| A B O U T |
| With a raised middle finger to the commercial outlets that snubbed them, the neo-funk core band Night Terrors proved that aggressive 365-days-a-year touring, allegiance to and rapport with fans, and remaining true to yourself and your music pay off with platinum status---much like metal maestros Metallica. Formed in 1994 in New Jersey, when guitarists Lucius and Uri Van Helmett returned home to Hackenack, NJ, for a visit and stumbled upon vocalist Cali Pitt fronting local band Jagged Edge. The two convinced Cali to sing in their band---which also included former Hackensack inhabitants Tad Clay on drums and long-time friend of the Van Helmett brothers Rick Talon on bass. Together, they created intense grooves with heavy thumping bass, phantasmogorical vocals, and even the occasional recorder played by Lucius. In 1994, Night Terrors released their first album entitled "Through the Looking Glass. The album was ignored by critics but adored by skaters and punkers, and a great many disenchanted youths who could relate to the quintet's fierce and ferocious music and cathaartic lyrics. Propelled by the primal appeal of "Alice" and "Down the Rabbit Hole", the only two songs that received a modicum of radio play, and the relentless touring---both in small clubs and in larger venues with the likes of Marilyn Manson, Ozzy Osbourne, and Korn---the album went platinum in less than a year after its release. The follow up, 1995's The Walrus and the Carpenter showcases a musically mature Night Terrors with improved song structures and slightly more pop tones creeping into their still-very-creepy tunes. Far from radio-friendly, nearly every song includes profanity. The proof's in the results, or in the record sales in Night Terror's case; proving Night Terrors are a viable and important force in today's alternative music, The Walrus and the Carpenter is currently platinum status (selling 20,000 to 50,000 units a week), and with a healining main-stage slot on Lollapalooza '97, their third album The Jabberwocky is sure to reach one million by summer's end. From their music and lyrics (especially the second album's "The Other Side of the Mushroom," a plaintive song about Clay past addiction to heroin, and "The Pig and the Pepper," which deals with Talon's abusive childhood) Night Terrors seem to comprise five massively sick and depressed motherf!?kers, but with raised middle fingers and smirks of success, they're pretty content traveling the world in an air-condtioned tour bus. |