hard rock music and mp3 downloads from new york city rock band, Urbansnake - Urbansnake - Modern Classic Metal - YouTube Channel/News

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Urbansnake in the movies

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Hey friends and fans,

This is just a quick message to announce that Argentinian filmmaker, Javier Correa, has selected two Urbansnake tracks for his forthcoming feature film, Bhiper Dumas. We will keep you updated about this film's progress and release. Hopefully, we will soon be able to share clips of the specific scenes that include our music. We have been told that these scenes are key scenes in the film. Below, please find a link to the film's trailer. We appear in the music credits at the end.

We are hard at work on our third record --- yes, we still call them records.

Peace, love, metal,
Vin

Truth, Justice and the American Idol

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Recently, I came across a sickening post in Craigslist's musicians section for New York City. A person claiming to be A&R (or a talent scout) for record labels was inviting all musicians in search of a record deal to come meet him at a play he'd be attending in Manhattan that week. The catch, normally left unsaid, was clearly printed in the ad. You had to purchase tickets to the show in order to meet him there. Furthermore, not he, but his associate would accept your submission to this modern-day Oz, who promised, of course, to thoroughly examine your promotional package. Obviously, the real objective was to get people to buy tickets to his loser play.

It didn't surprise me that scamming snot-buckets like this alleged A&R figure still exist and are still trying to lure prospective showgirls who read too many magazines. I was surprised that his operation might achieve legs in New York City. We New Yorkers used to smell the fire before the match. We were street smart, cynical, assuming the worst from everyone until they'd convinced us otherwise.

I don't just blame American Idol, but all these contest-based reality shows pushing the idea that you're one casting call away from "Dancing with the Stars" or binding yourself in unholy matrimony to Bret Michaels' bandanna-harnessed Barbie wig. This is lottery mentality, not a plan for success.

But what else should we expects from a society that seeks fitness in a pill, not a gym? The guy who posted that aforementioned Craigslist ad understands and preys on this mentality.

I've had some success and have known people who've achieved very significant success in the entertainment industry. Those who weren't related to or tight with some celebrity or major industry figure worked extremely hard to get what they got, and much of that work was thankless. They weren't buoyed by some A&R guy hiding in some theater like the Phantom of the Opera -- and, by the way, if you care, it's worth your while to research how many of your favorite celebrities are the convenient kin of some big cheese. Often the "self-made" people we credit with pulling themselves up from their bootstraps actually started off with bootstraps. Why else would Brooke Hogan have a record deal?

But the real purpose of this rant is to beg my fellow independent artists to use discretion when approached by anyone asking you -- directly or indirectly -- for money in exchange for promotion. I don't trust the intentions of anyone who can't lose by investing in me, and I don't believe in a "lottery" approach to success.

Peace, love, metal,
Vin

Vinny's Prediction for UFC 100

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Okay, so most of you are probably saying, "What the hell does the lead singer of a rock band know about fighting?" Oh yeah? Well pose that question to my face. Kidding, of course.
The truth is that, aside from being an avid fight fan, I was captain of my school's wrestling team and sparred with all levels of fighters in the exclusive gym of former middleweight champ, Doug Dewitt, where I was trained by the very man who battered the great Tommy Hearns. I would list growing up in the Bronx as another credential, but that would only encourage more of those new-generation cowards who think their zip codes alone make them tough.

So, now for my informed stance on UFC 100's main event, Lesnar Vs. Mir. Yes, Mir did beat Lesnar by submission in their first fight. Yes, Mir is a much more amiable guy. But Michael Spinks was a much more amiable guy than Mike Tyson and, unfortunately for Spinks, personality doesn't score knockouts.

I think the same situation will present itself at UFC 100: Lesnar Vs. Mir. If you really watch their first fight, you will see that Lesnar was dominating the fight completely, until he was caught by Mir with that submission.

Lennox Lewis got caught by Hasim Rahman, but that doesn't make Hasim the better fighter. Lewis proved this in the rematch when he brutally chopped Rahman down to the canvas with punches so audible, they nearly blew out my TV speakers.

Lesnar is an obsessive athlete. That drive and self-centered attitude is what turns fans off. However, as I said before, this is not a contest of personalities any more than the Miss America Pageant is a contest of talent and eloquence.

If I'm at all a good reader of personalities, I have to say that Lesnar has worked hard to avoid take-downs and submissions. Mir will have to penetrate Lesnar's stand-up game in order to take him down, and I think he will get hit trying to do that. That's all Lesnar needs to do is connect.

I give Lesnar the win by TKO or KO before the end of round 2.

Building a New York City Monster

Sat, 23 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Take one skeleton, add flesh, observe, evaluate, nip, tuck, and, presto, a song is born. If only such a formula applied to writing good and memorable music. . .just a little Saturday morning musing about the creative process in which Urbansnake is now fully engaged, or better said, engorged. As I pen this, staring out the window of my pad, the angry traffic growling by, and the premature summer heat creating illusionary waves in the distance, I think about the Urbansnake record that is to come and know that my current vision of it will never match the end result. But that’s precisely how it should be. Nothing could be more New York. People come here from everywhere else in pursuit of some personal vision of their lives and ask New York to produce that. But New York City holds no mirror to your endeavors. Rather, it pulls it back as you approach and shows you the smallest version of yourself. New York City shrinks rather than swells your personal mission. It’s a tough place. Not in a natural sense, as in some other spots, where rough terrain, flood waters and poisonous creatures challenge the individual. No, this is the challenge of too many dreams and desires converging on one massive concrete and glass metropolis. It’s a miracle that it functions at all.

