A Neon Rome was a
Canadian alternative rock band, active from 1984 to 1987. Commonly described as a cross between
The Sex Pistols,
The Doors and
The Velvet Underground,
[Michael Barclay, Ian A.D. Jack and Jason Schneider, '' Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995''. ]ECW Press
ECW Press is a Canadian book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canadian literary magazine named ''Essays on Canadian Writing''. They started publishing trade and scholarly book ...
. . the band were prominent on
Toronto's
Queen Street West music scene. They broke up before achieving mainstream success, however, and are now remembered primarily as the inspiration behind
Bruce McDonald's cult film ''
Roadkill
Roadkill is an animal or animals that have been struck and killed by drivers of motor vehicles on highways. Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) have increasingly been the topic of academic research to understand the causes, and how it can be mi ...
''.
[Band Bio: A Neon Rome]
at punkhistorycanada.ca
History
Neal Arbic, the band's frontman, created the band in 1984 after writing a narrative poem about a rock band whose music was "like
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
" to its fans. The band's sound was reportedly inspired by accidentally playing a
Psychic TV record at the wrong speed.
Bassist John Borra, drummer Ken Burchell and guitarist Kevin Nizol rounded out the band's original lineup. The band began to draw attention in the Toronto club scene for its live shows, which blended Arbic's wild, charismatic frontman antics with a loose, improvisational interplay among the band. In fact, the band rarely wrote songs in advance – instead, much of its material was improvised live on stage.
Burchell left the band, who continued without a drummer for a time until
Ian Blurton joined to replace him. Keyboardist Bernard Maiezza joined the band at the same time as Blurton. They eventually became the house band of Elvis Mondays, a weekly underground rock night at Toronto's Beverly Hotel, and began developing a wider audience. Eventually Blurton left the band, and Burchell rejoined.
The band released its debut album, ''New Heroin'', in March 1987 on
Fringe Product in Canada and
New Rose Records
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
in Europe, and garnered strong reviews from influential publications such as ''
Sounds'', ''
NME'' and ''
Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...
''.
Following the release of ''New Heroin'', Nizol left the band, and was replaced by Crawford Teasdale. At this time, as well,
Bruce McDonald began to develop an idea for a
concert film which would document the band on tour across
Northern Ontario.
Collapse
During the band's tour to promote ''New Heroin'', Arbic became increasingly disillusioned with the music industry, and began to rebel against the promotional demands of leading a band seemingly on the verge of stardom. He shaved his head, he briefly adopted a diet consisting exclusively of almonds and raisins,
he sometimes failed to show up for scheduled live shows, and he eventually took a
vow of silence – while he would still sometimes agree to sing at live concerts and in recording sessions for their second album ''All the Children Are In'', such occasions became fewer and farther between, and he strictly refused to speak offstage.
Although the band completed recording ''All the Children Are In'', the album was never released.
McDonald's proposed film instead became ''
Roadkill
Roadkill is an animal or animals that have been struck and killed by drivers of motor vehicles on highways. Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) have increasingly been the topic of academic research to understand the causes, and how it can be mi ...
'', a scripted
black comedy film which fictionalized A Neon Rome as "Children of Paradise", a band which disappeared on tour after its lead singer faced a similar existential crisis.
The band made a final live appearance at Toronto's
Rivoli around the time of the film's release, at which Arbic whispered the lyrics instead of singing, but then broke up.
Arbic embarked on a spiritual quest, regaining his mental equilibrium by following the meditation teachings of
Baba Hari Dass.
Borra and Maiezza went on to join Blurton's band
Change of Heart, while Nizol went on to join Pure/Love Bomber and is now a member of 66 Kicks.
Arbic has occasionally performed
spoken word poetry at various Toronto concert venues, including the Elvis Mondays revival at the
Drake Hotel Drake Hotel may refer to:
;in Canada
* Drake Hotel (Toronto), Ontario
;in the United States (by state)
*Drake Hotel (Chicago, Illinois), listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP)
*Drake Hotel (Gallup, New Mexico), NRHP-listed in M ...
, and has written and performed spiritual music with the band Mahendra.
A Neon Rome also performed a one-off reunion show at the Elvis Monday 25th Anniversary show on December 1, 2008.
"Shows That Rocked Toronto Last Week"
'' NOW'', December 3, 2008.
Discography
* ''New Heroin'' (1987)
References
External links
A Neon Rome
on Myspace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neon Rome
Musical groups established in 1984
Musical groups disestablished in 1989
Musical groups from Toronto
Canadian alternative rock groups
1984 establishments in Ontario
1989 disestablishments in Ontario