First of all I think the best way to start this interview is to introduce the band Bang for those are not familiar, lets go way back in the late 60s when you formed the band in the first place by filling us in on brief history on the very beginning of the band.

Hello Gabriel, thank you for the opportunity to get the word out about "Bang" ... we appreciate the support .......Frank Gilcken and I went to the same grade school.... became fast friends and began playing in bands together when we were 13 or 14 yrs. old ..... by the time we found our drummer .....Tony D'Iorio in the spring of 69" we were ready to start writing and defining our sound .....

You were one of the first bands that picked up the Black Sabbath sound in the early 70s you were also influenced by Beatles, did those bands formed the concept that you had in the early days?

The Beatles were everybody's inspiration by then ..... Heavier´bands like Sabbath and Grand Funk, were the bands we loved to party to .... we worked hard on getting our "own" sound ... I think we accomplished that ....

The name of the band Bang, after what I read you took the name out of a article by the big music-mag at that time Rolling stone, didnt you? and in the early days did you felt back in those days that the name was a perfect name to match the doom laden heavyrock that you made back then?

We wanted to find a name that was short and powerful .... when we saw the word "bang" in a Rolling Stone article, we knew we found our name .... "Bang" short sweet and to the point ..... it fit our music ...

One of the shows I have read that you made in the early days was the opening slot at a festival that was held at the Orlando Sport Stadium where Rod Stewart, Deep Purple and some other big names played was that particular the start of the following you had back then or did it come earlier?

That show in Orlando was the beginning of our career .... that's when "BANG" hit the big time. We heard about someone in Miami that might be able to help us "make it" and decided to take the trip ... we packed up the station wagon and the U-Haul trailer with all our eqipment and started driving south to Miami .... The first night of our trip, we stopped in Daytona Beach ... that's when we heard about the show in Orlando .... and on a dare, we decided to crash the show ... We had nothing to lose so we went for it ... we got to the arena around noon .... the place was pretty much empty except for the stage crew ...we pulled our U-Haul into the back lot and walked in ... hoping someone would let us play .... knocking on the office door, we convinced the promoter, Rick Bowen ... to give us a listen ... after setting up the equipment on the floor and playing a couple of songs .... Rick decided to give us a shot ... he liked what he heard and he let us play while the crowd was coming in .... we only played 4 or 5 songs but, there we were .... barely 48 hrs after we left Philadelphia ... we were opening up the show for Small Faces w/ Rod Stewart and Deep Purple ...

I have also read that you were picked up by a booking agency called East coast concerts in the early 70s and they booked you in with a lot of the big rock names at the time, could you fill us on some of the shows you did and how much did that supported the band in terms of following and building up the fanbase?

After the show Rick came back and said he loved what he heard and asked if we'd like to do a show with Steppenwolf in Richmond, VA. O f course, we said "Hell Yes" !!! At that point Rick became our mananger, he had a company called East Coast Concerts, which was a subsidiary of another company called Concerts West, which at the time was one of the biggest promotors in the country. Based out of Dallas, they booked all the super groups of the day. With East Coast and Concerts West as our managers, we got to open up for all the biggest bands such as:Alice Cooper, Mountain, Humble Pie, Three Dog Night ... the list goes on and on. We were lucky to play with a different act at every show ... that's how we started to build our fan base.

In 1971 you were signed with Capitol Records where you made 3 official albums Bang, Mother and Music you also made the album called Death of a country that never saw the light of day, its not even re-released on newpress or cd I got the latest news that you will re-release it yourself, when will that be out and compare with 3 other albums you made what musical direction did you have on that album?

The music on "Death of A Country was much heavier than it was on the "Bang" album. Capitol didn't want to release "Death" because they thought a heavy concept album would go over people's heads ... so at that point they gave us 2 weeks to write a new record, we went to work and in 2 weeks wrote all the music for the "Bang" album.

