About Me
PHOENIX BLOCK is a band of four unique individuals who, together, create an undeniable energy and power with a sound that touches all who listen.
The story of their rise began with the collaboration of Andrew Jaffe and Steve Schoeffler. Growing up in South Jersey, these longtime friends began developing their songwriting skills at the young age of seven. Influenced early on by the music of the Beatles, they found melodic roots in much of the pop icons of the 1970’s including Billy Joel, Elton John, The Eagles and Peter Frampton. In the 1980’s Jaffe and Schoeffler were captivated by the injection of the punk sound into popular music by such bands as The Cars, The Police and U2. By their teens, they had become proficient at guitar and piano. Jaffe, a singer from a young age, handled the vocals. The craft of songwriting became their passion. They played out for many years in bands Stretch Vinyl and Son of Yo in the clubs of New York’s Greenwhich Village as well as the northeast college circuit. Jaffe and Schoeffler learned to play live while honing their songwriting skills on these testing grounds.
Tony Catania was born in Sicily, Italy and studied classical guitar, flute and piano at the Music Conservatory “Vincenzo Belliniâ€. He performed in many bands as a young man in Italy, usually gravitating towards the bass. He enjoyed the punk influence from America in the 1970’s and 1980’s as well as the electronic sound in Europe. Catania’s interests quickly spread from performance to composition and production. He achieved great success as producer and writer for the hit record of Scatman John and worked with numerous accomplished artists including Lenny Kravitz and Lionel Ritchie. He met Jaffe and Schoeffler through a common friend in Naples, FL. It was that meeting that rekindled Tony’s interest in writing and performing. They began to collaborate and experiment with a style that blended a pop/punk influence with European techno. They felt they were on to something great but missing an important component in the rhythm section.
That’s when a chance meeting with drummer, Darrell Nutt, occurred in a local club in Fort Myers, FL. Jaffe and Catania were out to hear some of the area musicians and were floored by an electrifying performance by Nutt. They were immediately captivated by this high energy, tactition of the drums. Darrell, who began playing at the age of four, had his first professional recording session at age 14. He has performed and recorded with many artists ranging from AC/DC to Robbie Nevil to Steely Dan. From the first practice session, the members of Phoenix Block could tell that they had an undeniable chemistry. The sound combined the melodic influences of the 1960’s and 1970’s with the punk influenced, rhythm driven sound of the 1980’s, over a canvas of modern electronica.
Through their gripping music and words, one can truly sense the desperation that drives these four. A songwriting passion from an early age became a vision merged with those of Catania and Nutt to produce the reality of Phoenix Block and their groundbreaking new album, Chemtrails.
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