NICK WALSH – WHO’S FAMOUS UNDERGROUND?

“FAME” has a price…& Nick Walsh knows that all too well. He chased The Record Deal over three decades ago, built a solid reputation for himself in the Canadian music market, & shocked metalheads with his high-energy theatrical performances from a very early age. But it’s not all about becoming famous, anymore. His musical hunger has seen him resurface, & he’s eager to mark fresh territory, rather than revive the skeleton of his former group SLIK TOXIK – you may remember their famed video for “Helluvatime” or seen them open for giants like Spinal Tap, Yngwie Malmsteen, even Black Sabbath…until grunge devoured “Hair Metal” & left our legends in the depths of the CD bargain bin. FAMOUS UNDERGROUND is Walsh’s latest metallic execution & is a shredding acknowledgement that rebel rockers can emulate decades of lost music, bring the spectrum to new horizons, & not just settle for “what once was”.

Packed with power-driven vocals, political angst, piercing fluidity, & self-certification…the new album (released through Babylon Music Group) pounds in competition with what “REVOLVER” once started. Revolver was the name of this montage for about eight years prior, before a European pop act (who shared the same moniker) received a major North American record deal, forcing them to go back to the table & adopt a different identity. Famous Underground, F.U. for short, sums it up…synonymously pairing a rampant “underground metal experience” with the flippant abbreviation it creates. Think of it in this respect – if you took the force of Metallica, grinded it up with some G‘N’R appetite, then threw in a dash of Skid Row’s social code – you’d probably be close. But there is one “secret female ingredient” to this pulsating pressure-cooker…& that is in bassist, Laurie-Anne Green. Walsh & Green met, a few years back, in the Toronto club scene. She was splitting away from an industrial metal act called “Jane Doe”, while Walsh ended a one & a half year run with hardrock has-been “Raised On Mars” – a project he shared with Rob Bruce (former “Slik Toxik” guitarist) & Franz Masini (I Mother Earth). It was a partnership worth pursuing, according to Walsh, & you need only see this edgy gal bust her chops on guitar to know that she has something respectable to offer. Famous Underground share a liberal mindset for their music, celebrating their strong female counterpart – a move that the predominantly “MALE ROCK WORLD” is not always willing to accept.

Walsh’s soaring vocal capacity needs a careful combination that will compliment his charismatic personae & striking oral bursts. The undertakings of Rick Corvese (guitar), Darren Boyd (guitar), & Desche Sparboom (drums) have culminated years of LIVE experience to back the frontman & loads of PROMISE for the future of their music. “You’re connecting on a totally different level that you can’t even explain to people. When that sort of thing is happening on stage, it’s not difficult for the audience to feel it & get involved with it, & sort of transfer their energy back to us. That’s really what it’s all about.” & Walsh is a strong believer that PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. He also admits that the release may have taken a bit longer than usual to get out to the fans, but is decidedly what the group chose to construct. “It was a long process. I owned a commercial recording studio, in Toronto, for many years of the 2000’s…I had the luxury of not having to look at a clock. Nothing will ever be finished, in an artist’s mind, until somebody else tells them that it has to be finished.” With a 2011 pre-summer deadline looming in the midst, they focused on re-inventing themselves & have achieved a gamut that is instrumentally balanced, core-grinding, & puts the PEDAL BACK TO THE METAL!!! “A great producer needs a great engineer to translate the ideas, or vision, of the band (or the producer) into sound.” Walsh states about the current album’s production, & his previous experience led him to stripping the self-titled release back to the bare essentials. “When you know that the producer has actually sat down, picked apart the songs, built them back up with the band, & then came in to get great sound & great tones through the boards & all the equipment…that translation is just – UNDENIABLE.”

If performing with Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Kid Rock, & Billy Talent hasn’t been enough to raise this self-proclaimed “club act” from the inner reaches of Toronto…then this album has the power to take them to the next level. The single “Dead Weight” has been circulating through a variety of national radio stations & fans are keenly waiting for the single’s upcoming video release, which is supposed to be a “concept journey” through evolution & the destruction of Mother Earth. The band is not divulging much information in regards to touring Canada just yet, although the requests are out there. For the moment, unfolding a viral web presence is “KEY” to growing new awareness & eventually reaching American soil. Jolts of adrenaline pounding through eleven tracks of solid expressive consistency should help them accomplish this, & Famous Underground’s new CD exhibits various strengths in the hardrock & heavy metal genres…Walsh’s lyrics, at times, reminding me of a spiteful Dave Mustaine. For the glam queens, the heart-throb is still active in the 5’8” shirtless crooner (Walsh) – as he praises love’s fate during power-ballad “Forever & A Day”. But he rips right back into antagonism with a cut-throat strain about a drug-twisted groupie in “Mommy Is A Junkie”, & sorry ladies…the mid-aged, blonde belter is a happily married man.

When it comes down to the LIVE wire, FAMOUS UNDERGROUND share heightened musicianship & synergy that’s not based upon their looks or any type of gimmick. Rid of the complications that sometimes arise from dealing with a major label, they have embraced technology & direct marketing – they aren’t afraid to travel down the unbeaten path & do it all on their own. Timing may have decided the fate of Slik Toxik, but now…time is on WALSH’S SIDE. “I’ll tell you something about Canadian artists.” he says during our interview, “We live in a BIG country with nobody in it…& because of that, we strive very hard to make sure we’re DAMN GOOD at what we do…because we’re competing on the world market. If some of us can make it on that world market, make a name for ourselves…& bring the eyes, & focus, & attention to this country…well then, my hat’s off to you. ‘CONNECTING’ is the key to everything on this planet, so…why not through music too? Whatever’s GOOD is GOOD…& that’s the bottom line.”

Walsh’s band is GOOD…they won’t remain in “The Underground” for very long.