Not many bands can say their first gig was at the House of Blues Parish room playing with New Orleans Saints players Kyle Turley and Jerry Fontenot. Likewise, not many bands can say they have a song being played on a cable television show. Local metal outfit 4 Mag Nitrous can say both.
“It’s like six degrees of separation,” said guitarist Jimi Hudson. “We got our first gig at the Parish room, but it’s all because of meeting people along the way like Jerry and Kyle. I give guitar lessons, and Jerry came to me for a little while; once I met him we started jamming which is how we got the House of Blues gig.”
Formed in 2000, the band concentrated mostly on developing its bombastic old school metal resonance, where singer Jol Congiolosi screams like a beaten animal over the undeterred rhythm section of bassist Kib Prestridge, guitarist Jimi Hudson and drummer Gabe Richmond.
4 Mag Nitrous’ sound is reminiscent of Black Sabbath and Pantera, while remaining loyal to its southern Louisiana heritage where bands like Crowbar, Eyehategod and Soilent Green have been obvious influences.
The band developed its own attitude, embracing hot-rod and motorcycle culture that has influenced their “chopper rock” sound and “working man’s band” performance ethic where its thunderous grooves and blue collar attitude reigns.
A chance meeting with legendary motorcycle/car builder and modification specialist Jesse James of Los Angeles’ West Coast Choppers led the band to cable television. Congiolosi, who paints dragsters in his day job, said he was trying to sell his work when the two crossed paths. Coincidentally, James was hosting a new television series on the Discovery Channel called “Monster Garage.”
“Actually, I had some sheet metal that I had painted, and I was trying to sell it and ran into him and gave him a CD,” Cangiolosi said. “Next thing you know we got a postcard in the mail that they liked the song. They contacted us and licensed the song.”
The song, “Cypress Stumps and Flies,” featured on the show, also is part of a nationally released compilation CD coinciding with the program, and as a result the band is receiving major exposure.
In the near future, 4 Mag Nitrous possibly may be seen on MTV. According to the band, an independent film crew has approached the group to film them going through the motions of what it takes to be an independent band. From booking the show to playing it, all aspects of band life will be exposed.
“It’s not going to be like Bands on the Run,” Prestridge said. “With that show they follow you around on tour. This is more like what it takes for a working band to get to the club, try to get record people interested, to try to make music and how to promote.”
However, Prestridge said nothing is definite, and they don’t even know if MTV will be interested in the piece once it’s done. He also says VH1, Much Music TV or any other independent media outlet could pursue the show if MTV shows no interest.
Recently, 4 Mag Nitrous got back from the South by Southwest music conference in Austin, Texas where they were featured on a local TV show and approached by The Austin Chronicle.
“The music scene is in New York and L.A. for most of the year, but for that first week in March everyone goes to Austin,” Hudson said. “It’s really good to go there and meet people. Every magazine, newspaper, radio station or any other sort of media that exists was there. It’s really something to see.”
The band compared the conference to a Mardi Gras-like atmosphere and even through all the confusion managed to meet MTV2 VJ Ian Robinson, who later e-mailed the group to request a shirt that the band hopes he’ll wear on air.
“It’s little things like that that help out these smaller club gigs,” Hudson said. “More and more people start to make a buzz, and it really pays off.”
Bands, known and unknown, come from all over the world to South by Southwest annually to interact with each other and make contacts.
“Willie Nelson was there, and he was doing the same thing we were doing: networking,” Hudson said. “That’s the beauty of South by Southwest; it’s for bands big and small.”
In the next couple of weeks 4 Mag Nitrous will begin pre-production on its next record and will play at a crawfish boil April 5 at Ichabod’s on Chimes Street.
Performing with Southern Whiskey Rebellion and Black Market Halos, the band has said the event will have more than 450 pounds of crawfish. The show begins at 10 p.m. and will be $10 with food or $5 without food.
Contact the band at its Web site, www.4magnitrous.com.