Gritty Hard-Hitting Rock N’ Roll is what Diablo Royale is all about. With their sophomore release, GREEDY DOGS, the New York City based five-piece band further hones their sound into something original and “in-your-face”.
When guitarist Eric Choy and drummer Mike Sankari met guitarist Gerard (G-Man) Steixner, the seeds of what would become DR were planted. The three hunkered down in their basement rehearsal studio appropriately named “The Sweatshop” to write songs and find other musicians. As Choy recalls, “We wrote and auditioned twice a week every week for two hours every rehearsal…we must have seen over 100 people.” So after countless auditions over the course of nine months, the trio finally met vocalist Adrian Barrios, and later bassist Pete Connors and Diablo Royale was formed.
In a short time, the band cut their teeth in the local NYC circuit, and managed to put together a ten song self-titled demo. Over the course of the next year, Diablo Royale would go on to play the Northeast as far out as Ohio while building a strong fan base back home in New York. “Before long we were seeing Diablo Royale stickers on cars and I was being stopped on subway trains by complete strangers,” says G-Man. Playing to packed houses at such venues as Gramercy Theater and Highline Ballroom, their live performances are known for being powerfully energetic and brazenly unapologetic. They have been featured twice in Revolver Magazine and Pop-Times Magazine, played on Sirius Octane Satellite radio, was #7 on RXP 101.9 FM’s “Top 9 of ’09” countdown and won the Fliptup Best Fil-Am band of the year.
As friends of the band were losing their jobs and the news headlines got more and more depressing, Diablo Royale went back to that same basement studio and wrote the tracks that would become their latest release GREEDY DOGS. Barrios explains, “A lot of the inspiration for this album came from all of the bullshit going on. Big companies getting their asses kissed while the little guy is hung out to dry. That’s why I made the artwork the way I did, the people that are acting like they are looking out for us, just aren’t.”
With their new release, Diablo Royale is looking to the road to continue making the transition to national act, spreading their word, and rocking the masses.
Genesis – The Forming of The Trio: Broken and weary from the ashes of a previous band, Sankari & Choy searched the earth for new brothers-in-arms. Along their journey they happed upon fellow experienced traveler & gunslinger…Steixner. Steix hailing from the mystical far-away land of Westchester & having done battle with the two on previous adventures, decided to join along to see what trouble the three could stir up. For the next nine months The Trio would train together meticulously and quickly established a bond and foundation upon which their skills improved dramatically, so they decided to search for others to join their clan. Our heroes would do battle with many-a warrior over the course of those nine months, but none could measure up to their might until one day…when the swashbuckling buccaneer Adrian, crossed their paths.
The Family Grows – The Becoming of the Gang-of-Four: The four engaged in an exchange that to this day has never been equaled by any mortal. Adrian’s howl blew over trees and toppled houses while The Trio’s razor sharp riffs and thundering beats split mountains and put ablaze anything in their path. Each member stood their ground and realized that their styles matched perfectly (as if the Gods on Mount Craigslist had somehow redetermined their chance meeting) so they knew the brotherhood had now grown to four. Adrian’s vocal fortitude proved to strengthen the group’s power and the now Gang-of-Four was only missing one piece…an earth shaker.
The Wizard’s Might – Completion: Our heroes in the Gang-of-Four continued their search for several months and over that time their training had brought the brotherhood’s skill to a new level, but they knew they were still missing one vital piece. Many moons passed until one fateful night when a shadowy figure emerged suddenly. Standing alone on a hill in the lush fields of Central Park, the wizard Connors pounded his mighty bass and challenged the The Gang to face off. Connors and the Gang-of-Four proceeded to engage in what would become one of the fiercest battles in history. The earth shook, the winds howled, forests burned, and the oceans tossed as the five exchanged blows that would have taken out an entire army. Our fighters had never seen such intense bass playing as the wizard’s power was clearly evident to them. Several days passed with no winner declared, the warriors decided to call a truce as they all realized that they were fighting on the same level. The Gang knew they had stumbled upon their final member…the earth shaker.
Epilogue – Diablo Royale: It was at this point that our heroes became a family of five. The brothers sat down in a circle and took shots of Jack in praise of the Gods of Craigslist for bestowing upon them each other’s presence. They would travel across the lands and fight in many battles together, and their tales of heroics and bravery would span the highest mountains and the deepest valleys. To all that hear of their mighty tales they are known as “Diablo Royale.”