This week, we had the pleasure of getting to know We Love the Underground, a Maryland based band that formed in 2010. Since their inception, they’ve released two albums, The Day the Devil Fooled the World and Mouthful of Graffiti. We Love the Underground is comprised of Joe Ruggiero (bass guitar), Gary Holmes (drums), Eric McCullough (guitar), Patrick “One” Sise “Fits All” (guitar) and Brad Cox (vocals). They are scheduled to release their third album, Children of the Program, on March 5, 2016. In addition to their upcoming release, singer, Brad Cox, penned a novel which is also entitled “Children of the Program”. So read on for this week’s Indie Band of the Week!
Who are you and what is your role in the band?
I’m Brad Cox and I started as the singer/songwriter/guitarist, but now that the project is a band, I mainly focus on the singing/songwriting component; the cool thing is, now, everyone’s got their hand in the songwriting pot, so that’s bringing a lot cool new dynamics into the fold.
My name is Eric McCullough and I play guitar, primarily lead and write in We Love the Underground.
I’m Patrick Sise and I play guitar and sing back-ups for live shows.
How did We Love The Underground get started?
EM: I first heard of We Love the Underground when Brad Cox came to sing for my band Nobody Likes Neville. At that time, We Love the Underground was Brad’s studio project and I was blown away by the quality of the songs. Nobody Likes Neville eventually disbanded and my first thought was to contact Brad about bringing We Love the Underground to the stage and making it a full band.Drummer Gary Holmes had been involved from the start and is featured on the first two albums, but for me, We Love the Underground “the band” began with two guitars in Brad’s basement and an acoustic radio gig we did in Ocean City, Maryland. Our next goal was to flesh out the rest of the band, which brought along the addition of guitarist Patrick Sise, and eventually bassist Joe Ruggiero. Patrick Sise and I met while studying at the Peabody Conservatory for our Masters and Joe Ruggiero was known to Brad and Gary from when he played with them in Skitzo Calypso, their former band.
To date, what has been your most rewarding experience as a band?
BC: I think just watching it evolve from a solo project into this monster of a band. It’s also an amazing feeling to watch something grow, from a mere seed; when you don’t have a name or a certain branding recognition, you can’t just sit on your laurels – it makes you hungry again!
PS: I think the most rewarding experience for the band is creating art that we love and can pour our total selves into, then share with an active and appreciative audience. We are fortunate to have the ability to express our collective pathos into coherent musical ideas and expressions.
What has been your most memorable experience as a band?
GH: Our most memorable experience is playing the Sebastian Bach show at Rams Head Live. Playing in front of a packed house of old school rock n’ roll metal heads was amazing. The good people of Rams Head treated us like kings and we are forever grateful for their hospitality. Nights like that are the reason we work so hard to perfect our craft and create original music.
You’ve recently released a new record and novel by the same name, Children of The Program. What was your inspiration to do both a novel and record?
BC: It was something new – uncharted territory. I’d been releasing albums since 1996, but I really wanted to do something different and put my bachelor’s degree in journalism to work. I had started writing an autobiography, years ago, called “Fire in the Hands of an Angel,” but it just didn’t feel right. After all, I’m not famous – maybe infamous, but who the hell cares what I have to say? Nikki Sixx’s “Heroin Diaries” inspired me to write a novel and pair it with a soundtrack. There are a lot of inspired parts, but it’s heavily blended with sci-fi components – it’s a hybrid. So, I dove-tailed the two worlds and out came “Children of the Program”.
How do the two tie into each other?
BC: In some cases the songs tell the unwritten story and in some cases the songs closely match what’s going on in the book. For instance, the book starts in an underworld called ‘The Hallway of Sorrows,’ as does the album. Without spoiling anything, Back From a Suicide, adds to the novel and so on.
What do you hope to accomplish with your music?
JR: I’ve always been inspired by the connectivity within music. It’s amazing how the energy, spirit and message of a song can resonate with people who share the same philosophy or have been through similar experiences. Music is life’s soundtrack and I can’t count the number of times that an artist, song or album has helped me through the highs and lows. So I hope that one of our songs has that effect on someone – be it with one person or one million people – all of the blood, sweat and tears would be worth it.
What’s next for the band?
EM: We are excited to start incorporating more of the material from Children of the Program into our live shows. On the album, we really pushed each other technically and explored new genres. It will be great to see how a lot of those songs translate in a live environment. Another immediate goal would be to shoot a music video for one of the singles from the new album. In terms of the next step for We Love the Underground, we are always trying to outdo ourselves and explore new territory. This will be our approach to any new material that we start working on.
PS: LIVE SHOWS!!! And of course, continue to push the boundaries of music to meet our artistic endeavors for any given moment in time.
Anything else you would like to add?
BC: Check out the Children of the Program novel on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, and keep an eye out for the album of the same name’s release at MaGerk’s in Bel Air, Maryland on March 15, 2016. Also, thanks, as always, for the support and love!
