Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Five years after the Dwellers' excellent though largely ignored EMI Records debut, Whatever Makes You Happy, Before You Save the World finds the band, called simply Dweller, with a few new members but the same gritty and expertly crafted rock. Leader/frontman John Adriani's radio-ready songwriting chops are completely intact, making it doubly unfortunate that Dweller was dropped from EMI, effectively negating a great album's opportunities for mass airplay. Surprisingly though, considering it's self-released, this record is actually a hair slicker and poppier than the group's first effort. That said, Before You Save the World retains all of the T. Rex/Cheap Trick/New York Dolls nastiness that made the debut such a pleasure, plus adds a dose of the kind of maturity and wistful melancholy that only experience and hard luck can produce. Standout tracks include the title cut, which is a sweeping "All the Young Dudes"- or "Let It Be"-style ballad, and "If I Were Superman," the perfect red-caped rocker for those who think that Five for Fighting song is just a bit too drippy. Also here is a somewhat curious re-recording of "Rocket Ride," which doesn't really improve on the original, but works well in the context of the album. Overall, Before You Save the World makes one wonder why the Black Crowes are successful though they haven't written a good song since 1992, while Dweller labors in obscurity, pumping out one "shoulda-been-a-Top-Ten" tune after another. - AMG by Pemberton Roach
Seemingly from nowhere (though actually just from Upstate), The Dwellers burst onto the New York City scene in 1995 with an unabashedly retro power-pop/gutter rock sound. The group seemingly had it all: a cute but trashy front man, super catchy New York Dolls/Cheap Trick/Rolling Stones-style tuneage, a raw, rockin' band, and heavyweights like producer Tony Visconti in its corner. EMI quickly snapped The Dwellers up, released their first album and…the record went nowhere and the group promptly disappeared. A typical record industry tale perhaps, but particularly a shame in this case, ‘cause the disc really is quite good. A mixture of Aerosmith's whiskey chugging guitar boogie, sneering Big Star harmonies and tons of ‘tude, the CD was one of the most fully-realized debut albums in ages. The music was nothing new, of course, and certainly had little to do with the 1995 prevailing trends of alternative rock or recycled grunge, but it was full of energy and undeniably poppy. In the end, though, the Dwellers were a classic case of right band, wrong time. Luckily, Whatever Makes You Happy's dismal sales make it an easy find in the cut-out bins. The disc is a real lost gem worth searching for, especially for those who wish thatSoul Asylum could have come up with just one more good album. - AMG by Pemberton Roach
Discography
Whatver Makes You Happy, EMI. Before you save the world, Manor Park Records, Make a Goddess, Manor Park Records
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Singer/songwriter, John Andriani started out in music as a drummer. " I didn't learn to play guitar 'till I was in high school & was mostly a drummer until I began to write songs." Growing up in small town suburbia with a love for baseball & music Johnny began to listen to great music e.g. Beatles, The Small Faces, Queen etc.
"Actually the younger I was, the older the music I liked." Although he venerated these great artists, his biggest influence has always been his homeless uncle,Robert Andriani,who walks the streets of Greenwhich Village in NYC. Known as "Ziggy" by most but Uncle Bobby to Johnny & his friends, his uncle Bobby was signed to Atlantic Records in the late sixties by Ahmet Ertegun and who the great Folk/Rock singer Tim Rose and Davy Jones of The Monkees did a version of his song "King Lonely The Blue" which was the B Side to his highly acclaimed version of Hey Joe. As well as being a great songwriter himself, Robert Andriani also had a beautiful high singing voice, that Dionne Warwick once said "sounded like an angel." Bobby however was very shy of performing & succumbed to drugs, which ended his career in music but left an indelible mark on Johnny.
Johnny went from drummer to lead singer for a couple of bands until on his own he landed a publishing and record deal with EMI, releasing the CD "Whatever makes you happy" (produced by Tony Visconti) & toured the country with radio play for the single "Rocket ride."Playing some shows with Jewel & the Goo Goo Dolls, Johnny met Jewel at an outdoor concert when she asked him "who writes your songs? Cause I really like them."
The Dwellers not quite fitting in with the climate of the time, were put on hiatus. It was then that he was asked to write songs for other artists by his record label. Although Johnny had lost faith in some ways the industry works, it did not discourage him from writing hundreds of songs, ranging from straight ahead rock songs with attitude to country/rock & semi-ragtime/cabaret. Around the time he was NOT putting a down payment on a house with the money they told him he'd make, Johnny called up his old high school friend Mike Milazzo (formerly in The Juicemen)to join Dweller.
In high school Mike was hailed as a great blues style player, although he adapted to Johnny's writing with a unique less is more flavor while not losing his edge. Soon to be introduced was the tasteful & solid drummer Martin Stroh.
After a year of not finding the right bassist they called up original bass player for The Dwellers, Rick Amado & begged him to come back. While they were independently recording their CD "Before you save the world" with money put up by a friend turned manager turned friend again, Ricky came in & learned the new songs Johnny wrote after the rest of the band put their tracks down with another bass player. Producer, Pete Denenberg canceled a session bass player after hearing Ricky. "Why didn't you tell me he was so good?" Pete said to Johnny. 'I did,' said Johnny. With an inimitable chemistry of unique players, Dweller stands out as one of the better bands in today's music.
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