What happens when you take five talented artists who have done (and are still doing) an amazing job at various musical endeavors and put them all together in one band? A perpetually potent and powerful party in the form of a band named “Down Durty Boyz!” This insanely skilled group is comprised of Richie Cross (Lead Vocals), currently also in the band ‘Fireline’, Lindley Letsrock (bass guitar and vocals), who is best known for fronting ‘SLEJJ’, Michael Giardina (Guitar and vocals), formerly of ‘Soulicide’, Chris Koloian (Guitar and Vocals), currently in ‘Adam’s Anguish’ and Justin Marsch (Drums) of ‘Marsch’s Law’. If you have ever seen any of these guys on stage, you know that this is an all star cast of rockers.
Down Durty Boyz (DDB) is not just a rock band, though, it is a show band. They don’t play by the book, but they are in it to entertain and have fun. Songs may not sound the same every time they play them. They don’t play straight covers, nor do they play straight original songs. As DDB’s bassist, Lindley Letsrock will tell you: “We play original covers. We take cover tunes and kind of make them our own.” Their mixes cover everything from classic to modern pop. On any given night you may hear a ‘mash-up’ of two or three different well known songs. For example, can you imagine mixing “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” with “Beat it”? Basically, they take the hooks from two or more songs, mash them together and try to get everyone on the dance floor and have some fun.
As far as how the band came to be, Richie Cross explained it this way; “Chris and myself were in the mood to put something different together ever since I left Soulicide. Then, when Mike quit Soulicide as well, he contacted me and he was into doing the same thing as Chris and myself. We tried a few bass players and drummers but we weren’t satisfied so we brought in Justin through Chris. Then I brought in Lindley after discussing all of these decisions as a band. Once Lindley came in, we knew that he was the missing piece of the puzzle. Lindley brought a lot of fresh ideas to the table and we were all on the same page. As far as the name, Chris threw it out there when we were playing with a bunch of names and Lindley came up with some cool logos that really pop.”
Only together since mid-June, Down Durty Boyz is already in what they refer to as ‘Phase 2’. Phase 1 was a short phase, according to Richie. They just performed a set of the standards and a few new songs to show people that the rumors about them all coming together to play were true. “Kind of like a press conference in person if ya know what I mean.” says Richie.
Now Phase 2 mostly encompasses the first wave of merchandising. This includes many items that cater to women as well as men. Shirts and shot glasses are just a couple of things that will be available at shows and on their brand new website www.downdurtyboyz.com.
Down Durty Boyz is a fun band in the sense that everything doesn’t have to be formal. They are not a note for note band, but they still sound great and are very entertaining. As Lindley puts it: “If we mess up, that’s ok. We’re just having a good time, blowing off some steam and trying to bring back the party to the cover tune scene. We are DJ’s without the turntables.” Lindley is in four other musical collaborations as well and he is fueled by being non-stop creative. He is completely devoted to each one and he welcomes any musical challenge he can get. As he puts it; “Music is Life, a form of creativity to me. Anything that you create is life, art is life. I love being a musician.”
Down Durty Boyz are looking to bring back the fun music party reminiscent of the ‘80’s with no egos, no competition from others, just hard work. You will always get a concert sound and coming soon a video and light show filled with visual effects that will blow your mind.“We can’t grow without the fans and the shows will only get bigger and better”, Richie points out. “Until our major debut, we will keep bringing a little more.”
The official debut of the band will be in October. Further details will be available at a later date as they expect to be touring South Florida and eventually surrounding states. This is not just your regular run of the mill band; it is gearing up to be a large production show that will be unlike any other band experience you have ever seen!
