Artist description Rock for the maladjusted dork masses. We worship rock you should too!

Music Style Guitar based rock music, with the emphasis on rock!

Musical Influences Posterchildren,Naked Raygun,Fig Dish,Archers Of Loaf,Cheap Trick, Samiam,Eddie Money

Similar Artists Urge Overkill,Samiam,Naked Raygun,Sum41,Alkaline Trio

Artist History Started in October of 1999.

Group Members Kip Stevens-Vocals,Guitar,Bass,Keyboards,Drum Machine FagBalls-Vocals,Guitar,Bass,Keyboards,Drums, Drum Machine Brian Even-Drums Pierre Butter - Bass and Peanut Butter

Instruments Guitars,Bass,Drums,Keyboards.

Albums Teenage Sex EP, Various Demos, Compilation Tracks

Press Reviews (Illinois Entertainer January 2001) http://www.illinoisentertainer.com America's #1 Sweetheart Oh What A Gal By Trish Brockman "Did you ever see Revenge Of The Nerds?" asks Kip Stevens, a lanky figure seated in the back of a local coffee shop. "We have that Gilbert and Louis thing. He's kind of more like a Gilbert and I'm kind of like Louis." Stevens, 23, is describing his relationship with his cousin, Jim "Fagballs" Maroni (also 23). Together they make up the core of the quirky pop group from Burbank, America's #1 Sweetheart. The guys are filled with clever antics and funny rock stories that match accordingly with their personalities and eclectic musical style. With influences that range from the Poster Children, The Cars, Fig Dish, Naked Raygun, and Weezer, these guys have quite a mix of material to draw from. However, "Most of the material is based on [Fagballs]. Like the problem of growing up and your best friend is your relative and he lives down the street from you," says Stevens. "Your best friend is your cousin and his name is Fagballs." This quirkiness was very evident on their last release, The Summer EP, featuring songs titled "The Aliens Have Landed," "Fabio Fantastico," and "Johnny Valentine . . . If He Was A Girl, He'd Be Mine." "I think it's something that wouldn't have been out of place in the late '80s," says Stevens of the group's musical style. "At times its kind of midwesterney, but other times it's like 'Sesame Street' meets Devo." "It's just fun pop," adds drummer Brian Even, 22. "There's some serious songs, and there's songs that are fun or funny. It just makes you smile -- makes you happy." "We're like a five-piece too, so we're trying to get something like a Kraftwerk-Lynyrd Skynyrd thing going on. Everyone's going to play guitars and sing. No one is just going to sing," says Stevens. In fact, the album credits Stevens and Fagballs singing, playing bass and guitar, keyboards, and electronic drums. Additional musicians they credit include Dave Trumfio of The Pulsars on bass, keyboards, and vocals as well as his brother Harry Trumfio on drums and keyboards, with Kurt Bonomo and Brian Even on drums. The group America's #1 Sweetheart has a long musical legacy behind it and has existed in one form or another since Stevens and Fagballs were toddling around together. "When we were kids, we never really got along," says Stevens. "Me and Fagballs used to bathe together when we were kids. Otherwise I don't think the chemistry would have been as good. Sleeping in the same bed all those years too -- prepubescent." "He used to pick on me a lot," adds Fagballs. "My dad started teaching me how to play guitar when I was a kid, but I was lazy so I never really did anything with it." "I think when we started high school, that's when we started hanging around. [Fagballs] went to a private school so I always thought he was kind of weird for that. But we started bands from there. Probably our junior or sophomore year we started our first band and just carried on from there. He wanted to be Joe Satriani," says Stevens of his cousin. Since then, they have performed at numerous Chicago venues; they've also played countless VFW shows and parties in the Champaign and Chicago areas under the names Banjo Minnows, Sharp, Chunky, Algebra One, and finally America's #1 Sweetheart. "It became a four-track thing between me and [Fagballs] and Brian. We got shows [at] Off The Alley and the Fireside. I always thought we pulled it off live too. People always got a kick out of that, if we were singing through weird contraptions, more experimental, like singing through my Darth Vader walkie-talkie." "Tell her about the first song you ever wrote. It's a classic. It's the best unreleased song ever written." A sly smile crosses over Fagballs' face as he shoots the suggestion across the room at Stevens. "It was back when we were into The Frogs and that. There are a lot of joke songs. The Frogs are a big influence," Stevens says hesitantly. Fagballs launches into the explanation of the first song ever written by Kip Stevens: "I came over, he's got this guitar for one day and he had learned like two or three chords. He's got the lyrics written out and everything. He must have hammered out this song in 10 minutes. He was singing it for me and everything. It was called 'Smile Mom, I'm Gay,'" Fagballs says with a nostalgic laugh. "I still think it's the best song ever written by Kip Stevens." So the obvious question now becomes, how does a group of self-confessed musical nerds, Monkees fans at that, go from writing songs called "Smile Mom, I'm Gay" to recording with Dave Trumfio of The Pulsars at his own Kingsize studio, working with Rick Valentin of Poster Children fame, and calling themselves America's #1 Sweetheart? "We changed our name a couple of times because we had some cool shows lined up that we had to cancel and we thought it might not look good to go back to the Double Door," Stevens says. "It's very reflective of our personalities," adds Fagballs. Not boasting or bragging, but actually modest musicians and good natured at that, the guys always show up on time and are big on giving people gifts. Though they admit the act of gift-giving can sometimes backfire. "We got to record with Rick Valentin from the Poster Children at his house. We like to bring people gifts, kind of like an ice breaker," Stevens says. "So we brought him a bunch of goofy stuff. We got this bikini underwear in a tube, so we thought we were being smart asses and we gave Rick all of this stuff. We were getting ready to record and Rick came down just in the underwear. Nothing else. We kind of laughed, but we didn't know what to think of it. He recorded our whole first song in the underwear." "He seems so shy and reserved, like mellow and laid back and he comes down in this underwear and we're like 'Oh my God,'" says Fagballs. "Rick really got us good with that. Here's this 6-foot 2-inch guy, you don't know him, and you're like 'Ha ha ha, here's underwear.' We thought we were being cool," Stevens says. "He didn't say anything; he just kind of walked around. I didn't want to look. I was embarrassed. I didn't want to use this guy's washroom, [let alone] look at him in his underwear!" Jokes, underwear, and all else aside, the guys are ready to head to the studio to record their first full length as America's #1 Sweetheart. But for now, "it's just important to know that a lot of it is built off of us growing up together," says Stevens, quickly adding. "Oh, and his name is Fagballs, but he's not gay. None of us are." So sorry guys, these Sweethearts aren't for you.

Location Chicago, IL. - USA

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