Axl Rose once sang "Nice boy's don't play rock 'n' roll", sadly in the wake of punk and metal's commercialization, this sentiment no longer holds true. What's happened to the chaos, the danger, the feeling that everything could self destruct at any moment. Lunacy Driven is a band that is not portraying any rock 'n' roll image, that is just who they are.
Lunacy Driven, as a band, has existed in one form or another since 1997, but for the guys in Lunacy Driven, music has long been a source of everything important. All growing up together in a small town named Eden, NC, which implies the town would be a paradise, these four lifelong friends have had a less than "heavenly" upbringing. Driving through the long abandoned mill sections of Eden, where Lunacy Driven practices in a dusty, half demolished loft above a tattoo studio, tells the true story of what Lunacy Driven is all about... Rock!!!
The band, now all in their early 20s, is composed of a tight group of friends that bonded over a desire to write music together, based upon their common influences such as Guns 'N' Roses, Pantera, Megadeth, and Iron Maiden. Brandon Benge decided to focus his exuberant energy into playing drums, while Mickey Armstrong decided to play guitar and , after increasing encouragement, took up vocals as well. A few lineup changes later, Danny Dix has been a longtime mainstay on bass, but we are once again left without a guitar player.
After being set back by landmine after landmine, they released their debut full length album, "Plague the Roses" in Feb. 2006. Now armed with an album of blistering metal, Lunacy Driven has spread their sound on a recent southeast tour, gaining new fans and consistently increasing merchandise and album sales. Several key shows with national artists such as Lamb of God, All That Remains, Swift, Byzantine, Underoath, and Silent Civilian, also helped increase their exposure.
The lyrics of Lunacy Driven reject the typical subject matter of testerone fueled heavy metal music, instead focusing on romanticized meditations of day to day life among the heart broken and working class that are simultaneously gritty and beautiful. As well, Mickey speaks on the usual inner turmoil that has plagued every great writer throughout history. The music builds upon their collective influences, ranging from 80's rock, punk, and jazz, to death metal. While still sounding modern and displaying each individuals personal creativity. Lunacy Driven refuses to follow trends in a metal scene where your "NOT COOL" unless you have a CORE affixed. They hope to be respected for what they are and not what people want them to be. Being in a band is just life to Lunacy Driven, and life is sometimes an obstacle. One which they plan to overcome.
