Utter Trash--Another Mother

Bonded by Hate

An interview with Tony Lombardo of Another Mother

By Bob Ignizio

Another Mother l to r: Rodney Rose, Brian Roseander, Jim Teranovich, and Tony Lombardo

“We got together, mainly because we missed hating each other,” explains Another Mother guitarist Tony Lombardo. The rest of this volatile combination is bass player Rodney Rose and drummer Jim Teranovich. The three of them grew up together, and for the past three years they’ve been playing music together as well. About a year ago the band’s line-up was completed by vocalist Brian Roseander, who apparently exists outside this circle of hate. “We got Brian and I think it was about a month after that we started doing gigs,” says Tony.

The group’s sound is a subtle and often intricate style of hard rock, mixing both classic and modern rock influences. Tony says, “We grew up listening to Sabbath, Zeppelin, Floyd, things of that nature. If you listen real closely you can hear all those influences. There’s also a bit of a modern touch. I tend to listen to what’s going on with today’s music. That kind of gets brought across with the guitar work, I feel. Brian being a younger guy is influenced more by the newer stuff that’s out there. It brings kind of a unique blending of the elements together, so to speak.” To capture their sound, the band chose Mars studios to record their first demo. The band collaborated with Bill Korecky on the production, and has only good things to say about the experience. “It’s the only place to go,” says Tony.

When it comes to writing, the band all contribute. That said, Tony admits Rodney usually starts the process. “Rodney does come up with the bulk of the riffs; I’ve got to give him that. Then we all help to glue them together and come up with complimentary parts. He’ll come in with an idea and then the rest of us wind up steering it in a certain direction. It’s very much a group effort,” says Tony. The lyrics are written by Brian. “From talking to Brian, a lot of it is personal experience and his perception of things. Like he says, he can only write what he knows and understands,” says Tony.

As for his own playing, Tony tends to steer clear of the standard power riffs. “It’s because Rodney plays so intricately, to play just power chords left it sounding very bland, says Tony. “A lot of it is just dependent on what the song calls for. If it needs power chords, it needs power chords. But usually I try to search for that extra edge to give it a little more harmony, seeing as we’re just a 3 piece.”

So far the band has done well on the Cleveland scene, scoring several choice opening slots for national acts as well as sharing the stage with other local bands. Some of the bills they’ve been on, though, seem a strange fit. “We played with Lizzy Borden, which I thought was weird,” says Tony. “It was a good show for us, we had great crowd response, but I don’t think the audience was expecting us.” They’ve also played with Chevelle, Kings X, and Reverend Horton Heat. With respect to the Rev., Tony says, “It actually worked pretty well for us. I was expecting a little bit more of a rockabilly thing, which it was, but it very heavy. It was kind of a neat surprise for me.”

Although they have had some airplay on 92.3, the band hasn’t really pushed their first CD that much yet. “We just wanted to get the first disc recorded and get out there and play some gigs, kind of test the water. Now that it seems to be working we’re going to start pushing it a little harder,” says Tony. Looking to the future, Another Mother is gearing up for another round of recording. “We’re going back into the studio the beginning of this New Year, so we’re going to lay low until we get the second disc done unless a really good gig presents itself,” says Tony. In closing, Tony says, “We’re just four guys that love to jam and we hope that people enjoy what we do.”