ION INDIE MAGAZINE July 2014, Volume 2 | Page 41

Pure talent, no tricks. That is my impression of the band THIEF IN THE NIGHT. The real deal. I was gifted with their CD “Under the Influence” a few months back when I made the acquaintance of CHRIS VAN DUYN. I had sought out this riff-riffic guitarist after scouting various talent and finding inspiration while perusing through the ReverbNation site. Resounding out of San Pedro, California with their heavy, melodic sound clearly rooted in Classic Rock, Thief in the Night is Chris Van Duyn (guitar) and JOHNNY ROSSA (vocals)—the core of this driving sound. These guys are busy—having just recorded and released two new singles this past winter. And they are still getting favorable responses and reviews on their album “Under the Influence” (with the incomparable RAFAEL MOREIRA on bass and the technical powerhouse RANDY COOKE on drums—monster musicians in their own right!)…along with their release “The Akoustic Set”. TITN has also covered and breathed new life into the ALTER BRIDGE “In Loving Memory” (with the vocally exquisite DILANA) and LED ZEPPELIN’S “Kashmir”. They are currently focusing on writing new material to take into the studio and have a stellar line-up of musicians that lend themselves to their live act. TITN is Classic Rock with the combined nuances of such bands as SOUNDGARDEN, ALTER BRIDGE, BLACK SABBATH, ALICE IN CHAINS, METALLICA and CREED. You cannot help but note these influences, yet there is an unmistakable sound there that is uniquely TITN. Rossa’s vocals are clear and powerful and Van Duyn’s masterful guitar work provide the perfect backdrop. It is a symbiotic relationship of singer and musician that meld into music magic. One of my personal pet “peeves” regarding today’s music is the use of so much layering and all the “bells and whistles” that are applied during the production process. I often think to myself, “How do they recreate that LIVE?” I return to my original impression of “pure” in my opening sentence regarding TITN. This is not “manipulated” music in any sense…but unadulterated and unapologetic ROCK--served by Van Duyn’s driving instrument; punctuated by Rossi’s magnificent vocals. I dig that about them. Van Duyn echoes this sentiment “I've been doing this a long time and its obvious the music industry has changed--from consumers wanting full albums on LP or CD--to now downloading only singles. Music like this is still doing well in Europe, the UK, Japan and other territories. We've had some success ourselves with airplay, reviews, articles, etc. outside the U.S. So one of the things that I feel strongly about is that I truly believe the world is hungry for this type of music, yet most don't even know it’s out there because it's not what's made available to the masses. I've had several A&R reps I've met totally love our music, yet state clearly it will never sell because labels are dropping bands like this, but if we added dub-step to it, they could get it out there. I can't look myself in the mirror everyday if I were to do that so I turned it down. Meanwhile you see a young kid like CALEB JOHNSON win “American Idol” by performing covers of LED ZEPPELIN, WHITESNAKE, etc. Something simply doesn't add up.” Thief in the Night remains true to their vision and are keeping it REAL while chasing utopia. Thief in the Night music is available on iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby and most digital download sites. Steal into the night with TITN at: http://www.reverbnation.com/thiefinthenightband http://facebook.com/thiefinthenightband http://www.ThiefInTheNightBand.com