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Ripped By: ChrisGoesRock
Artwork Included

Biography:
The Muggs formed in February of 2000. Guitar player Danny Methric and Bass player Tony DeNardo were playing in two bands at that time: The Detroit Underground Blues Band and Fat Belly Brown. Danny was hanging out at The Music Menu in downtown Detroit when he ran into Matt Rost, a local drummer that had actually been in Fat Belly Brown for about two weeks before leaving, as he decided his band workload at the time was too heavy. They got to talking and Danny found out that Matt had just quit his main project, The Immortal Winos of Soul. Danny mentioned that he was looking to do something different than Fat Belly Brown, something more "bluesy", and Matt said he'd be interested.


It didn't take long for the band to start gelling as all three players had been musicians for at least seven years. DeNardo and Methric have always played together in every band they were in and Rost was a consummate drummer in his own right. In October 2000, the Muggs recorded their first EP demo so that they had something to play bar owners to get gigs. "They were good enough for the money that we spent, but keep in mind, those songs are only demos," says Tony.

In March 2001, the Muggs were invited to play the Hamtramck Blowout, a music festival that involves hundreds of Detroit bands at about twenty different bars in the city of Hamtramck, a city contained entirely within Detroit. This show, played at Paychecks to a packed house, seemed to solidify the group as an established act in Detroit. From March to September 2001, the Muggs continued playing more and more shows, gaining a solid fan base in the process. In August of 2001, they were asked to play the very last show ever in the famed Gold Dollar before it went out of business. Neil Yee, the owner of the Gold Dollar, asked the Muggs to play to "sell me out of my remaining imports." The Muggs accepted and played by themselves to about sixty guests. On September 2nd, 2001 the Muggs played a high energy show to a packed tent outdoors at the Cadieux Café's "Mussel Beach Music Festival." They did not know that this would be their last show for quite some time.

On Tuesday, September 4th, 2001 bass player Tony DeNardo suffered a hemorrhagic stroke that nearly ended his life. He was completely paralyzed on his right side and unable to speak. DeNardo survived his stroke but was in bad shape.

Not wanting to replace DeNardo on bass guitar, Danny and Matt decided to get involved in different bands and other projects while Tony was recovering. Methric spearheaded a project called Over Under Sideways Down (named after a Yardbirds' song), playing with Muggs' drummer Rost and three other prominent musicians from around the Detroit scene: Brett Lucas, consummate lead guitarist and young bluesman, Ross Westerbur from 500 Ft. Of Pipe fame on piano, and Chuck Bartels, a local bass legend. Danny also played with The Kingsnakes for about six months until The Go asked him to join their band and record an album with them. The Go was a short lived experience for Danny as The Paybacks were looking for a lead guitarist and Methric seemed a perfect fit. Matt Rost also participated in other bands as well, including Colic and several jazz ensembles.

On December 8th, 2002, DeNardo had a fund-raiser at the Cadieux Café (in eastside Detroit) to raise money to send him to to California for some medical treatment that he hoped would speed his recovery. That night turned out to be magical; everybody who's anybody showed up for the fund-raiser as DeNardo had his favorite bands in Detroit play. The bands included Mod Orange, Stunning Amazon featuring Audra Kubat, Blue Song, Climax Divine, Over Under Sideways Down, and many others. The place was packed with tons of generous people, and included an auction of dozens of local artists' CDs, donated for the event.

DeNardo had two more fundraisers shortly thereafter, at Jacoby's in downtown Detroit and Nancy Whiskey's in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit. He now had enough money to go to Southern California, where he stayed with his father, Frank, and attended daily physical therapy. From January until June of 2003, Tony worked hard and kept in close contact with Methric. In February 2003, a friend of the Muggs, Matt Smith from the band Outrageous Cherry, mentioned that Tony could, if he wanted to, play his bass lines on a piano. After a discussion between old friends Tony and Danny, Tony decided to give it a shot.

After months of practicing two to three hours daily, DeNardo returned to Detroit, still unable to use his right arm but ready to start rehearsals again, using his new instrument. "I bought a Fender Rhodes Mark I to perform the bass lines that I used to do on the bass guitar." After about a month of rehearsals together, the Muggs returned to the Cadieux Café‚ almost two years to the day after their last show together, to play their comeback show at the Cadieux Café's Mussel Beach Party 2003.


Another Biography:
A little background on one of Detroit’s favorite bands: The Muggs –composed of Danny Methric, the most colorful Budweiser-sweater-wearing dude ever on guitar, Tony DeNardo on low end keys, and Matt Rost on drums– have known each other for years, even playing together briefly in other projects. Methric also plays lead guitar for Detroit garage supergroup The Paybacks. In 2001, after a year that saw The Muggs become one of Detroit’s hottest and best-loved live bands (it doesn’t hurt to have three of the nicest people in MurderCity as members), the group had to take an unexpected hiatus when then-bassist DeNardo suffered a near-fatal stroke that paralyzed the right side of his body.

Thanks to benefit concerts, help from friends, and extensive and continuing therapy, DeNardo’s condition has improved greatly, and he has adapted by learning to play his bass lines on a Fender Rhodes piano with his left hand, something he has grown to do with much elan. Rost brings to mind the best parts of Keith Mooon and Mitch Mitchell. Kismet brought The Muggs together and kept them afloat, and now they are ready to spit their power chords in your face on their debut album The Muggs.

The Muggs may be the self-proclaimed UGLIEST BAND IN THE WORLD, but this must be said: a Muggs concert is, quite frankly, an amazing event. One would be hard pressed to think of a group of musicians who look and act more glad to be on a stage than The Muggs do. Their glee has made them favorites among the notoriously cliqueish Detroit crowd. But make no mistake, we’re talking about a Rock show... and The Muggs? They just rock. Their unequaled live energy has been translated to perfection on their new recording. The Muggs, as an album, has us all –band and label– with our respective briefs and panties in bunches.

The Muggs’ album will take listeners back to the Golden Age of guitar rock; it is an unapologetically raucous adventure into the best that classic blues rock ever had to offer: whether Humble Pie, Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac, Creem, the influences are there, but they are treated with a glee that can only come from a band who feels genuinely lucky to be playing together at all. The Muggs may just be the record that brings back real guitar-driven rock-n-roll.

“We just wanna turn (The Muggs ) up and ROCK OUT to the fire brigade. Killer stuff...our advice is to get blasted and turn this little sucker all the way UP.

Track Listings
01. Need Ya Baby
02. Gonna Need My Help
03. Rollin' B-Side Blues
04. Monster
05. Should've Learned My Lesson
06. White Boy Blues
07. Hard Love
08. Said and Done
09. Underway
10. If You Please
11. Doc Mode