The very first album I layed my hands on several years back was the Bang album that came out in 1972, when I first heard it I thought it was unreleased Black Sabbath songs the album is very doomy, very heavy and very dark sounding looking back on that particular album were you pleased with the recordings and the support you got from the press and the fanbase you created with that album?

We were very pleased with the record. I remember all of us getting stoned and listening to the play back for the first time, the opening notes of "Lions...Christians", sounded awesome. We were lucky to have a great producer in Michael Sunday, who had produced Blue Cheer. He helped to create our "own" sound. So yes, we were very pleased with the record.

More on that album, nowdays almost 30 years after the release the album still stand the test of time it is still sounding very fresh, very emotional and very dynamic it is very timeless in my opinion, is this album the most completed album in your opinion compare to the rest of the albums that you did back then?

Thank you! That is the best compliment you can give a band. And your right the album seems to have gotten better with age. In fact, some of the music is appreciated more now than it was 30 years ago. The tunes are still fun to play, they never grow old - and that's pretty cool!!

The second album Mother was a good album it was more progressive compare to the doominess of that Bang album to me it is a bit more softer, were you looking for other directions on that album in a musical standpoint?

The "Mother" album was recorded within 6 months after our first album. So many things happened to the group in that period. We lost Tony as our drummer, and also our producer Michael went to Epic Records. We ended up producing the record ourselves. Our second producer didn't have the same vision for us as Michael had, also by that time, Capitol was trying their best to make us a commercial band . . . . That's how we ended up doing "No Sugar Tonight" on the album. With Tony gone, we used session drummers. One of which was Bruce Gary (from the Knack). Bruce did a great job laying down some great drum tracks.

The last album that you made back then on Capitol was Music that came out in 1973, the album was and still is in my opinion even more progressive compare to the first 2 albums and there is only a few numbers in there that I feel are compareable with the first album,looking back on that album were you pleased with the turnout of Music?

By the time the "Music" album came out, our label support was almost nil, everyone at Capitol that believed in Bang was now gone...We also parted ways with Rick Bowen and at that point Tony became the manager of the band ... We recorded "Music" in LA at the Sound Factory with Dave Hassinger, who engineered great 60's bands, like Strawberry Alarm Clock. Again Bruce played drums and did a great job. I love the drum tracks on the "Music" album. Every album was unique in it's own way, but the "Music" album was probably my favorite.

Back in those days with Capitol you also made a couple of singles, how much response was it on them from the press and your fanbase back then and is there a chance to find the singles today?

The "lost" singles were recorded at the end of our contract with Capitol and even though "Slow Down", "Feels Nice" and "Make Me Pretty" were great tunes, they died on the Vine . . . getting no support at all from Capitol. Most Bang fans never heard these songs. You can get the "lost" singles thru our website @BANGmusic.com.

After 1973 there was no more releases officially that came out with Bang, did you left Capitol in that period or did they not want to continue with Bang, fill us in what happened in that period 1973 and forward?

By the time we did the "lost" singles, the writing was on the wall. Capitol had lost interest in us and in turn we were very unhappy with their lack of support. That, along with the fact that we couldn't find the personnel to keep the band on the road . . . we became so frustrated by all the bullshit that we decided to break-up. Frankie had the opportunity to join a band in Texas . . . I stayed home working on solo projects before moving to Texas then LA. We moved back east in the mid 80's and ended up reforming in the late 90's.

Nowdays the only chance to get a hold of the Bang vinyls is by getting them at the record fairs and second hand shops I have hardly seen any re-issues through the years on cds. I got the vinyls from the record fairs several years back whose is to blame that your early albums have not reached out to a wider public in recent years and how is the demand nowdays to your early records? Please fill us in.

