Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

What´s the name of your band? Electric Frankenstein

How was the band formed? Back in 1991, me, Sal Canzonieri, my brother Dan, and some friends decided to put together a new band that would have an exciting sound that combined the best of Punk Rock with the best of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal.

Can you tell about your band? Electric Frankenstein plays High Energy Punk Rock & Roll. Our sound was developed to have the urgency of Punk Rock, with the song writing of Hard Rock to bring the two together and create something new out of this merger. Our sound excited a lot of people when we started and it became popular all over the world, especially in Scandinavia.

Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band?

Most of the band are from New Jersey, USA, and some members have been from New York City.

The current line up is:

Steve Miller – Vocals and Lead Guitar

Sal Canzonieri – Rhythm Guitar

Dan Canzonieri – Bass

Mike Lincoln - Drums

What were the ambitions of the band when you started? We just wanted to revitalize the music scene and inspire people to keep rock n roll music alive and well.

Could you explain your music to someone that hasn’t heard you? Well, we write songs that have a strong melody with hooks and riffs that are memorable, while at the same time we have a lot of power in our sound. We combine the raw urgent sound of Punk Rock with the big sound of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal, from the 1970s.

Where was your first gig? Our first show was at Brownies in NYC, in 1991. It was a showcase for a bunch of independent record labels.

Where was the latest gig? We played at The Altar, in Pittsburgh PA. It was a record release party for a new spit 12” EP we did with The Cheats.

Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics?

Everyone in the band all contribute to the song writing. Someone might have an idea to start from and the rest of us bring in complimentary parts that create the full song.

The lyrics are written either by Steve, the singer, or me (Sal).

Who has the best sense of humor in the band? Well, we all have a sense of humor in the band. We normally all laugh and fool around.

What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are?

Well, what’s good with the band is that we write great songs that people who love rock & roll really love. We have over 100 records out on labels all over the world.

What’s bad is that playing live is getting harder and harder to do, there are less places to play since the economy has gotten bad here.

Why did you pick that particular style?/ What are your songs about?

We picked that style because we wanted to keep rock n roll music alive and it represents the kind of music that we all loved the most.

Our songs are about living an inspiring life.

Do you write your own material or mainly covers? We write 98% our own material and we do some cover songs as well for the rest.

Have you made any albums?/ If yes what are they?

We have over 13 albums, which are:

Conquers The World

The Time is Now

Sick Songs

Rock & Roll Monster

How to Make a Monster

Annie’s Grave

Buzz of 1,000 Volts

Listen Up, Baby!

We Will Bury You

Dead & Back

Burn Bright, Burn Fast

Do you have any clips on YouTube?

We have many clip on YouTube. You can find them here: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Electric+Frankenstein

How old are you?/What got you started in music? I am 54 years old. I was inspired by Alice Cooper, Kiss, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, The New York Dolls, and a few years later all the Punk Rock bands, like The Damned, Sex Pistols, Motorhead, Ramones, Dead Boys, Dictators, and more.

At what age did you start playing? I started playing guitar in 1975, when I was 15 years old.

How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? Well, I played in other bands when I was in my 20s, I was in another band called The Thing, we played in NYC and in London England. When this band started, I was in my early 30s.

What year was the band started? Electric Frankenstein started in 1991.

Best/worst gig you've played?

Best show was playing The Fillmore in San Francisco, it was fun to play such a famous place where all the most famous Rock bands played, from Jimi Hendrix to the Sex Pistols.

Worst show? Well, sometimes things don’t work out and there is no one there, ha ha. Usually because the club or bar didn’t do anything to promote the show.

What places will you be playing in in the immediate future? I don’t know right now, we are concentrating on writing new songs for a new album.

Where have you played from then till now?

We have played all over the United States in the major cities, most on the East Coast, West Coast, and in Texas, with shows also in the Mid-West.

We also played all over Europe, Canada, and the UK.

Which band is the best you´ve seen? The best live band I have seen is The Damned, they put on a great show with really great songs.

Is it always the same songs live? No, we change our set every 3 to 6 months.

What has been the best/most promising gig so far? Well, I always loved play the music festivals in front of many thousands of people, that is always fun. But I also loved playing places like CBGB and other places like that when they are totally packed with people who are singing along to the songs and getting really into the music. We toured with The Damned on the east coast here in the USA a few years ago and all the shows were fantastic.

Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? Yes, we did everything from small weekend tours to month long tours of Europe.

