East Of Venus

East Of Venus are Michael Carlucci (lead guitarist and songwriter for Winter Hours ), Glenn Mercer (lead guitarist, lead singer and songwriter for The Feelies , The Trypes and Wake Ooloo , among others), Rob Norris (bass player for The Bongos , OmU and Blue Paradox ) and Stan Demeski (drummer for Winter Hours , The Feelies , The Trypes and Luna ). In other words, the band boasts two incredible lead guitarists, both of whom are lead singers and songwriters, and a rhythm section to die for.
With all this in mind it's easy to think of East Of Venus as some sort of indie-rock supergroup, but they are really just four friends with a long, intricately interwoven musical history, who have been quietly making and recording music together since December of 2004, when they were among the core musicians who gathered at Maxwell's in Hoboken NJ to pay tribute to Richard Mason of Red Buckets, an 80's cult band, which two members of East Of Venus played in and one produced. East Of Venus are based in Haledon NJ, where half of the band lives. They have been happily playing and recording in the basement there ever since.
A bit of background: Rob happened to see The Feelies very first show at CBGB's in the late 70's and was blown away. When The Bongos were first forming he took Richard Barone to see them and Richard was equally electrified by what he saw and heard. Later The Feelies and The Bongos often played together during the heyday of the Hoboken/NYC alternative music explosion and the band members formed several fun combos together, most notably a surf and rockabilly outfit called the Hoboken Hodads and a Beatles psychedelic cover band called Dr. Robert.
Before forming Winter Hours, Stan and Michael had played together since high school--where they reigned as non-aligned drum and guitar gods respectively--and Glenn and Stan have been in several band together. Rob produced the first two Winter Hours albums and often did live sound for the band and Frank Giannini (of Bongos fame) was their third drummer. Michael, Stan and Rob were members of Foggy Notion (referred to by the LA Times as "the ultimate Velvet Underground cover band"), along with Tim Sherry of The Phosphenes (who Stan drummed for and Richard Barone produced) and Stephen Lepore of Grey District, two more bands from the fertile 80's Hoboken music scene. Guest members of Foggy Notion included Glenn Mercer , singer Joseph Marques ( Winter Hours ), Ira Kaplan ( Yo La Tengo ) and Richard Lloyd ( Television ). Then in 1993, Luna, with Stan on drums, opened for the Velvet Underground on their ill-fated European reunion tour.
Coming full circle: Besides the four future members of East Of Venus, the band at the December 2004 Red Buckets tribute show at Maxwell's included Red Buckets bassist Kristen Yiengst, Ira Kaplan ( Yo La Tengo ) and Sean Eden ( Luna ) among others.
Below is a slide show of photos from that auspicious night of music from which East Of Venus was forged, followed by shots from East Of Venus' first official live shows four years later in 2009.
And in the myspace music-player above you can hear some of the songs from their basement recordings... Enjoy!
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