We had the distinct pleasure of getting on touch with Fallen Angel, a powerful force in music and well known for entertaining their fans in their one of a kind style. On the road and promoting their material getting together was interesting, but we did it, and with a busy schedule we were able to get together with Guitarist John Cruppe who answered our questions and gave some insight into what Fallen Angel is all about.
Most of us have been friends for years playing the circuit in various bands in Upstate NY. The band was originally formed in 1984 and after a few line up changes we broke up in 1989 only to be reformed roughly four years ago when we added Steve Seniuk as our lead singer. The chemistry in this band is incredible and we strive to put out the best product we possibly can as an independent artist.
Rehearsals and recording are two completely different animals for us. Both areas demand hard work and focus, but when rehearsing we attempt to work out our live performances as best we can with order of songs, length of our set, where Frankie’s drum solo should go, and a number of other things. In the studio it’s very different, as we are focused on creating new music and writing, instead of working out a finished song live. Ideas are bounced back and forth and the creativity juices are flowing in the studio where as in rehearsals we are focusing on performing finished songs in front of a live audience.
Our band is unique and the love that each member has for creating music shows in their personalities and performances. I came up with the conceptual idea for the Fallen Angel saga by combining works of music with works of fiction as well as incredible artwork supplied from a multitude of artists from around the world.
The response to “Crawling Out of Hell,” which is the title of our first cd and novel, has been fantastic and well received from all corners of the world. A few years ago I approached former members of the band with the idea and recruited Steve and Joe to round out our current line up, and everyone was very enthused about creating something that has not been done before in the world of music, and that is basing a trilogy of cd releases on a trilogy of novels written by a member of the band. We all love what we are doing and love creating a product the fans enjoy where they can dig a bit deeper to get a lot more out of it than a normal cd release. They creativity is my favorite part of making music, so in all honesty those creative desires are always there and is what drives us to keep making music and putting out the best product we can including the music, the novel it’s based on and the artwork that goes along with it.
We have attempted to combine the best parts of all genres of heavy metal, past and present, to create our sound. We are primarily considered somewhere between Thrash Metal and Power Metal, but we also have elements of Progressive Metal and influences from the NWOBHM [new wave of British heavy metal] not to mention classic metal as well. If you ask me, there are too many sub-genres trying to pigeon hole a band into a certain concrete style, but we love various elements of all different styles of music, not just heavy metal.
This band’s influences range from Black Sabbath to Pink Floyd, from Slayer to Queensryche, from Judas Priest to Van Halen, from Blind Guardian to King Crimson and others, that’s what helps to give us such a unique sound. We aren’t trying to sound like any band in particular. We are truly taking our wide range of influences and attempting to create our unique sound as Fallen Angel, and we hope fans of all ages can see that and enjoy what we are bringing to the table.
We would like to be remembered as the band that gave that extra something special to the fans, and created something within the world of music that has never been done before. There is so much more involved with a Fallen Angel release than the average cd release, and we hope that our fans and peers can appreciate that and remember that we did it first. In this day and age where most everything has been done before in one way or another, it’s hard to be first at doing anything, but we’ve achieved that goal by combing our music and basing it on a work of fiction that is ultimately destined to be a trilogy to tell our complete tale.
If I had a choice of just one band to open for, I would say it would have to be Iron Maiden or Metallica. As far as a band opening for us … I don’t know. I don’t want to insult another band by saying they should open for us because I think we’re a better band, but as far as a successful band in this time period goes that I would like to see us tour with, I would say someone like Avenged Sevenfold or maybe Children of Bodom. I think our style would do well in any of those combinations, and fans of those bands would enjoy what we’re doing.
Our fans and friends can now play most of our first cd on the game “Rock Band” with future releases coming out soon on their platform. So fans can have fun with that. We encourage everyone out there to visit the world of Fallen Angel in all of its elements. We love to hear feedback from the fans and we hope to be playing for as many of them as we possibly can in the near future. In the meantime … Keep the Faith True Believers and Keep Kicking Ass!
If you want to connect with Fallen Angel or hear their tracks, follow the links.
Facebook link - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fallen-Angel/104485219594948?ref=sgm
MySpace link - http://www.myspace.com/bandsitefallenangel
Website link – www.fallenangelofficialwebsite.com
Facebook Street Team page link - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001807580689
Reverbnation link - http://www.reverbnation.com/#!/fallenangelband
All hard copies of their albums can be found at their website, Amazon, and a multitude of stores and music providers all around the world, and downloads can be obtained from all of our social sites as well as itunes, cdbaby, digstation, and dozens of other places on the web.
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