Phillip Hong
4 March, 2006

It's a driving passionate rock that'll leave you with a head full of emotions. A group touts itself with critics who agree as a reincarnation of the days where riffing rock was king, and punk wasn't as manufactured as it is now.

Phillip Hong recently caught up with Mark Regula, the lead singer of this great group. And given the history these guys went through, this is no manufactured rock. The passionate music comes from passion itself lived through the eyes of Ivory Tower Project.

PHIL: Like most artists, Ivory Tower Project has a interestingly driving history to boot with its driving melodies. How was the group created?

MARK: Well, Ivory Tower Project is really not so much a band as we are a bunch of studio musicians and songwriters. The group was concieved by myself and my co-songwriting partner Johnny Jace.

We had been writing together for a good number of years and we were looking for a lineup of musicians to showcase our songs.

Ivory Tower, as we were first known, started out as a five member band of songwriters. The band included Tony Novarro (Guitar), Henry Kessler (Sax and keyboards), Kevin Joyce (Bass), Sal DiAngelo (Drums) -- and I did the vocals, keyboards and the rhythm guitar.

Unfortunately, a few months after their first recording session, their drummer, Sal DiAngelo, had passed away.

He had died from complications after he got a bone marrow transplant.

And soon after, they lost another band member. Kevin Joyce who played Bass, gave notice that he was to quit. But they weren't ready to quit, and decided to be as passionate as the music they wrote.

Now, despite this tragic loss, the rest of us felt that the songs were strong and we should go forward with our recording session. So, we had recruited some really excellent studio musicians to fill in for the lost band members. The studio musicians included Mike Carbone on the drums, Joey Bruno on the electronic drums, Ivan Elias on the bass.

Now, Ivan was the original bass player for Patty Smythe and Scandal. And we even got Richie Cannata to play Sax on a couple of tracks. Some of you may know Richie as Billy Joel's original Sax player. Well, this sequence of events turned Ivory Tower the band and transformed us into Ivory Tower the studio project.

PHIL: We must admit here that we are quite the enthusiasts with music of the past and what it stood for. For Mark and Ivory Tower Project, it was much more.

MARK: Ivory Tower Project comes from the old school of Rock and Roll. You know, the days when rock music mostly featued melody, harmony, and really great guitar leads. Yeah, we love the retro Classic Rock sound.

PHIL: Is that are your main influence?

MARK: I really think that Ivory Tower Project is a melting pot of influences that some of the original band members had contributed to shape and develop our sound. For example, Tony. As the lead guitarist, he was influenced by the great guitar heroes like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Rick Derringer, Ted Nugent. But he was also influenced by many of the great blues guitarists.

I, on the other hand, was influenced by the great songwriter-oriented artists like Elton John, Foreigner, Journey. But I'm also influenced by the British-American progressive rock groups like Genesis, Kansas, [and] Queen.

PHIL: Well, you and I have very similar tastes in music.

MARK: Now, Henry. He was into Classic Rock artists that featured saxophone like Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Supertramp and Hall and Oates. But our lyricist, Johnny, Johnny Jace, he was into the lyric oriented groups like John Lennon and the Beatles. U2 and Rush.

But he was also into the darker flamboyent artists like Alice Cooper and David Bowie, and Ozzy Osbourne. And I think that when you listen to 'Red Hot', you may be able to hear some of those influences in our music.

It's funny that when you had mentioned before about genre, you used the term 'Driving Rock'. I recall one press magazine and the description of our music said that 'Red Hot' was a great CD to take out on a road trip. I also think that 'Driving Rock' also applies in the creative process as well as in that some of the music that I had composed that were Ivory Tower Project songs came to me while I was driving my car.

PHIL: Funny you should that, because the first time I listened to "Red Hot" was in a car on my way to the airport for my flight out to Hong Kong. So as you can see, it's music on the go with no calories and tons of emotion and... driving rock.

Independent music is not like it's used to be. Nowadays, thanks to technology, you can find fans from across the world. So, Mark, has the internet help promote your group?

MARK: The internet was a very positive tool in helping to promote Ivory Tower Project. We live in the Greater New York [City] Metro Area, and because we all have day jobs as well as other music obligations (we are not currently playing live together as Ivory Tower Project, we're all involved in other projects right now), yet we've been able to develop an international fanbase from the contacts and the connections that we've made through the internet.

Right now, Ivory Tower Project has been reviewed and played on over 250 radio stations in 22 countries worldwide. Our single, 'Burning' has been included on four compilation CDs in three different countries: The United States, Australia and Germany.

We also have four German record labels who wish to license or next CD release, which will be a full-length CD album. We would never had any of these opportunities if we had not made use of the World Wide Web so yeah the internet has helped to promote the Ivory Tower Project big time.

PHIL: A lot of fans are probably interested in your full-length release. What are your plans during this year?

MARK: Our small independent label, Guerilla Records, probably around mid-year [2006] will start to wrap up promotion on our current for sale EP 'Red Hot'. Probably after that we'll soon regroup and start to concentrate on recording our full-length CD release which will [probably] be finished in a year or so.

PHIL: So, for those who are convinced in trying out this great group, where can they find your release?

MARK: Right now, our EP 'Red Hot' is available at TowerRecords.com, CDBaby.com and BackstageCommerce.com. Probably the quickest way to get to that is by going to the official Ivory Tower Project website. The address is www.IvoryTowerProject.com; and when you go to the homepage, one of the options we have is the 'Store' page where we have listed all the retail stores that are currently selling our CD. We have stores where you can call toll-free and they'll take a phone order with your credit card or you can use the internet hyperlinks on our website to purchase the CD online.

PHIL: Thank you very much, Mark Regula for your time.

MARK: Well your welcome and thank you very much for having me here. It's a pleasure.

Phillip Hong is a co-host and reporter on Centre Street, our current affairs programme featuring alternative stories and interviews.