Music
Press
Former Lowell resident Darren Zancan -- who once sang lead in local rock band Zion before relocating to new digs in Lexington, Ky. -- contacted this column to inform old Zion fans he has a new five-piece, alt-rock band in Lexington called Down Jupiter (myspace.com/downjupiter).
Zancan's group has been on a roll lately. First, it landed corporate sponsorships by Bed Head and Rockaholic products, and now comes word it has been chosen to appear on the forthcoming national Stone Temple Pilots tribute album, "Wicked Garden: A Millennium Tribute to STP," being released by Versailles Records.
While Versailles has a small stable of its own original artists (Jasy Andrews, The Radio Vipers and Richard Kendrick), it specializes in compilation albums and orchestrating "tributes" to name artists, by putting members of various famous bands into a recording studio to jam on songs by a specific artist.
Versailles' latest such project was "Lick It Up: A Millennium Tribute To Kiss." Local singer Andrew Walker of the Lansing-based band, Drama Queen Die, was featured on the 2006 Bon Jovi tribute covering Bon Jon's "Never Say Goodbye."
As with past albums, the STP tribute, due out in spring 2009, will feature members from well-known hard rock and alt-grunge-era groups such as Steelheart, Quiet Riot, Kiss, MSG, Machine Head, Megadeth, Dokken, and Fuel, along with a few select up-and-coming bands that were influenced by the subject band, doing their own original songs.
Down Jupiter is among the latter, and its original tune, "Writing On The Wall," will be featured on a bonus CD sampler that will accompany the all-star STP covers disc.
Bands interested in being a part of future Versailles "tribute" projects can contact the label to make inquiries via its Web site, versalliesrecords.com
- Times Newspaper
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
In August 2008, the wheels were in motion and steps were taken to bring a new band into the music scene. Consisting of five members, Darren Zancan, Clint Edwards, Tim Jewell, Nathan Vierra and Mike Henry, each took very different roads, but in the end found Down Jupiter.
The bottom line was a love for music and a need to incorporate it into their lives on a higher level than they have ever had before. All five have been musicians for years, but individually they wanted to break through. They knew it would take the right combination of musicians to achieve that goal. Walking into the unknown, they rely on each other to produce a brand of rock that comes directly from their experiences in life, their past and their future.
Down Jupiter started with Darren Zancan and Clint Edwards. Clint left his previous band, inevitably searching for more. When that happened, Darren knew that musically, it made sense to join forces with his former band mate and build from the ground up, their way. Their vision was met quickly by Tim Jewell, who without much thought, walked away from his former band, leaving a solid base, to help build something that they knew all a long needed to be built.
Two spots remained. Yet those spots needed to be filled with the right musicians and the right people. A bass and drum combination that have played together for eight years, jumped at the chance to try out. It seemed natural, when all five stepped onto the stage together. Down Jupiter was born. Each member has different influences. Each member comes from a background, but what makes this tandem so strong is their love for music and that same background that seems so different only brings them closer together.
Their ultimate goal is to build up and go as far as they can, sounds like any rock band, but the key is their drive. Whether it is entertaining a few fans or thousands, Down Jupiter is ready to release a sound, work towards the future and achieve their goals.
Links
