The Ground Beneath: Press

Friday, January 11, 2008

Crunch Time Nearing for Ground Beneath

By Nathalie Baret
For the Journal
So far, 2008 is off to a good start for hometown metal boys The Ground Beneath.
The trio, who grabbed the attention of a high-end Los Angeles producer after playing a recent posh gig in Hollywood, will be heading to the West Coast in the spring to cut what singer and guitarist Steve Civerolo calls "a make-or-break record."
"It's a pretty amazing opportunity that we got," Civerolo said by phone.
The luck of the draw for the band members came two months ago, when Mike Clink, a well-connected producer, stopped to talk to them after their set at the Viper Room, an ultra-hip Hollywood joint that caters to starlets, music executives, playmates and A-list actors like Johnny Depp, a former co-owner of the club.
"There were a lot of celebrities in-house that night that we played. Dave Navarro was there, some reality stars, and one in particular, Mike, who's produced a lot of big bands," he said. "He did the Guns 'N Roses' 'Appetite for Destruction' album, several records for Faith No More and Megadeth. He normally produces the high-dollar stuff. But every now and then, there's an independent band that he sees live and he likes them enough to offer his services and make their next record. So he had that talk with us."
Around April or May, when Clink has a block of time available, The Ground Beneath will join him in Los Angeles for about a month's worth of recording time, Civerolo said.
"We're just floored because he works with all the major labels and we'll be linked to his name. Hopefully this will be the album that leads us to a record deal."
In between its touring schedule, which includes several Launchpad shows this month and a flurry of out-of-state gigs in the coming months, The Ground Beneath will squeeze in time to write 30 songs to take to L.A.
Already at work on the lyrics, the three-piece band will test out a few fresh tunes on the crowd at its show on Tuesday. The group plans to finish the rest in time to lay down the tracks in the studio with Clink.
"We're going in with the mind-set of staying true to our Southern metal sound, which is fairly heavy, yet still melodic, and high-energy. But this is the make-or-break album for us. Which means there's gotta be certain songs geared for radio, that are 'single' formula ones, trimmed down to three and half minutes long."
But fans who've come to know the band for its experimental side shouldn't worry. The Ground Beneath will toss in some eight-minute tracks with flashy arpeggios and crunchy licks, too.
Another longtime goal that the band is meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 15, is the launch of its own Albuquerque-based indie label, The Label Beneath.
"Last year, we found out that 90 percent of our CD sales for our two records (2005's self-titled debut, and 2006's live disc, "Deficient: Live at the Launchpad") were done in a live setting at the venues we play and not so much off our online distribution channels, like iTunes, Amazon, Best Buy, CD Baby."
The Ground Beneath
With Mechanism of Eve, Mike Got Spiked and Random Order
WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15
WHERE: Launchpad, 618 Central SW
HOW MUCH: $5 at the door. 21 and older show

Friday, June 15, 2007

Ground Beneath Rises With Metal's Rebirth

By Dan Mayfield
Journal Staff Writer
There's been a shift in metal. Over the last few years, whether you want to credit Ozzfest, Gigantour, the Family Values Tour, the weak dollar, the Iraq War or sunspots, metal is big again.
Not since the heyday of bands like Black Sabbath, Dio, Iron Maiden or Judas Priest has metal been at the forefront of progressive rock.
"I think Ozzfest has a lot to do with it, especially being free (this year)," said Steve Civerolo of the Albuquerque band The Ground Beneath. "It gets a lot of people exposed to it. I think the underground has been big on exposing kids to it."
That and bands like his, he said. It will be releasing its first live CD, "Deficient: Live at the Launchpad," on Sunday.
Even the bands Civerolo compares his to— Black Label Society and System of a Down— were Ozzfest headliners.
Civerolo isn't sure why meatal is back up front, with its throwback long hair, banging drums and crunchy guitars, but he does know that the band sees strong support at its local shows— especially all-ages ones like Sunday's CD release.
"Deficient" was recorded live last December at Launchpad.
"They were recording bands three or four nights for a compilation, and they called us a few days before the show," Civerolo said. "I said, 'I just need to make a deal with whoever it was to buy the master tapes.' I wanted to buy the show master if it was good, and it was."
It turned out, he said, the band sounded better than the members had thought and it was a chance for the band to release its second disc, following 2005's self-titled CD.
Though "Deficient" is largely a re-recording of older songs, the band is getting back in the studio in Canada to cut a new record.
"We'll fly up there, and you can stretch the dollar a little further (in Canada)," Civerolo said.
In the meantime, however, the band, which has already toured most of the spring, will hit the road again after Sunday's CD release.
"We'll just put a trailer on my Jeep and do it," Civerolo said.
The Ground Beneath CD Release Party
WHEN: 7 p.m. Sunday, June 17
WHERE: Launchpad, 618 Central SW
HOW MUCH: $5 at the door. Visit
www.launchpadrocks.com for more

V.16 No.24 | June 14 - 20, 2007

This Week's Music

Music to Your Ears
By Laura Marrich
The Ground Beneath Gets Live— Steve Civerolo, lead singer and guitarist of Burque metalheads The Ground Beneath, called me from somewhere in Missouri last week. It was the second time in as many months I've talked to the band from their touring vehicle, The Van Beneath, while en route to a gig outside New Mexico. This is not a band of slackers. (Steve keeps a complete log of every show the band has played at www.thegroundbeneath.com.) And to put an exclamation point on all the intense touring and promotion they do, TGB is made up of just three people. (Although I like to think of their long, luxurious hair as the group's fourth member. It's silent but violent. )
TGB will release their second album, a surprisingly souped-up live recording called Deficient: Live at the Launchpad, this Sunday, June 17, at—where else?—the Launchpad. The show is $5 if you're 21-or-over, $7 for the all-ages crowd. Catch them before they're on the road again.

