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Friday, March 7, 2014

FROM HELL'S ALIENS TO MOLDBREAKER TO LODY KONG...











            
From an early age, Zyon and Igor began forming bands. One group, Hell's Aliens was born and even went so far as to have shirts made.  The boys were learning their instruments.  Zyon was attracted to drums and making beats immediately, while Igor had to find his nitch.  He was fluent playing bass, guitar, and a bit in the future, drums also.  He had a vast vocabulary and extremely developed memory, and began throwing lyrics down on paper.  His drumming skills were amazing.  Not super powerful shoulder maestro-ing like Zyon, but precise drumbeats, impeccable timing, comparable to using a click track...but not using one.  We realized this on the CC tour when he asked if he could play Troops of Doom, at a very young age.










Hell's Aliens

Hell's Aliens

            2008 or 2009, Max and I went to the desert house for the weekend and the boys asked if they could stay at the Phoenix home.  We normally didn't do this but decided to give them our trust and headed out.  When we returned 2 days later, we walked in to a big surprise!  The living room had been transformed into a jam pad and the boys had a friend joining them on guitar!  And you know what, my Students???  They were good!  I was totally blown away by the riffs they were spewing out!










           
            Time went by and the boys could not find a bass player.  One day, their friend, Shea aka SHANKS Fahey was chilling at the house and the boys looked at him and said, "F#@$ it!! You are playing bass!"  Max promptly took Shanks in the back room and gave him a quick 10 minute lesson and he came out a bass player!!  He learned a couple riffs that day, good enough to grab him a spot on the lineup!










           
            Papos, the guitarist, knew a friend who could sing and we brought him over for a tryout. This kid could scream, sing, jump in the air, and was damn good looking!  Perfect for the vocalist!!










           
            went to Guitar Center one day and bought a ton of soundproofing and got busy making one of the bedrooms in to a jam room.  It was tiny but served the purpose well.










           
            The band wrote enough music to play a 20 minute set, so I snooped around town and got them on a few local gigs.  I learned quickly about paying to play as I was handed large amounts of tickets to sell, for each gig.  I have loads of friends so the ticket selling wasn't so bad actually.  The frightening thing was the shows!!










Moldbreaker 
Moldbreaker

Moldbreaker

Moldbreaker
            
Every show was total insanity. Even Max was scared to see what would happen whenever the boys took the stage.  It took about 2 shows and I had to replace all the gear!  Amps blown, cymbals shattered, guitar necks broken and mics smashed!!  Not to mention the kids moshing up front getting wound up!










Moldbreaker (Photo by: Glen LaFerman)
            After Moldbreaker was kicked out of every club in Phoenix, I decided to take them outside their perimeter and added them on 4 shows of the Soulfly US tour.  I figured they could be dug by the Cali crowd, who is so open-minded and adventurous!  I enlisted my old friend Mike aka Fatty McArdle to drive my band of misfits, and to Cali they went!












Moldbreaker flier

       By the time they reached Phoenix, they were crumbling apart.  It was difficult to organize     
           Moldbreaker because they were all their own separate identity.  They weren't a unit.  There was great promise, I knew, so I booked one last show and the band split up.










           
            I couldn't stop the ball from rolling.  Zyon, Igor and Shanks kept practicing. Igor decided he would sing and avoid the trouble of finding another member.  They enlisted the guitar skills of childhood bro, John Bauer, and soon Lody Kong was born!  The name is taken from a friend with turrets named Cody Long...they just switched his initials.  Pretty ingenious and original, just like the name Moldbreaker!










T-shirt back

Tour poster
            
On the 15th anniversary of Soufly's origin, I made a tour called Maximum Cavalera Tour and put the boy's bands on with Soulfly.  Soulfly, Incite and Lody Kong was the golden ticket!! The tour was well received and did 4 US/Canadian runs and 12weeks in Europe.  There is NO better way to develop a band besides getting them on the road!  This is where you learn the ropes, fine tune your songs, learn how to work the crowd...it's a zillion times better than writing in the confines of a jam pad and playing local gigs that get you nowhere.











John

Igor

John, and Igor

Zyon, and Shanks
 

           Lody soon received attention from the European media who sought the unusual, no-category, no-genre music coming from the 16 year old rebels.  Releasing the acclaimed Monkeys Always Look video sealed their creativity and got them an offer for a demo deal.  Lody Kong recorded an EP with Roy Mayorga, to follow the video.











Zyon
             With Zyon drumming for Soulfly on the Savages release and the world tour, it has been a juggle for him to balance the music.  In between tours, the band went in the studio with Phoenix producer, John Gray (Soulfly's Dark Ages, Cavalera Conspiracy), and recorded a new single, Sum Pulp, which will come out with a second video in the Spring of 2014.  This track will be released via MinusHead/Megaforce, and will also feature the track, Topaz.










LK

LK in Biarritz, France
            Famous cartoonist, Sergio Zuniga, took the Kong under his wing and designed an artwork vision for them that is always on the brink of the horizon, never predictable!







Don't forget....FEED THE KONG!!!






Lody Kong



Class dismissed...
Lody Kong (Photo credit:Glen LaFerman)