'What do Hard Rock Musicians Do When
They Grow Up?'
by
Christopher
Buttner
Long Island, New York: Danger Danger has
pumped out a total of five albums since their successful self-titled
Sony/Epic debut in 1989, which featured radio and MTV favorites,
"Naughty Naughty" and "Bang Bang." In March 2000, the
group released their fifth full-length album, 'The Return of the Great
Gildersleeves' on their own record label, Low Dice Records. Since their
third full-length album release, 'Dawn', release in 1995, founding members
and primary songwriters drummer Steve West and bassist/guitarist Bruno
Ravel, along with lead singer Paul Laine, have tracked their records at
Bruno's home studio, in West Hempstead, Long Island, located about 20 to
30 minutes east of New York City. What's new in the studio? "My brand
spanking new Mackie Digital 8 Bus," states Bruno. "It's the new
love of my life and the only love in my life I don't want to throw out by
midnight," he says with a special sparkle in his eyes and a caress of
the Mackie relief logo on the lower left of the console. This writer
wonders if that's actual purring he hears emanating from Bruno as the man
gazes lovingly glassy-eyed at the Fat Channel on the SVGA, as a new track
emanates through the equally new Mackie HR824s near-field monitors.
Steve, realizing Bruno has suddenly 'zoned
out' and is completely incommunicado due to an emotional overload, states,
"Our immediate reaction when we first got the D8B and HR824s up and
running was stunned disbelief as to how much better everything sounded.
The improvement was so dramatic, you could practically see it... it was
almost visual."
Danger Danger continues to enjoy consistent
record sales from a dedicated fan base in America, Japan and Europe. Steve
says, "We market our entire catalog of records, as well as band
merchandise, through Low Dice and our web site at www.dangerdanger.com.
Domestic distribution is handled by Nile Rodger's (another Mackie owner)
company Sumthing Distribution (http://www.sumthing.com). Overseas we
license our records through JVC Records in Japan and MTM Music in
Europe."
Over the past 11 years, Danger Danger has
embarked on successful world tours with Extreme, Warrant, Alice Cooper,
KISS and other major acts. Steve comments, "We know the guys from
KISS very well. In fact, Paul Stanley once said to me, 'You have my
telephone number, right?' I said, no, and Paul responded, 'Good'."
Outside of being successful recording
artists in their own right with Danger Danger, Steve and Bruno are
seasoned songwriters, having previously collaborated with Alice Cooper, Y
& T, Joe Lynn Turner (former lead vocalist of Rainbow), as well as
others. The producers of MTV's hit program, 'Daria' are also big Danger
Danger fans, having - so far - incorporated eight Danger Danger songs in
various episodes. Danger Danger's high-energy songs have also been heard
in the ESPN's Race For The Cup special, episodes of Wide World of Sports,
as well as the Australian Open. In order to keep up with their multitude
of successful, on-going sports-related Rock n' Roll projects and other
songwriting ventures, Bruno and Steve recently formed their own production
company, B.O.M.B Faktory.
The B.O.M.B Faktory's first big project is
putting Steve and Bruno's music through the sound systems of major
stadiums all over the country. No, they are not embarking on another major
stadium tour with KISS! They're writing and recording the theme songs for
a slew of Major League Baseball teams. The New York Yankees, The New York
Mets, The Boston Red Sox, The Baltimore Orioles, as well as the All-Star
Game are the B.O.M.B Faktory's first five 'clients'! Steve and Bruno are
looking forward to having additional major league baseball teams possibly
commission them to write and record their theme songs, as well. The
high-energy theme songs are played on major AM and FM radio stations in
each team's home city, as well as over the team's stadium sound system
during games. Plans are in the works to produce CD singles of each theme
song which will be sold at ballpark concession stands as well as sporting
goods and sports memorabilia stores. The songs will also appear on
compilation CDs that are produced specifically for each team. The
compilation CDs include other 'morale boosting' sports-oriented songs the
teams have adopted and play at the stadium during games. On July 21st,
2000, 50,000 (that's right, FIFTY THOUSAND), CD singles of Steve and
Bruno's very first production, "The Yankee Mambo," will be given
away to every fan in attendance at Yankee Stadium in a Snapple soft drink
sponsored event.
Steve comments, "The summer of 2000 is
a busy one... so much so that I haven't really gotten that much sun at
that beach this year. But, as the writing and recording process continues,
I'm always working on my pasty white New York 'studio tan' one gets from
all the LEDs on the equipment."
With all the new work, the new Mackie D8B
is going to speed up the tracking and mastering process dramatically.
Bruno notes, "We could be producing as many as six to ten, or more,
team songs this summer. If we didn't have the power and recall of the D8B,
we'd still be working on team songs well after the close the of the World
Series." Bruno continues, "The D8B is a monster. I'm still
pinching myself that this thing is in my studio. It's really the tool that
Steve and I needed to invest in so we can expand our burgeoning B.O.M.B
Faktory songwriting, publishing and production business."
And what else are they working on outside
of all the baseball team song projects? B.O.M.B Faktory recently completed
work with DJ Hurricane for his first solo album. For those of you who have
never heard of The Beasty Boys, DJ Hurricane is The Boys' monster
scratcher on the turn tables, on record and on-stage. The track B.O.M.B
Faktory worked on also includes vocals by R & B heavyweight Faith
Evans and rap super group, the Lost Boyz. Steve and Bruno are also writing
and producing songs for the former members from the hit ABC TV series,
'The Making of the Band.' Steve states, "All tracking for this
yet-to-be-named group and major label debut album is being done on the
D8B."
Bruno states, "With the D8B's recall
ability, in seconds I can pull up mixes for any one of 12 to 18 on-going
projects. When I look back at the old days... last week for instance, and
how we used to record and mix, I'm surprised I just didn't stick my finger
in an electrical socket and end it all when things became overwhelming...
on many occasions. Along with the accuracy of the HR824 monitors, our
projects are quickly completed here in our studio, without the need to
incur additional expenses by going to outside mastering studios."
Let's review. There are the Danger Danger
albums, B.O.M.B Faktory development, production and songwriting projects,
major league baseball team theme songs, MTV programs, as well as national
and international sporting events... One wonders: What else can this
ultra-entrepreneurial songwriting duo fit into their busy schedules...
aside from a few hours sleep every other day? Bruno would not go into
detail regarding other 'high-profile' projects by slyly changing the
subject to how great the pizza is in his neighborhood. He obviously knows
about this author's propensity to drop whatever he's doing for a New York
slice with pepperoni.
So, ten minutes later at their favorite
pizzeria, Rosa's in Valley Stream, (Hey Joey! A large Sicilian pie with
sausage and pepperoni, three large diet Cokes, pronto!), the subject
changes to the World Series. When asked, what will be their reaction if
one or more of their songs... uh, teams... makes it to the World Series ?
Steve states, "Well, it's looking pretty good for the Yankees, the
Red Sox or the Mets... but regardless of what team gets to the big game,
we're going to be rooting for the guy who hits the play button on our
song!"
For additional information about Danger
Danger, visit http://www.dangerdanger.com
