| Solarized | |
|---|---|
 Jersey Devils. | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Red Bank, New Jersey |
| Genres | Heavy Rock, Stoner Rock |
| Years active | 1997 - 2002 |
| Labels | Man's Ruin Records, MeteorCity Records |
| Associated acts | Monster Magnet, The Atomic Bitchwax, Daisycutter, Maegashira, Drag Pack, Halfway to Gone, A Thousand Knives of Fire, Electrikill, Horschack 77, 00 |
Solarized was a Stoner Rock band out of Red Bank. New Jersey. Active from 1997 - 2002 the band served as the main project of one Reg and Jim Hogan after the dissolution of Daisycutter and serving as one of many bands in the 1990s stoner rock scene.
History[]
SOLARIZED was the brainchild of the team of Jim Hogan and Regina Satana. Together, they made up the rhythm section of Daisycutter that included Tim Cronin and guitarist Ed Mundell (MONSTER MAGNET). A band who signed to the Rockville label after their first show, put out two CD’s of heavy, futuristic rock and played stellar shows with many of the major’s heavy-hitters including The SMASHING PUMPKINS, The MELVINS, HELMET, MOTORHEAD, The JESUS LIZARD and MONSTER MAGNET. After several personnel changes, the band was ultimately destroyed. From the ashes, Solarized was born.
Jim Hogan switched from bass and took to the tasks of guitar and vocals. Reg stayed on as drummer and the duo began writing new material. They recruited bassist Lou Gorra, upon hearing that he had left his mark on the Texas scene and had drifted back to New Jersey’s polluted shores. The band would follow with several demo sessions and live performances.
Half way through the recording process, the trio met Pete Hauschild, a prominent guitarist from the area and soon the line-up had expanded to a four-piece. Solarized hit the studio again, recorded some new songs and reworked the previously recorded material. Tim Cronin and Ed Mundell of Monster Magnet fame were invited to participate and became featured guests on three of the tracks.
The band put together an album’s worth of material and started shopping it to a handful of independent labels. Man's Ruin Records, owned by pop-culture poster artist Frank Kozik, was the first to respond and licensed the rights to release the album under the title Neanderthal Speedway. MeteorCity requested some material for a series of split CD’s spotlighting emerging talent, and Solarized recorded five tracks, four of which were released on the Jersey Devils CD split with Solace. The fifth track would later be released on RISE 13 - Magick Rock Vol. 1, a compilation curated by Rise Above Records.
Solarized designed an elaborate website and used the web to market itself to the world by means of an aggressive e-mail campaign. With some steady ground work laid-out, ‘Neanderthal Speedway’ was poised to make some waves upon it’s release and it did exactly that. Selling in the top 10% at online giants such as Amazon.com and steadily remaining in their top 20% for an additional five weeks. The demand was much higher than either the label or the band had expected.
During the Summer of 1999, guitarist Pete Hauschild stepped down as guitarist and was replaced by interim guitarist Lee Stuart, who filled in during a nationwide tour of the US. Shortly thereafter, Gorra and Stuart parted company and the band recruited bassist Mike Fiore of Horschack 77 fame and former Drag Pack axeman Dave Topolenski who restored the band to a four-piece.
In 2001 Solarized released their 2nd full-length album, Driven which was released on MeteorCity in the US and licensed to People Like You overseas, receiving positive reactions from fans and critics alike. Mike Fiore would part ways with the group in 2002 and was replaced by George Pierro, thus restoring the line-up. However not long after the band quietly fizzled out and broke up.
Discography[]
- Jersey Devils (Split with Solace) (1998, MeteorCity Records)
- Neanderthal Speedway (Album) (1999, Man's Ruin Records)
- Driven (Album) (2001, MeteorCity Records)
Members[]
- Jim Hogan - Guitar, Vocals (1997 - 2002)
- Regina Satana - Drums (1997 - 2002)
- Lou Gorra - Bass (1997 - 1999)
- Pete Hauschild - Guitar (1997 - 1999)
- Lee Stuart - Guitar (1999)
- Mike Flore - Bass (1999 - 2002)
- Dave Topolenski - Guitar (1999 - 2002)
- George Pierro - Bass (2002)