THE CASANOVAS - The Casanovas

THE CASANOVAS - The Casanovas  CD  2004
Livin' In The City / Break Your Heart / Heartbeat / Here's To It / No Time For Love / Shake It / Runnin' So Late / Strange Dreams / One More Time / 10 Outta 10 / The Most Hated Man In Melbourne* / The Lady Downstairs* (*bonus tracks)
The Casanovas: Damo Campbell: vocals, bass / Tommy Boyce: vocals, guitars, percussion / Jaws: drums.
Its not rock. Its not even Rock. Its ROCK. Melbourne trio The Casanovas are pure, unadulterated guitar adrenalin wrapped in a tight t-shirt and faded jeans. They're a mighty remix of everything good about your favourite band, but with the ability to make it distinctly their own sound. You cant throw your arms around a memory, but The Casanovas are all too real. The Casanovas were originally formed in 1999 with all three original members hailing from Melbourne, Australia. The Casanovas was the brainchild of brothers, Tommy and Patrick Boyce and original bassist, Jimmy Lewis. The Boyce brothers met Jim while working together scrubbing pots & pans in the back kitchen of Pattersons cake shop in Windsor, Melbourne.

The idea of the name The Casanovas was partly inspired by the look of the Casablanca records logo that featured on early Kiss vinyls that they all grew up listening to, as well as a healthy dose of irony, (none of them were getting laid!). Early on, their sound was described as AC/DC meets KISS with leanings to the 70s New York punk sounds of such names as The Dictators and The Ramones. Although individually, they had many other influences that helped mould their sound. The Stooges, MC5, The Rolling Stones, The Saints, Dead Boys & Turbonegro just to name a few. Armed with only a handful of songs after five rehearsals, The Casanovas were quick to start gigging around the venues of suburban Melbourne. Supporting seminal local rock acts such as The Powdermonkeys, The Monarchs and Tim Rogers as well as the now massive White Stripes on their first tour of Australia. In mid 2000, The Casanovas cut their debut single, 10 Outta 10. An anthemic, fist pumper that was released on 7" vinyl through local Melbourne punk label Full Toss Records.

This release established them on local community radio stations such as PBS and RRR as well as national radio on JJJ. The Casanovas were quick to gain their own local following and started grabbing peoples' attention with their balls to the wall rock n roll sound, along with an entertaining live show with their sometimes tongue in cheek style histrionics A short time later in 2001, the band expanded their line up and were joined by second guitarist, James Saunders. During this time the band played a JJJ live-at-the-wireless gig and scored a slot on the legendary Big Day Out festival in Melbourne This line-up lasted for about a year until James decided to leave due to work commitments. Mid 2002 saw the band team up with legendary Aussie producer/guitarist, Shane O'Mara to record their debut Ep, '..Keep It Hot'.

In Late 2002, The Casanovas secured a support slot on The Dictators national tour of Australia This was a very exciting prospect for the band at the time because not only was this an opportunity to play with one of the band's biggest heroes, but it would be the very first time for The Casanovas to spread their wings and tour outside of Melbourne. Unfortunately, bassist Jimmy Lewis was unable to leave Melbourne for any extended period of time because of his full time work commitments which ultimately led to his decision to leave the band. Tommy and brother Pat recruited ex Mustang bassist Damo Campbell as replacement and the tour went on as planned. Not long after this, the band signed to local indie label Rubber Records.

 A diet of constant gigging built strong rock muscles as the bands profile began to build with a growing reputation as a bona fide live rock band. In 2003, The Casanovas were invited by New Zealand's The Datsuns to join them on a nine week tour of Europe and America. After a run of around 40 shows around the world and a coveted slot on the SXSW festival in Texas, the band returned to more and more touring back in Australia and a reputation as one of the most hard working and exciting live rock acts in the country.The recording of their first album took place after and during heavy touring schedules, the pressure of which sadly, eventually lead to Patrick quitting the band to pursue a more sane lifestyle.

With the album half finished, Damo and Tommy recruited legendary 'Onyas' drummer, Jaws Stanley. After a mere 4 days of rehearsing the songs, Jaws went on to finish the drum tracks, allowing the album to be completed.With their new line-up and debut album finally released, The Casanovas hit the road again. Tours of the UK, Japan, USA, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia saw the band's chemistry and live prowess continue to grow stronger. July 2005 saw the band complete their most recent tour of the UK and Spain and then on to California to sign a US deal with indie label, IROCK, (through which their debut album has been recently released through the US) and, to record their incredible sophomore album with legendary producer Sylvia Massy Shivy at Radiostar Studios you'll have to wait for July 2006 to hear it though!

Combining the best elements of classic AC/DC, the Ramones and every other sleaze ball rocker to have crawled outta the gutter in the last 30 years, The CASANOVAS are the best damn rawknroll outfit this country has spewed forth in eons. BEAT, Melbourne 
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