Ex-FORBIDDEN Guitarist Offers Update On SPIRALARMS Project

Guitarist Craig Locicero (ex-FORBIDDEN) of SPIRALARMS — the San Francisco Bay Area band also featuring Tim Narducci (ex-SYSTEMATIC) on guitar/vocals, Chris Kontos (ex-MACHINE HEAD, TESTAMENT) on drums, Chris Lombardo on bass and Brad Barth on keyboards — has posted the following message on the group's MySpace page:

"When Tim and I started SPIRALARMS two years ago, we were both a bit shell shocked by our previous bands implosions. We didn't have the clearest plan set out in front of us and we didn't know what the near future would bring. So we simply wrote music at a breakneck speed. I mean we piled up idea after idea. Then recorded what we could while all of the other songs were in a holding pattern waiting to land, so to speak. Some really good stuff was created, and some of that will even make it to our record.

"There was a lot of doubt about the band coming from a bit of everywhere with the industry and some the fans. Understandable, really. SYSTEMATIC and MANMADE GOD were both great projcts that failed to live up to the expectations of major labels. But what does, really? Exactly.

"Well, we did actually make a impact right away with the fans. I mean, the reaction was immediate. It really validated what we were going for. There was the beginning of a new sound, a glimpse of the future. All the while we never 'shopped' ourselves to record labels. Other people attempted to sneak some stuff through alternate channels to so and so and such & such, but never officially. Never by us. All we wanted to get to was the point when we felt like it was ripe for making OUR record. We were not really interested in moving too quickly.

"There have been member changes that tripped us up for a month here and there, but Tim and I still kept writting and recording. Even when we didn't have a drummer that was around, Tim played drums!

"The Eric Kretz [ex-STONE TEMPLE PILOTS drummer who played with SPIRALARMS for a while] chapter was very cool, but his life is at a different place now then it was before the millions of records were sold. He really just wanted to be a producer when the SPIRAL fell into his lap. He had the fever to rock until our bassist split on the eleventh hour. That spun his head pretty good. He wondered why in the hell someone would bail on such a great band with a bright future. Looking back on it, we are glad that happened. It weeded out everyone's priorities pretty good. We got REALLY focused.

"Lucky for us, along came Cornbread! We tried him out with Eric coming up from L.A. just to check it out. He was blown away with how much better he could lock in with Corn. Also the excitement that Corn had about our music was contagious.

"Eric wanted to wait until '06 to get started up with the new line-up, but that's when the three of us really went into lockdown mode. We couldn't wait around to make music. That's when we decided to talk to Kontos about 'sitting in' for Eric while he worked on his studio down in L.A. That's really how we were looking at it.

"Well, after jamming with Chris a couple of times, it was obvious that he was a key to our sound that needed to be there. He was as hungry as the rest of us, and a GREAT wealth of ideas flow when we sit in a room together. That's called chemistry! We recorded three songs that had more verve then anything else up to date. It was a new sound with Kontos behind the kit. Mind you, Eric is one of the greatest rock drummers today! Man, he's got a vibe! But Chris is on our level. Simple as that.

"Then comes Brad. [Now] that he's coloring between all of the energy that the other four of us bring in, things sound unlimited. We can literally do what ever we want to! He's a very talented dude. Barth Vader Lives!

"This IS the band that we've grown into. We are not afraid to try anything. You will really hear it when we release our newly completed songs next month. We've never actually let our fans have this much music before. Nine songs. Six with this line-up, three from previous works. It's just a taste of what we have. It should not be considered a record as much as a tribute to all of our fans that have been so patiently waiting for something to put is their car, or listen to at home or the office, iPod, whatever. It's for you!

"I think I've gotten to the part were I can sum everything up. Anyone who has followed us along the way. Anyone who has discovered us by accident or was turned onto us by a friend — you mean SO much to us! Words truly can't describe how it makes us feel to read the kind things that people have said about our music and how it affects them. SPIRALARMS is YOUR band no matter what successes we may have in our future. You've inspired us to grow without fear. You all know exactly who you are. We've either meet at a show or had e-mailed each other and communicated through MySpace sometime. All we need to do is look back over our thousands of e-mails and comments to know that it's real. We see other bands with 20,000+ friends with a couple of hundred comments like 'thanks for the add,' and you know something stinks. Our fans are our friends. That will never change!"