Artist description Burning Rome drew from a vast well of musical interests to conjure a classic '80s post-punk sound both moody and melodic.

Music Style Arty, moody post-punk

Musical Influences Nick Cave, Bauhaus, Damned, Joy Division, Iggy Pop, Misfits, Roxy Music, Chrome, Sisters of Mercy, Cramps, Danielle Dax, Siouxsie & the Banshees

Similar Artists Nick Cave, Bauhaus, Damned, Joy Division, Roxy Music, Chrome, Sisters of Mercy

Artist History The short-lived but creatively fruitful Burning Rome rose from the smoldering ashes of two cult NYC dark rock bands, Chop Shop and The Naked and the Dead, both bands having fractured in December 1985. Before the month was out, a new band had been formed with two ex-singers in new, unfamiliar positions. Former Chop Shop vocalist Joe Truck (also guitarist for Scarecrow in 1984) found himself fulfilling a wish to pound the drumkit. The Naked and the Dead's occult chanteuse Lorianne Oakley laid down the microphone and picked up a bass guitar. Meanwhile, guitarist Greg Fasolino (also formerly with The Naked and the Dead, as well as The Cave/Outcry/The Oppressed) recruited a new, more theatrical vocalist: an acclaimed DJ on WSIA and nascent diva named Robert Rowan Conroy, blessed with a unique set of pipes and a predilection for Lovecraftian poesy. The foursome, soon dubbed Burning Rome, eschewed both the tribal gothicisms of The Naked and the Dead, and the raw trashabilly of Chop Shop, instead evoking a more generalized classic post-punk sound, full of mystery and melody, and harkening back to seminal artists from Bauhaus to Roxy, Joy Division to Iggy. However, the band's substantial promise and songwriting chemistry was never fully realized. In late spring of 1986, the itch set in for Joe Truck. He yearned to be a frontman again, and had his heart set on creating a new band modelled on Misfits/Samhain, which came to fruition as Brain Eaters (he also later fronted glammers Rocket Angel and prolific Californian trash-rock band Snake Charmers). Thus Burning Rome flamed out in their relative infancy. Fasolino soon embarked on his Rawhead project (aided by Oakley), and later played in Wrench, The Sea Beasts, and The Deno Blues Gang, as well as experimental projects Goatblood Sacrifice, Pump, They Eat Their Gods, Lusting for the Cheetah, and Sea of Fur. Conroy formed the majestic Children's Zoo with former Naked and the Dead bassist Christopher Bollman in 1986, and later sang for 99 Stellavista, Sisterboy (issuing an eponymous CD in 1996), Neutral, and Morricone Youth. At present he utilizes his unique and rugose vocal cords with British DJ Jonny Perl as groovy duo Misty Roses. In 2002 Fasolino and Bollman reformed The Naked and the Dead, now defunct again; they are currently working on a a new band.

Group Members Robert Rowan Conroy: vocals; Greg Fasolino: guitar; Lorianne Oakley: bass; Joe Truck: drums

Instruments Guitar, bass, drums

Location Huntington, NY - USA

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