Don't be fooled - Stereomud is not your big brother's heavy band! It's not yesterday but today and tomorrow. There are no carbon copies, cookie cutters, or assembly lines here. Stereomud is fresh and organic, moving heavy music forward like a wheel in which you either keep up with the revolution or fall off and eat shit.
Perfect Self, the group's seminal thirteen-song debut, exemplifies the type of inspired edge necessarily to elevate heavy rock from its stagnant doldrums. Recorded in Los Angeles, Seattle, Atlanta and New York by producers Don Gilmore (Lit, Linkin Park, Eve 6), Rick Parashar (Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Blind Melon), and Howie Beno (Ministry, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sister Soleil) respectively and mixed by Jay Baumgardner (Papa Roach, Godsmack, Orgy), the slam-banging songs on Perfect Self range from powerful, pissed-off anthems to addictively melodic and commercially-viable rock tunes that blend together like a beer and Vicodin high.
Album tracks like "Don't Be Afraid," "Lost Your Faith," and "Leave" seesaw between fits of rage and smooth vocals that constantly build toward huge adrenaline blasts. Likewise, songs such as "Steppin' Away" and "Pain" match the heaviness with undeniable melodic hooks that are catchy without being trite or gimmicky. All the tracks, of course, add fuel to the fire with relevant lyrics about fighting back against social oppression and opposition from the judgmental mainstream. The lyrics, co-written by vocalist Eric Rogers and bassist Corey Lowery (whose brother Clint Lowery of Sevendust collaborated on the song "Perfect Self"), speak powerfully to a listener's social anxieties in a way that poetically verbalizes inner-demons while throwing a stiff uppercut toward uptight elitists.
"Heaviness is not just about smacking your guitar around, yelling, and turning up the distortion," says guitarist John Fattoruso. "Sometimes heavy can all be in the mood."
The fact that Stereomud can deliver the next stage of heavy rock evolution comes not as an accident or without great sacrifice. The inspiration for Stereomud came as Corey played with Stuck Mojo and Dan Richardson and Joey Z. played with Life of Agony. Both groups claimed respectable sales numbers, owned the European music mags, and enjoyed gigantic road jaunts with the likes of Ozzy, Pantera, Tool, Sevendust, and Deftones.
However, both bands were stuck at plateaus given their personnel and stylistic limitations. Judgment day was rushing toward the three musicians, and the difference between immediate comfort and long-term potential hung in the balance. Lesser artists would have chosen the former.
Later adding John Fattoruso on guitar, the inspired new alliance knew the key to their success would be finding nothing less than the perfect vocalist. Dan, who was signed to Relativity Records at age fifteen with the Crumbsuckers and who later co-founded Pro-Pain, recalls, "The original vision was to retain the heaviness but with an extremely talented singer who can use his vocals like an instrument. That means doing more than just yelling." The search began, and Corey soon found the perfect pipes nearly a thousand miles away in Atlanta.
Erik Rogers' reputation as a vocalist was renown throughout Georgia, and he had abundant pent-up frustration as a heavy rock vocalist in a family of respected medical professionals. Erik recalls, "I was definitely the black sheep of the family." Needless to say, Erik was the perfect fit.
Stereomud, who splits its time between New York City and Atlanta, spent nearly a year working on music so that when they took their first bow, the songs would be undeniable. As expected, Stereomud were immediately embraced by the heavy music populace, and the group were soon asked to perform on the live music television show farmclub.com.
Record label interest was near automatic, and Stereomud soon became the first ever rock signing to the historic hip-hop label Loud Records.
"More than anything," says John, "we want Stereomud to make a mark on the music community. Even when the band is all said and done, I want a kid to walk into a record store ten years later, see a Stereomud album in the shelves, and know that we were here and made a difference."
