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Let's Go Crazy - New Band Wants to Put ROMP Music on the Map
Greenwich Time, Wednesday April 28th, 2004
by Cameron D. Martin
What kind of music can you expect to hear from Crazy Morning [note: now Running for Famous], the band that will play the Arch Street Teen Center Friday night?
Well, a while back the answer might have been, "We're kind of like Good Charlotte meets The Beatles meets The Monkeys," says drummer Brett Duggan, recalling some of the long-winded explanations the band has offered since it formed two years ago.
But that kind of response just confused people, says Duggan, 33, who is joined in Crazy Morning by lead singer and Port Chester native, Monroe Mann, 26, and violinist Phil Estrera, 25.
"It just turns to gray," says Duggan, who, like Estrera, lives in Harlem. "It makes no sense after you've spoken for five minutes about what bands you sound like. So we just wanted to have an answer to that just tied up in a bow. So we got to thinking it has to be ROCK, or JAZZ, or PUNK. It has to be like this one word, four-letter word. So we sat down and started making up words."
The four-letter word they came up with is "ROMP", which stands for (R)ock, (O)rchestral, (M)elodic, (P)unk. It's an easy to remember acronym that encompasses the band's influences. So now, when people ask them to explain their sound, the members of Crazy Morning have a ready response: "ROMP".
And "ROMP" might be catching on.
While looking for a record deal, Crazy Morning has been playing venues in New York City. And one of the band's songs, "Hollywood Girls" was recently featured on Z100.
The band, in addition to Friday's gig at Arch Street, is playing Saturday at Rye Playland in New York at 3PM. After that, their schedule gets a little hectic, explains Mann, the band's manic founder and lead singer, whose resume already includes singer, actor, and business school owner -- and will soon include "American soldier stationed in Iraq."
"Well, I see April 30, concert. May, MTV. May 5, Jay Leno. May 9, Platinum," Mann says, reflecting the band's drive and confidence.
"That's right," Estrera concurs.
And if ROMP describes their music, then "Carpe Diem" or "Seize the Day" is their mantra. The members of Crazy Morning are involved in all kinds of artistic endeavors: Mann & Duggan are working on a feature film about wakeboarding, called, "In the Wake of Identity" and the entire band has been working on a proposed reality television series called, "Running for Famous".
The are, quite literally, seizing the day, and living in the moment, because Mann is a Lieutenant in the NY Army National Guard. Last month he was called up to active duty, and he leaves in mid-May for combat training, possible at Ford Hood in Texas or Fort Benning in Georgia. After that, he will most likely be stationed in Iraq for several years. Just as things have started coming together for the band, its dissolution seems a real possibility. All the same, Mann doesn't regret volunteeting for the Armed Services.
"No, absolutely not. I know that I'm here right now, with these guys right now, because of the Army," Mann says. "I wouldn't have had such drive and ambition to get things done if I didn't think I'd get shipped off at some point."
His band mates, while ruing the departure of their founder and lead singer, have also recognized that possibility, and have used it as motivation.
"We've come further in 12 months than most bands do in three years," Duggan, the drummerl, says.
"I think it creates a very carpe-diem effect," follows Estrera, the violinist.
Nevertheless, both have options if Mann's obligation to the Army brings an end to Crazy Morning.
"I can't do anything about the fact that Monroe is going away, so I have to flip it for myself, or I'm going to lose my mind," says Duggan, a Boston native who is also a comic. "For me it's like, 'Oh, here's an opportunity to do more stand-up comedy than I've done in the last year."
Estrera, meanwhile, works part-time catering, and also acts in children's theater.
But for now, the focus (or one of them, anyway) is on Crazy Morning.
"People say that we're overstretched by getting involved in so many different projects, but being involved in so many different projects is what afforded us all these opportunities," Mann says.
In addition to being lead singer, Mann occasionally plays acoustic guitar for Crazy Morning, and has written most of the band's songs, including, "Hollywood Girls," "Crosstown Bus," and "By(e) Now." He also cites the Beach Boys, The Beatles, and Green Day as his major influences.
Estrera, meanwhile, is a classically trained violinist. A native of Dallas, he says his musical tastes have been influenced by country musicians like Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks. On stage, he admits he doesn't have many predecessors to emulate.
"I haven't seen too many violinists in rock bands," Estrera says.
Duggan, on the other hand, models his stage persona after a well-known drummer.
"Animal from 'The Muppets'," he quips.
Musically, he cites the influences of The Sex Pistols, The Police, and The Beatles.
But in the end, the band is simply, "ROMP".
"If you take whatever influences you've got and you filter them through the people who are playing them, it becomes more about the personality of the individuals than it does about natural styles," Duggan says. "So, when you listen to it, it's going to be Crazy Morning."
For more information or to listen to songs, visit www.RunningForFamous.com
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