Heroes of the Open End

When's the last time something really happened in music? Well, with arena-sized anthems that ponder every inch of the universe-and are still crafted like 3 minute singles, Heroes of the Open End are the first band in years with a sound big enough for everyone.

It started with lead singer Mike Baglivi, hunched over a four track, obsessively searching for hooks good enough to take outside. And when they started piling up, he?d get out and walk-or drive, along the dull landscape of suburban NJ, where lyrics and rants would start moving in his head too fast to write down. He was writing songs that would explode in people?s ears-ATOM BOMBS..but he also knew that wasn?t enough.

R.E.L met Mike on just another weeknight in NY and they quickly became musical blood brothers. With a brilliant ear for melodies and a sonic paintbrush of tones, colors, and frenetic shredding, R.E.L's playing not only made him an original, but in a city with barely any musical identity left, except for an underground that didn't play solos, it also made him NYC's only guitar hero.

Then straight out of the factories and swamps of the Meadowlands came Nicky Ferrell, the first guy that Mike and R.E.L knew wouldn't turn back. He hit so hard he'd drown out the guitars, but growing up a drummer's son with a strict musical education, he was a true artist on the kit. He was loud in a leather jacket, he wore a bandana, and he liked to play with his shirt off. For the first time, Heroes felt like a real band.

The only true city boy of the group, “Baby Ghost” Will Brender came from Park Slope, Brooklyn. Deceptively quiet, he carried a big stick: a black, headless Kramer with a metal neck, and a booming, often-pick driven sound he would dig out of it. Locking in the chamber with Nicky, he?d choose each note like a bullet and knew exactly which beat to use it on. Plus, he liked Biggie and Pantera, so there's no way he was a snob.

So for a time with no landmarks, a mighty collective has come to do something for right now. And while they do things big, their live show proves that the music is firmly on the ground: raw, in your face, inviting you to be bigger than them, bigger than the music itself. A band like this can only say one thing: There’s something happening to music once again.

And yeah, they call themselves heroes.