Best Local T-Shirt

The Ground Beneath ties for first for their slightly disturbing shirt of band member Steve's un-neutered weiner dog's x-ray.

V.15 No.32 | August 10 - 16, 2006
This Week's Music

Music to Your Ears
By Laura Marrich

A Very Metal Homecoming— The Ground Beneath's first trip outside of New Mexico looks like a thrashing success. Since kicking off their “Southern TWOur” in late July, Steve, Mykey and Roman have shredded across Texas and Louisiana, playing venues like Stubbs BBQ in Austin, drinking heavily with KG from Tenacious D and making a pilgrimage to the grave of former Pantera/Damageplan guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott in Arlington. Welcome the guys from The Ground Beneath back home at a free, all-ages show next Saturday, Aug. 19th, at The Zone (SW corner of San Mateo and Menaul) around 4 p.m. Also, don't miss the hilarious photos from their tour at www.thegroundbeneath.com.

The Ground Beneath
Genre: Metal rock
www.thegroundbeneath.com
It's a tremor. It's an earthquake. No, it's the Ground Beneath! This super trio rumbles the earth with rolling drums and sweeping guitars, emerging from ... uh ... beneath adversaries to devour them whole like those crazy sandworms in that one movie.

The Ground Beneath CD Release Party
Metal success never tasted so good
By Simon McCormack

The Ground Beneath
In less than a year and a half, The Ground Beneath has earned a full-page spread in the Albuquerque Journal, partied with hardcore metal gurus Sevendust and recorded their first full-length LP with Grammy-nominated producer Tim Stroh at Step Bridge Studios in Santa Fe. I'd be lying if I said these twenty-somethings weren't residents of "Talent City," but, putting that aside, what, pray tell, is their secret to supercharged metal success? "Hard work pays off, I guess," Steve Civerolo, lead singer and guitarist for TGB aw-shucksily explains. "There's always naysayers. When we started, emo and sideways haircuts were big and what we were doing was the opposite of that and it wasn't well-received, but you keep rolling."
Despite a clear lack of sideways haircuts, TGB has managed with the help of Kurt Cobain-esque vocals and mall-metal-done-right hooks. TGB are well on their way to being Albuquerque metal mainstays.
Civerolo understands that a three-piece in a four-or-more dominated genre makes TGB a bit of an oddity, but he makes his band's short list of contributors a point of pride. "For someone who plays, they know it's a little more challenging," he elucidates. "But it's more straightforward. And, because of it, we know (our fans) don't have to hear a bunch of shit."
Since TGB only has one guitar to work with, they make sure it counts. "The Gibson Explorer is probably the loudest guitar you can get," Civerolo says. "I remember seeing James Hetfield on Saturday Night Live playing one in 1998 and that probably made me want to get one even more. It's really solid and makes for a good sound."
Speaking of good sound, TGB's self-titled LP lives up to the hype (partially because the songs the band chose were the songs that crowds seemed to respond to). "It will be really cool for people who have memorized the lyrics for the songs, just by hearing us live, to be able to have a CD that they can listen to in their car," Civerolo says. TGB's release solidly places them in the new-wave-metal genre and, although TGB's website lists dozens of bands from which they draw inspiration, it's fairly safe to say that Alice in Chains, God Smack and Union Underground are where most of the musical similarities lie. Don't let the tremolo intro fool you: The new album is neo-metal cut-and-dry.
You can see what all the fuss is about at TGB's CD release party on Friday at the Launchpad when they celebrate the release of their first album with special guests Anesthesia, Torture Victim, Suspended and Sin Serenade. The show starts at 8 p.m. and under-21ers are (sadly) not invited.
Aside from an urgent need for toilet paper (I didn't inquire further), TGB hasn't put a whole lot of thought into their New Year's resolutions. Civerolo and bassist Mykey Garcia are, however, focused on playing a show at the Launchpad on New Year's Eve. TGB is also playing an all-ages show at "the 'Pad" on Jan. 8 with Tetelestai headlining.

Vivera, Lead Burns Red, and The Ground Beneath Live at the Shop
November 17, 2009 by dirtbagsarge · Comments Off
Recently San Diego Rockers Vivera, and Lead Burns Red teamed up with New Mexico’s The Ground Beneath. Make sure you check all these guys out on their myspace pages

http://www.myspace.com/viverarock

http://www.myspace.com/leadburnsred

http://www.myspace.com/thegroundbeneath