Tony put the Bang site up in 1996 and we found out our old fans never forgot us. Our music was still alive and we decided to give it another go. Capitol never pressed alot of albums, so they became rare rather quickly.All our music is now available thru our website @ BANGmusic.com

Back in the early days there was a very strong underground scene in the US with bands like yourself, Stonewall, Poobah,The Third Power, Banchee,Tin Machine, Stepson to name a few to the more bigger names like Cactus,Grand Funk, Sir Lord Baltimore and Mountain looking back on the scene in those 1970s days compare to the scene of today what was the biggest difference do you feel in terms of following, touring and building up a strong fanbase?

Don't forget the term "metal" was not coined until 1989 when Jethro Tull won the first "heavy metal" award. In the early days, the metal scene was deeply underground, it was much harder to get a following. Today with VH1 and MTV a good band has more places than ever to get noticed. If you get the right exposure and have great songs, things will take care of themselves.

More on the underground 70s heavyrock scene, thanks to Akarma, Little Wing, Rockadelic and other labels today those early records have the chance to be re-issued, what is your opinion about the massive following that the 70s heavyrock scene have today both in a inspirational way for new heavyrock bands and in terms of record sales?

Many bands from the 70's never got the recognition they deserved, the recognition came much later. . . it came because the early 70's heavy rock scene set the bar for the bands of today. The most "original" bands were in the 70's, that's when it all started.

Back in those days after what I have read about Bang, you didnt play one single show in Europe or did you? how much response did you get from Europe in terms of fanmail and following? Fill us in on that.

Unfortunately, we were getting ready to tour Europe with Rod Stewart before everything fell apart ... our first single "Questions" actually went to #2 in Hong Kong ... so yea, I think if we were able to tour Europe, we would have turned the corner and saved our careers. In retrospect, our strongest response came from Europe. In fact, we were getting more airplay overseas than we were at home. We broke up before we could take advantage of the opportunities overseas.

Now after all these years later you are back, after what I have read and heard you are playing various shows on the US eastcoast and you have also plans to record new material my question is how is the new material compare to the early records and when is a new album out with Bang?

After getting back together in 1996, the three of us realized that "Bang"was still a musical force and even though 25 years had passed, we were writing songs as if it were yesterday. The dream came alive and with a renewed thirst and love of the music, we resumed our quest. Remember, you don't stop playing because you get old - you get old because you stop playing.

* RTZ (Return To Zero) is our latest release ...

* We also have plans to re-release or re-record "Death Of A Country"

* A 30th Anniversary re-release of the "Bang" album is possible

* Also in the works is a new "metal" album for 2002.

Looking back on all the shows you have done so far what has been the best stage moment and what has been the worst, any good memories that you fill us in on?

For me the best memory was in Miami at the Sportatorium. Our music was all over the radio and we were headlining our first show. All I remember is everyone in the crowd yelling and screaming for different songs. ..do the "Queen".... do " Future Shock".... I remember everyone singing along with me. It blew me away that they knew the words . . . what a rush! Another highlight was opening up for Black Sabbath and stealing the show in North Carolina. At the time North Carolina was Bang country. I remember us showing Ozzy how to make the peace sign...they were all great guys...a lot of fun... All the memories were good ones, except for how fast our rollercoaster ride was and the mistakes in judgement we made.

Finally now that you are back together what is the next plans for Bang,fill us in on that?

Our plans for the furture are to play . . . until "death do us part" ... We have found a new drummer in Greg DiSabatino and also have Frankie's son - Jon - playing rhythmn guitar. The band sounds better than ever and we're ready to kick some ass!!

Thank you very much for answering my questions, I hope that a new Bangalbum will come out soon and it will have the early fire that you once created. Its brilliant to have you back on the scene.

Thanks again Gabriel for your support ....and to "Bang" fans everywhere we're back to stay .... and rest assured "the fire still burns"

thank you,

Frank Ferrara

For more Information on Bang, visit their Official Website
Email: frank@bangmusic.com,tony@bangmusic.com
Adress: Bangmusic.com, 2535 Marsh Lane # 1103, Carollton TX 75006 U.S.A