And this beautiful crisis is what we plan to etch into the grooves of our next recording -- the struggle, the bounce and the rhythm that has spawned and sustained each of us like some pissy dysfunctional mother. When listeners in the Midwest, or Germany or Japan or the mighty Texas spin this record, I want it to kick up the blackout of ’77, the Son of Sam, the gas crisis that surrounded the Iran-hostage bit and sent impossible lines to the pump twisting through neighborhoods like metal veins. I want the listener to feel the sting of a wrenched open hydrant during dog days on a melting and airless street, and to sense the scheming eyes beaming from dark doorways up and down the former Times Square. This was the New York City that raised each member of this band, and that has made us the strong but problematic people that we are. It’s a city that hits your mind, body and soul, constantly. So do the best records.

So, where to start? I pick up my Schecter, love the bitchy buzz as I plug in, stare once more out the window of my pad, the angry traffic growling by, as the premature summer heat creates illusionary waves in the distance, and think about the first time my father choked out a mugger in the Hunts Point section of The Bronx, my hand (his hand) gripping the neck of this instrument.

Urbansnake Makes 89.5 WSOU

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Thanks to our friends and fans for helping us to make it into rotation
on New Jersey's WSOU 89.5 FM. We greatly appreciate all the support.
You can call WSOU at 973-761-9768 and request Urbansnake when you'd
like, especially on the Streamline show, which airs Mondays 8-10pm NY
time.

Thanks again!

Check out our TV interview on The Late Night with Johnny P Show at:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3l1zPo0Bu_o

Also, remember you can download all of our music free at:

www.whiteknucklecd.com

Loyalty and Legend at L’amour

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

After our gig at L'amour, last night, we'd like the thank the people who have returned to see us, three times, now, at this legendary rock and metal hotspot on Staten Island. Moreso, we'd like to tell you why you should go to this club, if you haven't already. Aside from the legend and history associated with this place and its significance to any true rock and metal fan, the club runs in a manner that any music fan and/or band has to appreciate. Tired of being told your friends' band or favorite band is scheduled to play at 11pm, only to arrive at the place and have to wait until 2am to see them? Not at L'amour. This club runs its acts on schedule and provides excellent sound via its experienced and attentive soundmen. The club is also selective about its bookings, and provides quality acts, every time. So. . .if you haven't yet gone to the new L'amour on Staten Island, GO! And bring about 400 of your friends!

Looking back, Looking forward

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Now that the haze of the new year revelries has lifted, it's a good time to sum up the year behind us and to print our plans for the year ahead. Memorable shows? Snitch, Barney McNabbs (2 am and y'all still ruled), The Haunt (Halloween, always cool), L'amour (great show in the face of a snow storm. . .well, the 2007 version of a snow storm, dandruff in the wind) The Trash Bar and Pussycat Lounge.

Other happenings: recording our forthcoming album, Whiteknuckle, with producer/genius Tarik of Prime Time Studio (our 6th member). Making the video for "Orphan" on a grey and desolate Sunday morning through evening in Hunts Point -- Da Bronx (our home sweet home). Working with filmmaker/genius Steve Pitalo of Packratnyc (our 7th member). Our radio interview with Mike Yusi of ucradio and his big and dedicated audience who showed us much love. Meeting and befriending Vic and Laura of Glamazon. The numerous cool DJs here and abroad who spun our tunes.

What's on the agenda for 2008? Most important? Meeting more mad cool heavy music fans and then seeing them again and again. And again. A gig with A Perfect Tool, The Ultimate Tribute, at The Haunt in Yonkers on Saturday February 16th --- a sort of family reunion, as Mike May, their drummer, is the man who recorded all the drums with us on the forthcoming CD, Whiteknuckle. RELEASING WHITEKNUCKLE in February (it's being duplicated right now). Playing Dingbatz with Bound Alive (very cool people) on Saturday February 23rd in Clifton, NJ. Playing on Vin's first real birthday in 4 years (the poor guy's a leap year kid) at Barney McNabbs, the 401 show. We're hoping they don't i.d. him.

Getting the new disc into your hands!

Peace, love, metal

The band.

Urbansnake on ETTNO ROC Records

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0700

Urbansnake's much anticipated sophomore release, "Whiteknuckle," will be released, this fall, by ETTNO ROC Records. Both New York based, the team will internationally
distribute Urbansnake's new CD, while supporting the band's radio, magazine and television campaigns and continuing to place
Urbansnake in the sort of top rock venues the band has recently headlined. ETTNO ROC is confident that "the buzz on Urbansnake" is for real and a sign of the
Bronx-based outfit's coming success. If by "buzz," ETTNO ROC means the continuing
chatter amongst hard rock and metal DJs in both US and European markets, then the label
is right on target. California DJ, Michael Yusi (UCradio) said, on air, "They remind me of this mix of Metallica, Motorhead, Sabbath all just kind of contained in this ball of cranking power and controlled rage."

Look for
Urbansnake's "Whiteknuckle" in both digital and terrestrial markets. The debut video, "Orphan,"
is available at www.urbansnake.com

Roadhouse Show, Hemi's second gig!

Sun, 09 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0700

New drummer, Hemi, played his second gig with us at The Roadhouse in Yonkers, NY, last night, making this his second solid set with us. He has already received the endorsements of our most dedicated friends and fans. The band definitely has its "swagger" back and will definitely be bringin' the noise to Snitch and The Trash Bar, this fall (see calendar).

Much thanks to the responsive audience at The Roadhouse. You all rule, and we look forward to coming back and partying with you, again.