The End Men’s’ Twitter bio: Big, loud, rock from Brooklyn and that’s what your going to hear . What I love about them is the idea that rock is supposed to be about having fun, dancing, screaming, sweatin hanging with friends brought together by rock n roll. The music is very blues , It’s like Tom Waits meeting up with Seasick Steve and deciding to plug that shit in… and how cool is that. I especially enjoy how they bring the blues back to rock, it’s not a new twist but it is one that we haven’t heard in a long time. Good use of the backing vocals from Livia ,overall kick ass blues beat. You can catch The End Men on their tour that starts next week and you should pause what your doing now and give a listen to The End Men, you will dig on this blues rock n roll , I’m sure of that. Great Stuff!!
Hi our name is….
The End Men. Three words, all equally important.
And our sound might be best described as….
A boot to the back of the head for everyone trying to convince you rock is dead.
We are..
Matthew Hendershot (guitar and vocals), Livia Ranalli (drums and percussions), and these days featuring Matthew Elia (Sax)
We are originally from…..
Matthew – Lakin, KS. It’s not the middle of nowhere, but you can see it from there.
Livia: A small village near Milan, Italy
Who are some that have an influence on your sound??
MH – The number one influence on my sound is the built up aggression and frustration from living in this city, in
this country, in this society at this time in human history. That and I really like every rendition and reinvention of
American Blues.
LR: I love street percussionists. I like the sounds they can produce with unconventional surfaces. I guess I kind of
relate to whatever is low budget and creative
The first time we met was…..
LR: an event MH organized with various bands playing. I was invited to participate with my former project. I
remember Matt was wearing a big fur coat and a bowler hat. He looked like a rock and roll pimp haha
We knew we were going to be a Band when………
LR: …somebody asked us to play a gig at some point. We had been entertaining the idea of being in a band for a
while, but fucking around for the most part. We just needed a goal, and that worked.
MH: It didn’t hurt that when they asked, we’d been drinking that night and said ‘yes’ before we had a real plan! Once we we’re locked in to the gig, we didn’t really have a choice but to get our shit together.
Before starting the band we were employed as…….
MH- I’ve sold fast food, paint, and guns (not at the same time). I’ve driven box trucks. I’ve worked in music venues
and night clubs. Also, at one point, I made porn (edited only, not starred in, so put your Google away.)
LR: both before and (sigh!) after, I’ve been in the translation industry
Our craziest gig ever was….
LR: We played a friend’s wedding reception once. It was our gift to my friend but the catering team thought
we were a hired wedding band, so they initially refused to serve us drinks. Probably the worst half hour of my
musician life…
The first song we wrote was…….
MH – I think the first song Liv and I wrote together was Run Away.
LR: that’s correct
It’s about……
MH – All those things I listed in the influence question above, and the recurring attempts to escape them.
What tunes are you currently jamming to…
MH – I’ve been listening to a ton of Two Gallants, especially their album The Bloom and the Blight. I have a lot of
live Steppenwolf, Cream and Lynyrd Skynyrd stuff on vinyl that I’ve been playing a lot; Gimme Back My Bullets
might end up a cover soon. Also, the stuff I’m currently mixing for The Shady Greys gets stuck in my head (it’s
going to be a hot EP) as well as the Built 4 BBQ Entree Sampler that I mastered recently. Music I work on I tend to
listen to quite a bit even after it is done.
LR: Graveyard Lovers rock! One of my most recurrent jams is our friends Moho Collective.
What are some of the 1st songs you remember listening to that made you say, that’s what I want to do
MH – This is a weird question for me since I started out by playing Jazz in school. That was my in to the world
of performing and making music. It was never a rock-envy dream kind of thing. Just playing and performing and
letting the next influence take me further down that path while at the same time following the styles and positions
in bands I found fun. I didn’t ever step into the frontman role until after the last time I was fired from a band.
LR: For me it started with Queen. I made my own kit with pots and pans, and chopsticks, and would play along
their stuff. I think their very first song that made me realize I had to play the drums was Liar. The whole album At
the Beeb did it for me though.
When your touring and have some time off , where could we find you..,.,
MH – Hahaha, hate to admit it, but a bar. I like music stores, but I tend to gear geek and Liv puts up with me guitar-
ing out like a champ, but it has its limits. We do tear up thrift shops everywhere we go though. And we hunt good
coffee constantly!
The one thing we want you to remember while your listening to us
Remember that this shit is FUN as FUCK! Jump around, get nuts, get drunk, get sweaty, dance, party, break some
rules… it is supposed to be a rebellion, when did it get so tame?
listen to the new album….
and don’t forget to listen to this as well..
you can follow/keep up with The End Men…
and you can catch them on tour….
