Rock Sugar is an American rock band known for their mashups of pop music and heavy metal from the 1980s.

History

The band's fictitious backstory claims the sound was achieved when the metal band was stranded on a desert island in 1989 with a CD player, plenty of batteries, and the CD collection of a 13-year-old girl. The band signed with

Paradigm In science and philosophy, a paradigm () is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitute legitimate contributions to a field. Etymology ''Paradigm'' comes f ...

in April 2010. In April 2012, the band signed with ARM Entertainment (Artist Representation and Management). Lead singer

Jess Harnell Jess Harnell (born December 23, 1963) is an American voice actor and singer. His notable roles include Captain Hero in the animated TV series ''Drawn Together'', Wakko Warner in ''Animaniacs'', Ironhide in the first three ''Transformers'' films ...

is better known for his voice work in film and television than his musical career. Harnell voiced

Wakko Warner This is a list of characters in the 1993 animated series, ''Animaniacs'', and its 2020 revival. The Warner Siblings (Animaniacs) The Warner Siblings (also known as "the Animaniacs" by fans and the media) are small, silly, mischievous, anthro ...

in the ''

Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American animated comedy musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Kids block in 1993, before moving to The WB in 1995, as part of its Kids' WB afternoon programming block, unti ...

'' cartoon series, voiced

Secret Squirrel ''Secret Squirrel'' is a cartoon character created by Hanna-Barbera and also the name of his segment in '' The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show'', which debuted in 1965. He was given his own show in 1966, titled ''The Secret Squirrel Show'', but was ...

in the ''

2 Stupid Dogs ''2 Stupid Dogs'' is an American animated television series created and designed by Donovan Cook and produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. It originally ran from September 5, 1993, to May 15, 1995, on TBS as a part of their ''Sunday Morning in Fr ...

'' shorts and is the current official voice actor for Disney's

Brer Rabbit Br'er Rabbit (an abbreviation of ''Brother Rabbit'', also spelled Brer Rabbit) is a central figure in an oral tradition passed down by African-Americans of the Southern United States and African descendants in the Caribbean, notably Afro-Baham ...

. He has also served as the announcer for ''

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'' for more than 10 years and has voiced the titular protagonist of the ''

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'' series since 2005. In 1995, he released a solo album entitled ''The Sound of Your Voice''. Drummer/keyboardist/vocalist Alexander Track received a Master of Music Degree from the Academy of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, Austria and won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for engineering in 2006. He is the President and CEO of Track Entertainment Studios in Los Angeles, California. He co-produced, recorded, engineered and co-mixed Rock Sugar's debut CD: ''Reimaginator''. Lead guitarist/vocalist Chuck Duran does voice over demos and dubs Steve Valentine's singing voice on the

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series ''

I'm in the Band ''I'm in the Band'' is an American teen sitcom that originally aired on Disney XD in the United States and on Family Channel in Canada.

''. He is the co-host of the voice-over web series ''VO Buzz Weekly'' alongside Stacey J. Aswad. Original member, bassist Johnny Santoro aka Johnny Five joined Rock Sugar in 2010. He left the band on August 29, 2011. On December 12, 2011, the band introduced their new bassist, Ken Cain. On November 24, 2020, the band announced a new album, ReInventinator, to be crowdfunded on Kickstarter. The album was successfully funded and was released on April 19, 2021.

Band members

Current *

- lead vocals (2010–present) * Chuck Duran - lead guitar, vocals (2010–present) * Ken Cain - bassist (2011–present) * Alexander Track - drums, keyboard, vocals (2010–present) Former * Johnny Santoro - bassist (2010–2011)

Locations

The band's tour schedule includes rock festivals, once sharing the stage with members of Guns N' Roses. In April 2010, the band appeared on the

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show ''

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'' in an episode where the chefs prepare food for the band's CD release party. In April/May 2010, the band performed at the Melodic Rock Fest 2 in Elgin, Illinois sharing the stage with melodic rock bands

Danger Danger Danger Danger is an American glam metal band formed in Queens, New York, in 1987. History Danger Danger was formed in 1987 by former Hotshot members lead vocalist Mike Pont, bassist Bruno Ravel (born 1964), and drummer Steve West (born 1 ...

, Y&T and Winger among others. The band has performed for foundations including the

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961), known professionally as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. He released his first four studio albums—1993's ''Toby Keith'', 1994's ''Boomtown'', 1996' ...

Foundation in Oklahoma and

Larry the Cable Guy Daniel Lawrence Whitney (born February 17, 1963), known professionally by his persona Larry the Cable Guy, is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, country music artist, and former radio personality. He was one of the members of the ...

's Git-R-Done Foundation (Florida). In May 2010, the band performed two shows at the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis, Tennessee. Along with securing residencies at the

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at ...

, Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles and in Las Vegas, Rock Sugar shared the stage with the Scorpions and

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in Memphis,

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in Colorado, Poison in Idaho, Tesla in Albuquerque, Kid Rock, Saliva, Skillet and Hinder in Wisconsin, Cinderella in Montana among many others. Rock Sugar has been featured on the Fox Television Network on Fox & Friends performing in New York, Avenue of the Americas. On 12 June 2010, Rock Sugar played at the Download Festival at Donington Park, England. They appeared at the festival again in 2011. Performances in 2012 included the Mid-South Rally for the Wounded Warrior Project, Mississippi and shows in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Arkansas, Montana and at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.

Albums

''Reimaginator''

''Reimaginator'' was released in 2010. Each song is a mash-up of two or more songs. Each song has at least one rock or heavy metal song and one pop or pop rock song.

''ReInventinator''

ReInventinator was released in 2021 after being successfully crowdfunded

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.rocksugarband.com Heavy metal musical groups from California Musical groups from Los Angeles