Monterey Deli, in Sarasota Florida, Neurotica suddenly found themselves
in the situation most bands dream of: on stage with a rock icon in the
audience. And they rose to the occasion”. We had a really good set that
night says lead singer Kelly Shaefer. “Brian” bought us a round of beers
and split”. But Johnson’s admiration did not end there. The following
week the band received a call from NMG Entertainment President Doug Kaye,
expressing his interest in signing the band, and relayed Johnson’s interest
in producing. “It was like we won the lottery,” says Shaefer.
The Brian Johnson produced Seed
was released later that year earning the band critical praise and a larger
audience. Unfortunately due to snafu’s with the CD’s distribution, Seed
never received the widespread attention it deserved.
In 1999 Neurotica returned with their explosive
sophomore effort, Living in Dog Years. Doug Kaye produced this time
around and the album justified Neurotica’s critical acclaim and earned
them the 1999 album of the year from Rocknworld.com.
In 2000 the band embarked on a North America
tour taking their legendary live shows to audiences across the United States.
As the band returns to the studio to record new material, they are about
to take things to the next level as they showcase their music to several
major and large Indy labels.
The music speaks for itself; Neurotica
is one of the best hard rocking bands on the scene today. It’s just a matter
of time before they become a worldwide success! Get ready for the ride
of your life and Neurotica takes on the world and spreads their infectious
sounds to the masses.
metallica7
right on! im trying to get them out here (Arizona) as soon as possible. issues man always issues !
antiGUY
I won't comment on the hookers =) We offered them our services at a good price but they didn't want to pay us! I will tell you what, Neurotica was INCREDIBLE! If you ever get the chance to see them live, DO IT! I will give a full report soon, I still have to recover and then I'll get right on it. This is one of the best bands to come out in the past 10 years. I honestly believe they are the next super star group. And it will be nice to have a kick ass band like this out their pushing the Limp Bizkit's and Backstreet Boys off the charts. Fred Durst would be wise to listen to Kelly, he will learn that really singing make all the difference in the world!
metallica7
Goth was it Brittney and Christina out looking for more fans ?
GOTH BROOKS
As me and antiGUY were driving on Sunset Blvd towards the freeway, a couple of hookers rolled up alongside of us in their car and solicited us from their car. It was both of ours first drive by solicitation, so figuring these hookers were out looking for beer money, you know what I said? I said..."If we both pitched in $5, would $10 be enough."
GOTH BROOKS
NEUROTICA has just dealt L.A. the deadliest blow of the new millenium. NEUROTICA is a motherfukkin' Killing Machine!!!
"a"
nEUrOTiCa is definately a very special band. They are awesome as musicians and just a wonderful as friends. To date I've seen them 15 1/2 times and I've enjoyed every single show. I view them as some of the best friends I have and I wish nothing but the best for them.
TommyTBone
I've had several chances to see these guys live earlier this year. They came to chicago in early march and then a couple of days later I drove to Wisconsin to see them again. I have to say this is the most underrated band to date. They have a completely unique, ass-kicking sound that is sure to rock anyone who has the privilege of seeing this band live. The enormous amount of energy created on stage just grabs anyone near the sound of the PA and pulls them in. Kelly's vocal range will amaze the best singers and I hope that there is at least one smart record exec at the viper room tonite to snatch up this incredible talent.
TommyTBone
I've had several chances to see these guys live earlier this year. They came to chicago in early march and then a couple of days later I drove to Wisconsin to see them again. I have to say this is the most underrated band to date. They have a completely unique, ass-kicking sound that is sure to rock anyone who has the privilege of seeing this band live. The enormous amount of energy created on stage just grabs anyone near the sound of the PA and pulls them in. Kelly's vocal range will amaze the best singers and I hope that there is at least one smart record exec at the viper room tonite to snatch up this incredible talent.
Ross
Hell yes! I just heard about this from a message on the message board from antiguy. I went to best buy today and the CD was there! It fvcking rocks balls! I'm so jeolous of you fvckers in LA who get to see them but its just a matter of time before we all will get to see them like toxic said. and special kittie you are right! you forgot that this shyt will give your grannie a stroke!
Toxic
Damn it! Why don't they come to Minnisota? I love this band I think they are the most underated band in the world. I hope they get that record deal because I'd like to see more coverage on them besides what I find here at antimusic. I did discover them here when they were artist of the month or some sh it a while ago and I just wish they would get the recognition they deserve and have that major label money behind them so they can tour the north east! keep kickin ass and thanks to this site for keeping neurotica in the spot light.
Brenda Menist
nEUrOTiCa RULZ!!! We Love them here In Fort Lauderdale!! Wish I could see them in LA!!!
Special Kitty
nEUrOTiCa rockz! LA will get a taste of something they will want seconds of! This will defenately be a show that you will love if you havent seen them before. ANY FANS FROM FL THAT GO WILL DEFENATELY SHOW YOU LA FOLKS HOW WE ROCK! I WISH I COULD GO! nEUrOTiCA rockz! They are so loud they will make your mother scream and your father jealous! ( yes its a proven fact!)
Nancy
Neurotica ROCKS!!!! You have to see them live, their going far!
EvoldicA
Watch out LA, they put on a KILLER show. :) I WISH I could be there to enjoy the aweesome show :)
Ozzy
Bloody brilliant! I could bite heads off bats with these guys!
Katja
nEUrOTiCa is a kick ass band that will make it "big" in the next few years. i've had the pleasure of seeing them a few times live, and I've never been disappointed. They are a bunch of great guys with a cool sound!
Freddie
I saw them a couple years ago in Tampa and they rocked the house. I think they had a different guitarist at the time but I could be wrong. If you get the chance to see this band live you should. I didn't even know they did a second cd I love seed and must have played the damn thing a thousand times. This is cool I was just checkin the news headlines at ubl and found out these guys have a new cd out, you made my night.
Max
shlt man I wish I lived in l.a. you better us a full report antiguy
lactose
that mp3 kicked ass!