STORIES!!!!!
All writings are published here exactly as received.
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Me and The Nerve! - Tony Petrozza (StatusQuoNoShow)
I ran into Joe Nerve last year in my hometown
of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, NY. I moved away and hadn't seen him in well over ten
years. When we were kids he was teaching me to play songs note for note on bass.
His brother Joe and Peter Lanza; my best friend, and I had a quasi Kiss tribute
band. Those two could play their instruments but I left something to be desired.
We never did anything other than some filming. If someone out there has seen the
footage
of me masquerading as Paul Stanley - I'd love to see it!
That began a pattern that lasted my whole life - almost being
a musician. Many people have mistook me for one. I always wanted to play and I
suppose I embody all the elements, but I never was really in a band much less
played a show. It's something that has eaten at me all these years. Punk Rock
was supposed to be about just getting up and playing and I never did it. What
kind of Punk was I?
Joe and I were in the same acting class at CSI. He doesn't
remember it for some reason. Damn, I thought my lip synch (an
assignment) of Social Distortion's "1945" was unforgettable. He must
have been absent that day. Oh well I don't remember any of his acting, so it's
equal.
So now it's the Millennium and we catch up. He tells me he's
got a new band called The Nerve!. He knows I'm into Punk though I didn't live
the down-and-out lifestyle any longer. He later invited me to see them play CBGB,
that place
that is so etched in me. I used to be a "sidewalk sleeper punk", not
that I was tired or homeless - I was just passed out drunk. A running line with
me is "I'm the guy you used to trip over in front of CBGB". That was
in the past, and I've since cleaned up my act, and I was still going there
occasionally to see a show. Now an old friend was playing there. Of course I
would go. I picked up my date and went. They kicked ass and I loved them. What a
great show - the music really got me moving. It was about as funky as I would go
and right up my alley with it's pop punk flavor. I was charmed in that they
were not kids and yet were playing youthful music. They were a fun band and I
met them after the show. I subsequently hung out with Joe and Randy a few times,
which says a lot considering my anti-social tendencies.
Some time had passed and Joe gave me a call and told me
they were playing a DIY (do it yourself) venue right in the neighborhood called
the Temple. They say timing is everything. I had just been to the Circle Jerks
show in the City. I had a sort of spiritual experience there. I realized I had
come full circle; my very first Punk show was the Jerks back in 1985. I
immediately signed up for Punk Rock, no music or scene had ever appealed to me
like that. Back then though I had so much rage and was on my mission for self
destruction. Now it was January 2002 and the rage was gone but the Punk
remained. I had a discussion the year before with a good friend of mine who is
in a major Punk band. I told him that it was always a fantasy to front a punk
band, but I was always too fucked up and too lazy. He replied that was
"Punk Rock". Easy for
him to say with all his success. However now I was not as lazy or fucked up.
Well seeing The Nerve! at The Temple brought me further in my
process. They helped me to remember how important music is to me. Though none of
the members was a hardcore Punk like I was, I related to all of them closely.
Whenever I
can make one of their shows I do. Just recently the Nerve! surpassed the Ramones
for the number two spot in my list of bands seen most. I've never described
myself as a fan of anything - I don't apply the word "fan" to myself -
but I love these guys and became a huge supporter. People even come up to me and
think I am in the Nerve!. I'm sure that the time when they gave me the honor of
singing "Settle Down" with them had something to do with it. And it's
songs like that which endear me to this band.
We became good friends. They even
asked me to become their manager. I considered it deeply. The only reason I
declined was because of what the Nerve! themselves helped to inspire in me: I'm
finally getting my own band going. I've got a lot to say -and I want to do it
with a Punk rock back-up. I also have something to say to the Nerve! and it's
"thank you".
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The Nerve! - by Nikki Williams 12/2002
Do you have The Nerve to resist peer pressure?
Do you have The Nerve to find your own pleasure?
Do you have The Nerve to care and not hate?
Do you have The Nerve to be the best, not second rate?
Do you have The Nerve to let your love be high?
Do you have The Nerve to reach for the sky?
Do you have The Nerve to turn your back on negativity?
Do you have The Nerve to enjoy your sensitivity?
Do you have The Nerve to show your true face?
Do you have The Nerve to make the world a better place?
Do you have...
The Nerve?
The Nerve?
The Nerve?
