Austin, Texas is a town known for music, great music, iconic music and exceptional musicians.  It’s a town filled with great bands and is an incredibly challenging place to make a name for oneself but that’s exactly what metal act ANew Revolution have done.  Currently on tour with metal maven “Otep”, ANew Revolution is taking no prisoners as they criss-cross North America on their quest to turn folks onto their brand of metal andthey are creating an incredible buzz among metal fans.  A true band in the truest sense, vocalist Joey Duenas, guitarist Shaun Stockton, drummer Robert Urbani and bassist Frank Salvaggio are veteran rockers who joined forces to create something special.  So far so good. With incredibly catchy, well written tunes, these guys understand that the bad old days of writing an album with two good songs and eight “filler” tunes simply won’t cut it in a digital world.  Consequently their new album “Rise” is packed with solid music from start to finish.  With the release of “Rise”,  ANew Revolution are demonstrating the skills, compositions, fortitude and humility to go far.  I caught them live at the Alrosa Villa and was blown away by the attention they pay to their audience and effort they put into their performance.  Unlike a lot of rockers who almost ignore their audience, ANR actively involves the crowd and makes sure they are having as much fun as band is.  I mean, when was the last time you saw a vocalist “walk” across a sea of outstretched hands.  Make no mistake, these guys have real rock star potential.  I recently had the opportunity to interview bassist Frank Salvaggio.  Like all the members of the band, Frank’s been around the block in the music business and he knows his stuff.  What’s perhaps the most impressive is that the members of ANR are down to earth “real” guys.  They are generous with their time and attention to those interested in their music and very appreciative of their fans.  

Chris A. - Okay, ANR, ANew Revolution, any intrinsic meaning behind the name?

FRANK:  We were thinking of a bunch of names that we felt represented returning from the beyond.  You see, we were all members in a couple different bands who had been signed and we’ve all done big shows like Ozzfest but we wanted something new.  For us this “new” band was like a rebirth, a chance to do some new stuff our way so we wanted a name that sort of thing.  At first we considered stuff like “From the Ashes” but weren’t satisfied with it, we really wanted something new and somewhat iconic. Hence we came up with with ANR.   In a way it’s sort of a play on word anew. 

Chris A. -   You guys have been around since 2004, how is your journey to get your music out going?

FRANK:  It’s Hard work man. A lot of touring, beating down miles of pavement and so far we’ve put over 100,000 miles in an old Dodge Ram Van.  Thousands of miles with big bands playing in front of thousands of people.  As you know we’ve got a great new record out called “Rise” so we are working very hard to turn people onto our music and developing a fan base.

Chris A. - Collectively all the members of ANR are experienced musicians and have been in bands.  What happened to make the four of you click with this band?

FRANK:  There were two previous bands, Robert and I were in “Slaves on Dope” and Joey was in Unloco.   Over the years performing we crossed paths and got to know each other.   Eventually both of these bands disbanded and Robert and I heard that Joey was working on a new project.  In any case, Robert and I moved to Austin and joined up with Joey and of course our great guitarist Shaun Stockton also came on board. We busted our ass and wrote tons of great songs and of course we tour and tour and tour.

Chris A. - Your new disc RISE is a damn good record and I have to say that you do it more than justice live.  How’s the response been to the record and your recent tour with Otep?

FRANK:  The record just came out but so far it’s been very strong and the tour has been really good. Originally were were to be the very first act on the bill to hit the stage, but after just a couple shows we were moved to the top support slot in support of Otep.  We’ve enjoyed the opportunity and of course we’re working hard to try to  capitalize on that.

Chris A. - Since I dig bands like Godsmack and Avenged Sevenfold I immediately picked up on the Mudrock influence on your disc.  How did that relationship come about?

FRANK:  As you know Mudrock is one of the premier producers who is truly a metal guy.  Joey had worked with him in the past and they remained friends. Very simply we gave him a call and after working out a few details we ended up in the studio together in LA and recorded “Rise”.

Chris A.  - Well Frank thanks for your time this evening. Any final thoughts you’d like to pass on? 

FRANK:  Yeah, I want everyone to know that the lesson of ANew Revolution is that If you work hard than you can make your dreams happen.  Whatever it takes is my motto.  You’ve got to work hard, you’ve got to visualize success. You’ve got to apply yourself and again, you must do the hard work because you can’t just leave things to luck.  All of use believe that if you bust your ass and persevier you might be able to grasp success.  That’s what ANew Revolution is about.  

You can find out more about this great band by visiting their website at http://www.myspace.com/anewrevolution