I hail from the mighty area of Fulton and Montgomery counties. While the musical scene isn’t as widespread as it is in the Capital Region, it is not something you want to sleep on. I recently got to catch up with an old friend of mine, Adam Hannis from Blast-Craze. We discussed this new project, and what the future may hold. Blast-Craze is playing a show with Society High May 17th at the King’s Inn in Schenectady.
Joey: Who is the best artist or band you’ve seen live?
Blast-Craze: There was a multi decade run where Gwar was the most exciting weird extravaganza touring the country. It was a chimera of concert, musical, B horror movie, and water park. I saw them multiple times. They never disappointed and it was always cool to see what new characters and storylines they brought to life on stage. I love the music and they are great players but I would always encourage people to goto the show.
Joey: Who are you, where are you from and what previous bands were you in?
Blast-Craze: I (Adam) am from Mayfield, and both Tony (Anzalone) our guitar player and singer and Jason (Bowie) our drummer are from Northville; both small upstate NY towns nestled in the foothills of the Adirondacks. We first met in our teens. In places like these the talent pool of musicians is small, as is the punk and metal scene. Tony and I were in a punk band back then called Johnny Apple Cock. We played in Albany and Saratoga mostly. After high school we all went our separate ways for quite a while. We had musical projects but not together. Bowie played in the Bed Spins, In Traction, and Goat Fight. I played in Tolmantown, and Amphetamine Army. We really started playing music together when Tony moved into a house with some of our mutual friends. It became the party house everyone went to and was known for all night jam sessions. People drank, slept and played music in an all weekend rotating shift. This was a blast but after a while I needed a change of scenery. I convinced two friends to follow me to Colombia and busk for beer money for the winter. That is a story for another time. Before we went, we decided to throw a going away party and enlisted our network of musician friends to play. An epic party needed an epic name. This was our first Jamzilla festival. Jamzilla was so successful that it needed to be repeated. It blossomed into a benefit for Alzheimer research that ran for 10 years straight. Jamzilla was held at Aaron’s Irish pub in Gloversville NY. I was the head organizer, but we all played a part. The last project we were all in was a punk band called Totally Gnarly. We had a good run releasing three EPs, playing in and around Albany, and had a few long weekends on the road in the Northeast. Check out Totally Gnarly “Poop in my Pants” on Spotify. Blast-Craze is the direct descendent from this last band. We had to change roles a bit to make the three piece format work. Tony was promoted to lead singer and sole guitar player. I was relocated to bass after being a guitar player in Totally Gnarly for almost 10 years. It was a big change but we have landed on our feet. Blast-Craze just passed the one-year mark from our first show.
Joey: I see a heavy punk influence and metal vibe in your music, what else influences your sound? What can listeners look forward to at your show at Kings Inn?
Blast-Craze: If you can hear that influence then we are doing our job, haha. Punk, metal, and hardcore is what we play best together as a band, but our influences go much deeper. There is a love for rock ’n roll that is the bedrock in our music. Tony can do a hardcore bark or punk rock scream but also sings like a 50’s crooner in some of our songs. We like melody and hooks. It’s not all chaos and aggression. The best punk bands make angry catchy. As far as what to expect at Kings we are going to bring our best. We have original songs that include our latest single “Tony the Pony” and we are going to play some classic punk covers to fatten up the set. It’s a two band bill with us and Society High so we have a longer set time than normal. It will be our first time playing in Schenectady so we want to be on top of our game.
Joey Boots: “Tony the Pony”, perfectly blends the punk, Metal and tongue in cheek vibes, all condensed in short punch you in the face song formats. Is that the natural direction of your other originals?
Blast-Craze: “Tony the Pony” is the most metal song in our catalogue. It was written before the band was formed, at a time when I was obsessed with Municipal Waste and Ghoul. It is an oddball in the set, but that’s why we released it as a single. We have serious songs and some that are more lighthearted or funny. We all write and contribute although Tony has taken the reigns as our primary song writer. While they all share a commonalitythe songs are diverse. We see that as a strength and it also makes it more fun for us creatively. The more we write the more we are developing our sound. We keep a list of weird song titles if someone has a goofy phrase or misspeaks at practice. There for sure will be more tongue-in-cheek or straight up lampooning songs.
Joey: What other local bands have you played with?
Blast-Craze: Like we mentioned we are playing with Society High Saturday May 17th. We have been lucky enough to open for the mighty Girth Control, and Albany punk legends Trauma School Dropouts. Death Cult Pharmaceutical and Lex Naturalis have put us on their shows in Glens Falls. Check out Cheap Heat, and Schenectaviodz for capital region hardcore punk. Not for the faint of heart. Ice Queen slays; you just have to hear them. Before the Warning, The Hauntings, and Zombie Giuliani are all punk bands that we hope to do some more shows with. Sleep of Yavanna, and Blindsided are our friends in our hometown scene. I am sure we are missing some, but that's a decent list.
Joey: What can we expect next from Blast-Craze?
Blast-Craze: We have a couple shows that are not announced yet. Stay tuned for that. We are in the process of recording our first EP. Once that is finished, we plan to shoot some music videos and go play shows around the Northeast in support of the EP. We have done all of our own audio and video production so far and are continuing to do so for now. Not being pros, it takes longer but we are learning as we go. I have committed myself to get better as an engineer and videographer. Check out our YouTube page to see the videos we have put out so far. Follow Blast-Craze on Youtube and stream Tony the Pony wherever you want! We are booking shows now so send us a message!
https://blast-craze.bandcamp.com
https://www.youtube.com/@Blast-Craze
https://www.instagram.com/blastcrazeband/
https://www.facebook.com/BlastCrazeBand/