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What's That Sound? It's The Nerve! - Interview by Janine
Rizak 1/2003
This might be a bold statement to make, but good music is hard to come across
these days. It's difficult to tell whether the people playing and singing their
music to you are doing so out of sheer pleasure, or doing it as a job to earn
their nice, fat check. Pop culture is doing its best to make you choke, and
plenty of people are giving in to it. Now, what if there were a band that
weren't money hungry, and just wanted to make you happy and encouraged you to
have fun at their shows? Well, there are plenty of bands like that missing from
your radio and television. You just need to know where to look. Start here, in
New York, and you're bound to hear about The Nerve! whether you're at the
legendary CBGB in Manhattan, or at Brooklyn's Temple. I had the pleasure of
interviewing singer/guitarist Randy and bassist Joe. Here is
what they had to say about them, their music, and their fans.
1) How exactly did the Nerve! come to be Randy, Joe, and Santo?
Joe: Great 1st question. Gives us the opportunity to explain Santo's absence
from this interview, and plug our website. Santo is no longer our drummer. We
will miss him. Anthony Demarco is the new Nerve! drummer but we felt he
was still a little too new to participate in this interview. He hasn't yet
played his first show with us. All the details (according to Joe Nerve!) on how
The Nerve! came to be can be found at www.thenerve.org. Perhaps Randy can give a
short synopsis here.
Randy: The Nerve! started out as just me recording some songs I wrote in Joe's
home studio. Joe played the bass on them. I liked the way they came out so I
recorded more songs. We both liked the way those came out so we decided to do a
gig. Just one gig for fun. We called an old drummer we had played with in a
previous band and asked him if he would do the gig. We did it, and that was so
much fun we did more. And then it just kept snowballing until it evolved into a
real band. We went through several drummers until we found Santo. Santo was the
first guy to really click with us and become a family member. Then, we were kind
of shocked, he flaked out like so many of our other drummers. If you listen to
our song "Settle Down" that will pretty much sum up what happened to
Santo. We now have a new drummer. His name is Anthony. We like him a lot and we
hope that you do too. It wasn't easy finding a replacement for Santo, but we
think we've found our man.
2) What is it that keeps you wanting to play live?
Joe: It's the thing I love doing most in the world and the thing I do best. It
makes me high.
Randy: For me it's the incredible, fun adrenaline rush I get which starts to
build about an hour before the show and intensifies until we finally start
playing. Then it's one big rush after the other. I love the energy, the
spontaneity, the sound engulfing my entire body, and seeing people smiling,
laughing and bouncing around while we're playing.
3) What influences you guys most musically/lyrically?
Joe: I'd say we're lyrically influenced by pretty much the same things most
artists are influenced by - women, the world around us, things we struggle with.
Our musical influences come from lots of places. A lot of classic rock
bands have left their mark; The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Stones, Kiss, Yes, Black
Sabbath, Beatles, Queen. I love the Chili Peppers - the older stuff more than
the newer.
Randy: Musically I'm influenced by the music I listen to. I'm with Joe on The
Who. They've always been a big influence on me, and I've also been influenced by
Fugazi for the past year or so. The guys in the band influence me too. Joe is
very musical, artistic, and heartfelt. He's really good at playing intuitively
and that has rubbed off on me. And I'm a closet drummer. I love
drums. So a good solid drummer influences me tremendously. This goes back to the
whole Santo thing. Santo used to get me going. And the new guy, Anthony, does
the same. In fact more so. He literally makes me laugh while we play. Lyrically,
I'm influenced by things that touch me emotionally. Any song I've ever written
has come out of strong, passionate feelings. I never sit down to consciously
construct a song. They usually come to me spontaneously when I'm really feeling
something intensely. Even the fun, light-hearted songs.
4) What's the most important thing to you guys about your music and where are
you trying to go with it?
Joe: The most important thing to me about our music is that it comes from the
heart. We're not very concerned with perfection. When we play we feel it in our
livers. We're lit, we're high on it, and we strive to have that come out in our
recording and performances. It's important to us that it remains fun. We make
lots of mistakes and we revel in the humanity of it. We're not classical
musicians. It's rock and roll. It's about the energy put into it more than
the
notes we play. We like to show off as much as the next guy, but we work harder
at putting what works best for the song first. Lyrically, we're becoming more
focused these days. As our crowds are growing we're becoming more socially
conscious. I think Randy and I both feel we see way too much fear (in it's many
forms) in the world, and not enough love (in myself included). To quote
Ten Years After - "I'd love to change the world, but I don't know what to
do." Best I can do is be honest and put myself out there as best I can. If
there's anything else to do,
God will take care of it.
Randy: The most important thing for me is that we always have fun first
and foremost. It's also important for us to put something positive out into the
world. As for where we're trying to go, we're not trying. We're doing our best
to stay out of the way and let the music take us where it wants us to go.
