It’s often said that youth is wasted on the young. Try telling that to Kansas City quartet Cimino who clock in at the ripe and wisdom expounding ages of 20-21 and who put out their first album before they could legally drive. “For being 15, the music Kyle was writing was incredible, well beyond his years to say the least,” reflects drummer, Sebastian Anderson says of singer/lead guitarist Kyle Cimino. Anyone with ears could see the talent the members possessed. They had a product nobody else did, even at that age sharing the same goal and drive in life: to be ‘Bon Jovi Big.’
Releasing a self-titled EP in 2009 with a full length following in 2012, the band entered the studio in late 2012 to begin work on Angels & Animals with guitarist Trevor Brown producing. Eleven songs came out, all of which were co-written by Kyle and Sebastian. All the music is solely written by Kyle, while both he and Sebastian write lyrics that give the band its identity. “Kyle has the music, the concept, the hook and a handful of lyrics,” says Sebastian. “I’ll come in and fill in the blanks if need be. Or, we’ll just stockpile all the lyrics for the new record and go from there. And hey – it works!”
In 2012, Anderson was hand-picked by singer / guitarist Nigel Dupree (son of Jackyl frontman Jesse James Dupree) to tour with his band through the remainder of the year based on local industry recommendations, including 98.9 The Rock morning show jock Johnny Dare. In 2013, Sebastian got the rest of Cimino involved and toured as Nigel’s backing band on Dupree’s ‘Up To No Good’ dates and opening several shows on that leg.
Touring with the Nigel Dupree band put them on stages alongside Papa Roach, In This Moment, Vince Neil, Scott Weiland and more and were even featured, as part of Nigel’s band in TruTV’s highly rated series “Full Throttle Saloon” in the episode All Hail’s Gonna Break Loose, which was devoted entirely to the band itself.
Kyle Cimino and Sebastian contributed a few songs to Nigel’s upcoming album, as well as performed on it. “We learned a handful about the touring side of the business, things that you can’t fully comprehend until you’ve lived it,” tells Kyle. The most important thing was that we had the chance to taste that success, to play these festivals with bands like Shinedown who have played a huge role in our musical careers in so many ways. That little taste allows you to see the light at the end of the tunnel and allows us to stay motivated to get back to that spot for ourselves, with our own music. We give it our all no matter who we play for, but there is a certain amount of passion that can never be replicated when you’re playing songs that are yours, representing your own product and name.
Some of that 80’s youth gone wild, LA street trash raunchy, rock and roll swagger starts Angels & Animals with the bluesy smell and sniff of LA Guns, Faster Pussycat, GNR and aquanet on, “Anarchy” which slides swiftly into the anthemic “Start All Over,” which, as Kyle puts it, “is a song about relapsing. It’s the desire that lingers in your heart for whatever your poison may be, despite what others say or think.” Relationships are a bitch to have and control regardless of what or who the partner is. Lustful at its core, “Animal” is about sexual tension and primal urges, with guttural gutters glistening on the road for the flesh hunt. “Basically girls with daddy problems!” The up-tempo happy ballad “Alive” is a reflection of friendship. “It’s about finding the light in each day and being thankful for the life you have,” says Cimino. “It doesn’t matter where you are or where you end up, as long as you’re with the ones you love.” Young bad boys can be happy too.
The rock n roll road towards Fame, to sell your soul for your bad name, reputation and FTW attitude and lifestyle, it’s all worth the pain. It’s been paved with many a young dream filled with hope gone up or down in flames but it’s worth it as fame, immortality and legend last forever. Till I Forget Your Name’s a slow bluesy grinder, drunk down till she looks good and you think you’re someone else followed by a trip to the best little hotel down the alleyway. Sick’s trashed on the accesses of excessive Hollywood. Never is a softer, somber story of being too young and too in love to care, with the chance to look back and see from years of hindsight. Sexy Thang, spread your wings and sing. Someday’s driving down that lonely road seeing the full memory package in your head waiting and roaring to see ‘her’ again. We finish with the Shine that glistens and gleams with a mid-eighties GNR sweaty sheen.
Often compared to the likes of Shinedown, Buckcherry and early Alice In Chains, the band isn’t afraid to take the hard road looking for widespread commercial acceptance all while doing it on their own. Kyle Cimino sums the band’s perspective up: “We are 100% self-sufficient. We write all our material, record, produce, and play it. Yes, we play it. We don’t believe in tracks or loops or anything of the sort. We believe in having three members capable of singing harmonies, and a band that can hold their weight. What we’ve found in return to that approach is that every fan gained believes in us and our music, rather than believing we are trying to fit the mold. We don’t believe it’s a necessity to have a record company make us acceptable in the music scene, we believe that our music is that necessity. We just plan to give ourselves to the people who want good hard rock, which there is very little of lately.” www.ciminoband.com
