Search - Thirty Round Clip :: ...on Target

The west LA based group officially formed in the late fall of 2001 and consists of four musicians who have been playing music for over 20 years in various settings throughout the world. The music can be described as heavy groove, hard rock/metal filled with catchy choruses, intricate, slamming drumbeats and pulse pounding riffs that have captivated listeners across age and gender lines. The exciting live performances reinforce the bands highly skilled musicianship, igniting crowds and leaving them screaming for more. In late fall 2001, after an introduction by Keith Lynch, guitarist for the Bill Ward Band (of Black Sabbath fame), the line up of Thirty Round Clip was complete with the addition of vocalist Mike Anthony, who was then currently fronting the South Bay metal band, NME. The line up at that time consisted of Rick Steel, formerly of Kill Van Kull, on drums, Felix Nunez, formerly of Potato Salad (a progressive jazz group with David Garfield), on bass and Dave "Dr. Shred" Bates on guitar. The band began writing new music and in the spring of 2002 were ready to begin the recording of a 10 song demo. Helping guide TRC at that time were gold record producer Bob Kulick (Motorhead, Kiss, Driven By Hate) and grammy nominated producer Billy Sherwood (Yes, Quiet Riot, Fear Factory) who sharpened the bands sound and direction. After playing a number of memorable live shows around the Hollywood area, including headlining the Whisky a Go Go, TRC headed back into the studio at the end of 2002 to finish writing and recording their demo. This time they began working with Stevo Bruno (Fear Factory, Brides Of Destruction, Prong) at Klown Records in Santa Monica where they finished recording the remaining songs. 2003 saw the band visit Nashville, Tennessee after an invitation to play at The Outer Limits, a popular Nashville club, for the Nashville Music Conference where they promptly "...blew the roof off the place." Upon returning to LA, TRC returned to the studio to begin writing and recording the, to date, unreleased single "Listen" at The Wall in San Bernadino, CA under the direction of producer Dave Bush. Differences in vision between producer and band eventually separated the two and in the later months of 2003 Bates left the band to pursue other musical opportunities eventually joining Bleed (Tony Franklin, Greg Bissonette and Robin McAuley). Bates was replaced by guitarist Doug Nofsinger who was with the band for about 6 months. The end of 2003 was a difficult and trying time for TRC; when their vision and commitment were tested. Dejected by the seemingly slowness of progress and unclear direction of the band, bass player Felix Nunez left Thirty Round Clip. It looked like the end... or was it? Rick "Boom" Steel and Mike Anthony met at a coffee shop in Santa Monica, CA in November of 2003 after licking their respective wounds for a month and contemplating each ones musical future. The decision was made then to continue on with the band and having forged a new vision and purpose, the creation of an album; the target was set and the two remaining members of Thirty Round Clip took aim. Beginning in December 2003 Boom and Anthony started writing the album "...on target", Dissipate being the first tune forged from the smolten metal of their songwriting mill, Anthony's South Bay studio. They continued on throughout 2004, 2005 and 2006 creating the rest of the 13 tracks on the album with focused determination. Boom and Mike both took side gigs during this time; Boom did a brief stint with Bleed and Mike fronted Stockyard, Deaddrop and even a blues band for a time in the South Bay. November 2006 saw the completion of th