5) What do you think about the current state of mainstream music?
Joe: I listen to The Chili Peppers, pop/funk/soul from the 70's, and new age
music. Britney Spears has a nice butt.
Randy: I think it sucks. Most mainstream music, and mainstream culture in
general (TV, movies, etc.), has become homogenized and stripped of any real
substance in order to be packaged and sold to as many consumers as possible.
It's clean, safe, and devoid of all thought, emotion, and integrity. And then
there's the negativity! Open a newspaper or turn on the TV news. Notice how they
bombard us with bad news. Violence, war, murder, bad weather, fear, fear, fear.
Then they'll take a little piece of good news which gets printed in a little box
on page 10, or announced at the end of a TV newscast as an amusing little
sidenote. Fear sells and we're buying it. And music? Puh-leaze!! Buying a
mainstream CD is like going into McDonald's and buying a Big Mac. That being
said, there are a small handful of mainstream artists whom I like. I think
System Of A Down and Incubus have some substance and something to say. And for
pure rock and roll fun I like The Strokes. And I highly recommend the movie
"Bowling For Columbine". It surprises me and gives me hope that a
movie like this got released as a mainstream film. Go see it today!!
6) What do you hope your fans are getting out of the Nerve's music?
Joe: Hmmmm.... Wake up - look outside - lighten up - have fun - heal your
anger - seek peace - realize your place on this planet - don't live according to
what the TV and magazines tell you - trust your gut - respect your body, mind,
and soul -don't
beep when the light turns green - and above all else, love everyone and
everything with every fiber of your being. Did I say have fun? OK. I said
it twice.
Randy: Love, happiness, a reprieve from our media saturated, violent culture,
and a good time!
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The Nerve! – A great inspiration by:
Konstantin Vysotskiy
I was not in too music that much, I kind of experimented with it. I listened to all genres of music. I listened to Rap, Pop, Rock, Metal; I grew in to hating Rap and some Pop. Rock I liked, mostly Aerosmith. I like Michael Jackson, come to think of it, a lot of people like Michael Jackson. Jackson is like the only Pop artist that I am in favor off. My best friend Paul has introduced me to System of a Down, I loved them, I still do. Than gradually from System, I slid in to more of Punk music. I was still experimenting with Punk.
The start of my Punk revelation happened when I entered 11th grade in 2002. It was first period the subject was Spanish. For some reason our class did not have a Spanish teacher. Than a person has entered my life, Joe Baldizzone. From the second I saw him, I knew there was something special about him. I didn’t see it for several months. I didn’t know who he was, I had no idea, I liked the way he looked, the way he dressed, it was all new to me. I saw him several times, every time I saw him, I always wondered who he was. Than one day, a girl named Patrea tells me that one of the teachers is in a band, and they are having a show soon at the Temple. I said “awesome, who is the teacher?” and she says “Mr. Baldizzone.” Chills had ran down my back, because I knew there was something about him, and I have discovered it. I haven’t fully discovered who Mr. Baldizzone was, but it gave me a great amount of idea.
The next day I went to school and asked Patrea, about Mr. Baldizzone. I asked; “What is the name of the band that he plays in?” She replied by saying “the Nerve!” I was amazed by the name; it was a powerful name to me.
I came home from school and ran to my computer and searched for “the Nerve!” on yahoo.com. A list of many difference websites came up. I decided to click on a link, and what do you know, I clicked on www.thenerve.org. The first section I went to was the picture section, and I saw Mr. Baldizzone’s face on it, and I said to my self “so it is true.” I started sending messages to every one telling about Joe Baldizzone. I never said anything to any body that he teaches at my school, because I knew he probably wouldn’t like me telling people.
The day of the show comes, at the temple, I am so hyped up to see the Nerve! I was thinking to my self “what if Mr. Baldizzone remembers me? That would be so awesome to talk to a celebrity.” I met an obstacle, my mom. My mom wouldn’t let me go to the show because she said it’s too was too dangerous, because of the war, I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to argue with my mom so I said “alright I wont go, I’ll go to Paul’s house to sleep over, but I went to the show any way. It was my first time at the Temple too. I didn’t know what was going on, bands are playing, people are running around in a moshpit, it was awesome, I fell in love with Punk music. I liked it earlier but not to such an extent.
The show ended, I was going to buy their CD, which I have been wanting to buy for a long time, but than I didn’t find where they were selling the merchandise so I wasn’t able to buy a CD, but I still left happy, because I saw the Nerve! I am really inspired by Joe, Randy, and Santo. Thank you guys.