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There are so many hard-stomping rock bands scattered
all along the U.S. who are breaking molds, destroying
formulas and delivering intense, brutally honest rock
music and seldom do they get recognized by the industry
because they’re not ‘commercially viable’ or TRL friendly.
But, every now and again, through, fate or chance, one
of these bands makes it through the cracks and leaks
out into the main stream…
"We went into a motorcycle garage in Philly with about
$5, 000 and borrowed a bunch of our friends equipment
and just tried to make the best rock album of the year,"
says Dimitri Coats whose band, Burning Brides,
have been a staple of Philadelphia’s underground rock
scene since 1999. "We knew fully well that it really
wouldn’t reach too many people, but we went for it anyway.."
 Burning
Brides; (singer/guitarist Dimitri Coats, bassist Melani
Campbell and drummer Jason Kourkounis); are an artsy
garage band who knew that there sound was far more raw
and intense than any of the pop-rock and pop-punk that
was being spun on radio and MTV. They also knew that
their dirty, sweaty sound would be a hard sell to the
mall-shopping public, but they went for it anyway. "We
shopped around our album to a bunch of different labels
and nobody seemed interested," he said. "This was in
the spring of 2000, so none of that ‘garage explosion’
had happened yet and nobody really cared that much and
they thought we were way too fuckin’ brutal-- not brutal
in a bad sense, just too damn heavy."
With no bites from the majors, the Burning Brides signed
with indie label File 13 records and released their
DIY album "Fall Of The Plastic Empire" in 2001. With
a straight-up punk rock attitude and a stripped down
raw sound, the Burning Brides exuded an underground
indie vibe that simply personified total rock carnage
and was hailed as a cross between The Stooges, Kinks
and Ramones. With raw power and hard-core intensity
combined with angst spewing meaty vocals and edgy guitar
riffs the Brides would easily win over a solid fan base,
but much to their surprise it received mass critical
acclaim as well. "We sold something like 2,000 copies
of it right out of the back of our van over the course
of about a year and then all this crazy stuff started
happening," says Coats of his Cinderella-like story.
"When we went to South-by-Southwest it was just complete
pandemonium. The labels all wanted us and it just turned
into a bidding war, everyone wanted to sign us, take
us out to dinner, put us up in fancy hotels and basically
put our balls in their mouths because they all wanted
to release that first Burning Brides record.. Now, that’s
ironic…"
They decided to sign with V2
Records (Moby; White Stripes) and re-released their
album "Fall Of The Plastic Empire" on September 2002.
"Now, I see more and more kids walking around the streets
wearing our tee-shirts and stuff cus’ we’re getting
played on the radio. So, its having some kind of effect
on the youth around here," says Coats who felt his first
real rock-star impact over in Europe, where the band
played a bunch of sold-out dates in the UK with Winnebago
Deal and Les
Flames. "We just got back from England and we’re
bigger over there than we are over here and we don’t
even have a record out there. Its nuts, man.. I mean,
we could easily headline our own tour there and pack
the place. I think the people over there just take the
kind of music that we’re doing a little bit more seriously
and it doesn’t go over as many heads. They want to hear
guitar rock; bands with a lot of energy and danger and
sexuality and good songs and that’s what we’re all about."
The Brides have been earning a solid and loyal following
all over America as well as Europe with their incredible
sound and awesome live show. "We make really good records
and we can kill it live, " explains Coats, "I think
that quality music always has a way of rising to the
surface and I don’t think we’ll have any problems there.
I wouldn’t want to go on after us.." Their combustible
live show and musical diversity has led them to tour
with everyone from the White Stripes and Cave
In to Queens of the Stone Age and Marilyn Manson
proving to appeal to all genre’s across the rock and
roll plain. "What makes great art is having a lot of
colors at your disposal and not being a one-trick-pony."
The Burning Brides have become a part of a revolution
of rock and roll that hasn’t been seen since the grunge
era of the early 90’s. Recently UK’s NME magazine included
the Brides on their compilation album entitled "The
New Rock Revolution" also including songs by grounding
breaking acts such as The Datsuns, The White Stripes,
and BRMC. "The way I look at it is the domino’s are
being set up for us to knock down," Coats said, "this
is a great opportunity to expose all the fraud that’s
out there."
Currently, the Burning Brides are getting set to work
on their much anticipated follow-up and Coats explains
that the next record will not be as raw as "Fall Of
The Plastic Empire" but will still carry plenty of hard
and heavy intensity. Our next record isn’t gonna be
another garage record, it’s gonna be a fuckin’ AC/DC;
Black Sabbath; Nirvana freak-out," says Coats. "We’re
gonna be way heavier this next time and the poppy stuff
is even more melodic and more anthematic, is that a
word? Well, its gonna have big hooks.."
Look for the new Brides sophomore record to drop sometime
in March 2003. For updates and info log to: www.bruningbrides.com
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