How did URN get started?

URN actually has its beginnings as far back as 1994 in Cleveland, OH. Dominic while attending college had been working in commercial radio upon his graduation and was heavily involved in two bands, with URN being very much a death metal incarnation along the lines of a Sepultura, Napalm eath type of vein (Dominic was not the singer however).

Around the same time, he also had a gothic-rock “Sisters of Mercy” type of band called Sacrosanct, in which the famed occult novelist Michelle Belanger was the lead singer. Sacrosanct and had worked along with Ed Douglas, who later went on to found Midnight Syndicate and has colossal success ever since.

This incarnation basically began back in 2000, while Dominic was still an active member of the Electric Hellfire Club. For the most part, despite his great experience with the EHC, he felt it was time again for him to pursue his own thing. Teaming up with some of his musical students at the time, he somewhat made a hybrid of the two bands and Thomas Thorn urged him to use the URN moniker once again.

After fulfilling EHC tour obligations, URN then went out on two tours in 2001 once in the spring with the Babylonian Tiles and then in the fall with Gossamer.

What have been some of URN’s musical influences?

It’s quite various. Each member of the band is very unique in their approach to music, but the common bands that can be cited are Type O Negative, The Misfits, Metallica, Sisters of Mercy, Nightwish to name a couple.

URN also tries to integrate non-rock influences, such traditional Celtic music, first nation (Native American), even some liturgical influences to give the original compositions something a little more different for the listener.

What have been some of the highlights of URN’s live performances?

URN has been blessed to have had the many opportunities to travel extensively and play a great number of places.

Most memorable shows were Endless Nights in New Orleans in 2004 were the band had an opportunity to be one of the main acts and play to 1000+ people, also in New York City at the Long Black Veil Reunion earlier in that tour.

Being a part of the Radio Active Benefit in Detroit in 2002 with IPM Radio was also a fantastic endeavor as well as opening for the Cruxshadows there in 2003. Detroit has been very good to the band over the past five years.

They also have had great experience from their multiple trips across the border to Canada particularly in places such as Red Square in St. Catherines and Toronto.

URN also has quite a few great performances in Milwaukee, whom has been highly supportive of the band and is thought as a second home. Also, the first GenCon to Indianapolis was also a great show as well.

The band enjoyed a great show at the Double Door last year and opened quite a few networking opportunities that they are still enjoying today.

What can you tell us about Desecrated Ashes?

Desecrated Ashes was URN’s second EP they self-released. However, it was their first real foray into a larger musical audience having registered it with Nielsen and various other major corporate entities. The EP brought Michelle back to the band on a new version of “Angels Are Weeping” which was URN’s Canadian single and became an anthem of sorts for the Vampire community. The song was allegedly used in A&E Biographies: The Secret Life of Vampires which aired this past Halloween.

“Little Tin Goddess” was the most commercially successful song having received play on major radio stations in several U.S. and Canadian cites and URN was the featured local band of the week on the now-defunct 94.7 the Zone in January 2004.

“Father Dearest” saw a great number of plays and downloads through various internet stations and websites from everything from Garageband.com to IPM Radio.

“Liar in Waiting” saw some airplay on several extreme rock stations throughout the U.S and Mexico and was one of the top download songs on Number One Music.com for a couple of months.

What’s next for you?

The horizon is going to bring great many things. For starters, URN officially signed with Rotting Corpse Records for the new album “Dancing with the Demigods” which will be their first full-length album slated for a spring 2006 release. The band also recently finished shooting the video for the first single of this album called “Shadow Dancer” in which URN was honored to have the Vampire Don Henrie of Sci-Fi Channels’ “Mad, Mad House” fame co-star in the video along with Michelle Belanger who acted as an artistic consultant as well as doing backing vocals.

Passim Productions who will be releasing a documentary called “National Vampire” was the production company that filmed the video and it was truly an incredible experience for everyone involved.

The video will be on the CD itself and through Rotting Corpse Records’ distribution the album will be nationally and internationally available in a number of major music-retail such as fye, Tower Records, Sam Goody, Virgin to name a few. You will also be able to purchase the album through various retailers such as Circuit City, Best Buy and possibly Hot Topic as well.

Plans are being made for an aggressive radio campaign for a couple of singles off the album to help support the new release as well as a campaign for the video.

URN has always been a band the prided itself on its touring prowess and will certainly continue to do so through 2006. Currently two tours are planned in the spring with the focus being on the U.S. east coast and the Midwest and then in the fall heading to the west coast and doing a few weeks out that way. URN will also be active again on the convention circuit as we are in talks with several organizations about appearances as well.

So, certainly a period of high activity, but this is what we love to do so we don’t view it as work and fell highly blessed that we have had the opportunities and the experiences that we have had.

Check out www.urncentral.com for all the latest band news.

Tags | gothic, Interviews, Music