How big crowds do you usually play for? Well, that depends on the kind of place we are playing, in the bars it is from 300 people and up. At the big concert halls it is from 800 people and up and at the music festivals it is from 5,000 people to 150,000 people, depending on what time our slot is at the festival. Closer to the headliner, there are a lot more people there.

What are the plans for the rest of the year? To record a new album and promote it, with some live shows at select places, but mostly to promote through the internet.

Where do you usually play? We play usually NYC, California, Texas, Canada, and sometimes France, Spain, Italy, and UK.

How do you get psyched up for a gig? Ha, well, we don’t have to get psyched up, we are always happy to play and enjoy what we are doing.

What
are your goals with your music? To keep inspiring people and to write great rock n roll songs that people really love and remember for many years. We have been played almost 25 years with Electric Frankenstein and so we have many long term fans that still love our songs.

When did you decide to go all in for the music? Since we were teenagers.

Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? From older bands, of course. From Rock music from the 1950s to the 1980s.

What are your sources of inspiration? 1950s Rockabilly, 1960s Garage Rock, 1970s Hard Rock and Punk Rock, some classic Heavy Metal, and from progressive rock as well, 

What's the first step when making a new song? Make sure that the song is well written and memorable for people, that it makes them feel good.

How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? I think it loses something and makes people take music for granted. It makes people lose respect for art and music.

What would be your dreams for the band?  

Hmm, we did a lot of the things we dreamed of. I would like to have one of our songs on a big movie soundtrack and a song on a popular TV commercial, that would be fun to hear our song everywhere.

We would love to play in Japan and Australia as well.

Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to?

I listen to every kind of music, from Rock to Jazz to Classical music.

I love old Blues and Funk music. I listen to a lot of 1970s Rock and Punk Rock mostly.

What do you hold most dear? Hmm, concerning the band? That people love our songs and respect our music.

What would be your greatest fears for the future? That people don’t want to hear live music anymore and everything has to be done only on the internet.

When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? Hmm, the equipment breaking down or breaking a guitar string and not being able to change the string in time.

What songs and what years were they released?  All that information in on our website: www.electricfrankenstein.com and there people can go to the discography section to find all that information.

Have you been part of any other projects?

Yes, I have played in The Thing in the 1980s, recently I have played in The Kung Fu Killers, which is old school 1980s style hardcore punk, and in Maggott SS, which is heavy metal / death metal.

I have also played on other people’s records, such at Atlantic Drone.

What do you work with outside of the band and the music? I wrote a bunch of books. I also do art work and put on art gallery shows. Mostly I teach Qigong and Meditation, and I also teach art and sculpting to children.

What would you do if there was no music? I would be an artist, teacher, martial artists, all the stuff that I already do.

How important are your fans? Very important, I consider our fans to be people like me that love great Rock Music and when to feel exciting and inspired from the music and the songs that they love.

What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? Ha, well, when girls show their breasts to us while we are playing, that’s always an interesting event.

How often do you rehearse? Once a week, sometimes once a month, depending on the weather and how busy we are.

Where do you rehearse? In Union City, New Jersey at MamMax Studios.

What do you feel is the best live band you've seen? The Damned were always good for many reasons that are obvious.

What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing? The art of playing music is a reward in itself.

Do you have any webpages? Yes, besides a Facebook page, we have our website: www.electricrfrankenstein.com

Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? Write songs that are as good as the bands that inspired you and you will always be inspiring to other people.

Describe your show, visually and musically It is basically a stripped down Punk Rock n Roll show, we just get into playing the songs loud and well so that the audience has fun and gets psyched up to hear the songs.

How do you view the music industry of today? I don’t think that there is much of a music industry today, bands have to reinvent how to get their music known and present it to large numbers of people who will appreciate their songs.

What are the biggest obstacles for a band? Building up a fan base and getting people to come out and see them.

What is best/worst with playing the clubs?

The worst is when clubs don’t promote their shows or don’t really care about the music that is played there.

The best is when a lot of people come and they are packed in and really get into the music and you can get really close to the fans from the stage and interact with them.

How would you describe your sound in one sentence? Exciting, powerful, and melodic Real Rock & Roll

What was one of the most quarrelsome times for you in the band? Well, when we had people in the band that were hard to get along with because they had unrealistic expectations.

Whats your Pre-show ritual? No, I am usually at our merch table talking to our fans and selling our shirts and records.

Do you have anythingtoadd? Electric Frankenstein is the first and only Rock Band to have art books published that feature all our record covers and concert posters. In fact, our first art book is featured in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which is a great accomplishment.