The 80’s Are Back with Bow Wow Wow, The Untouchables, When In Rome II and Diane & The Deductibles at The Canyon Club Santa Clarita

The 80’s Are Back with When In Rome II, Bow Wow Wow, The Untouchables, and Diane & The Deductibles at The Canyon Club Santa Clarita

The 80’s will be back in a vast and epic way at The Canyon Club in Santa Clarita on March 2nd, featuring sets from iconic bands such as When In Rome II, Bow Wow Wow and The Untouchables.  Opening the show will be a very special appearance by Diane & The Deductibles, featuring members of Queensryche and Air Supply!  Those memories of the 80’s will be revived with classics songs such as I Want Candy by Bow Wow Wow, Free Yourself by The Untouchables, and The Promise by When In Rome.  Diane & The Deductibles will kick off the night with their own vibrant brand of rock that moves the soul and sets the imagination in flight.

To preview this not-to-be missed event, Highwire Daze caught up with Michael Floreale and Johnny Ceravolo of When In Rome II to find out what to expect from the show as well as their just recently unveiled Self-Titled album – their first recording of new music since When In Rome’s landmark debut in 1988.

Also interviewed in this article is Cliff Rehrig, bassist extraordinaire for Diane & The Deductibles – who discusses what 80’s music has meant to him, time spent within the ranks of the legendary Air Supply, and a whole lot more!  Read on and then check out the link at the end of the article to purchase discounted tickets to this exciting event…

Michael Floreale and Johnny Ceravolo of When In Rome II

What are you looking forward to most about your upcoming show at The Canyon Club in Santa Clarita?
JC/MF: It’ll be our first time playing there. It’s always exciting to perform at a new venue.

What could one expect from your live show?
JC/MF: We always play from the heart and try to give our all. We connect emotionally to our music and try to give honest, heartfelt performances.

How did the When In Rome II project come about?
JC: Michael and I met through Music Connection. He was looking for a singer, I was looking for a band. When we met it was immediately apparent that we had chemistry. It took a few years to find Chris, but that was the final missing piece. Once the three of us got in a room and started playing, it was very clear we had something special.

Select two songs from the recently released When In Rome II album and what inspired the lyrics.
JC: Come On was inspired by a fan I met in Dallas. She had been displaced from her home and job by Hurricane Katrina. She conveyed to me how she had listened to our music while going through the catastrophe and extended aftermath. She told me it had meant the world to her to hear the songs that had carried her through a difficult time performed live. I went back to Michael with this story and we both agreed that we should try to focus on making music that inspired hope and optimism. We decided we wanted to deliberately make music that would help people. Come On was the first song we wrote after that. It’s about realizing that we all face similar struggles and that we need each other.

Let It Go is about battling depression, and finding a way out of it. I have personally battled with severe seasons of depression and wrote the song to myself in an attempt to talk myself into a better place.

What do you think has made The Promise such a memorable song for fans all over the world and do you still enjoy playing it after all of this time?
JC: For me it was a song I danced to in my early years as a teenager and young adult. It was always an exciting and jubilant song to sing and dance to.

MF: I never imagined it would be so popular and it is always a pleasure to see how well it is received when we play it live

When you look back on the first When In Rome album, what do you think of it now?
MF: When it is your first album, you are learning as you go. There were some good songs on the album and it was a wonderful experience working with great musicians. I learned a lot from the whole process.

Any messages for When In Rome II fans reading this now?
JC/MF: Please know that we are always grateful for your love and support and that we are very much looking forward to seeing you and sharing our music with you.

When In Rome II Official Home Page
When In Rome II on Facebook

Cliff Rehrig of Diane & The Deductibles

What are you looking forward to the most about your upcoming show at The Canyon Club in Santa Clarita?
They serve the best salmon and garlic mashed potatoes .. haha. Oh, and the stage is really nice to play on. Good P.A., great lights, nice size stage. It all makes for a good experience for the crowd AND the performer….. and did I mention the salmon is the best !! 😉

What could one expect from your live show?
First thing I think of is our band has such good musicians. I feel really good when I look around and see all the others in our band. We truly have some great musicians and they great people too !! I think our original songs are really good too. I like playing them.

What do you think of our local Los Angeles/OC music scene?
Boy, that’s a tough one. There are good and bad things about it. It’s changed so much from when I got here in `83. Seems like the “tribute bands” are in high demand now. Gotta run where the money is sometimes, but there’s nothing like playing your own originals and have people like them. There are so many bands out there. You just have to do your own thing and that will come through in the music.

What was the experience like playing for Air Supply and do you still keep in touch with any members of the band?
Playing in Air Supply was great for a number of reasons. I saw the world, walked on the Great Wall of China, saw so many places I never would have on my own. I’m closest with Russell Hitchcock, the lead vocalist. We text each other a lot. He and I got along well. We were the only two that would stay at the venue after sound check (everyone else would go back to the hotel) and I think because of those hang times we became good friends. He had a great sense of humor and stories before I was in the band were truly amazing….. I think most of them were true .. hahaha. Graham Russell (guitarist and main songwriter) is the only other member that was playing when I was in the band. We see each other when the band is in town, Diane and I will go backstage and catch up with everyone before and after the show. They live in other states so I don’t see them otherwise.

What has it been like to work with Robert Sarzo formerly of Queensryche?
Robert is a unique person to me. He is a great guitarist and an even better songwriter. During rehearsals he has an endless stream of ideas. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with him and all his ideas. He’s the consummate musician !! The other part I like is he is passionate about music and life. He’s done a lot and been through a lot and that’s really made him a well rounded person. He’s a fun person to be around. I wish I would have known him when we were both playing the Sunset Strip in the 80’s. I think that would have been a blast!

What is your favorite Diane & The Deductibles song to play live and why?
It’s called “Subtraction” .. “take it away boys” Get it.. “take it way“.!?!…. so much for my comedic career. Hmm, favorite song to play… that’s tough. Seems like each new song the band writes is the favorite at that time, I like “Hold On” cause it has good harmonies, a good hook, and some chord changes you don’t expect. For some reason it just gets bumped off our set list by songs that are a little more “up” or energetic.

How excited are you to play with these three 80’s bands, and what does that era of music mean to you?
Well, I moved to SoCal in `83 and it was Hair Band Rock on Sunset Strip and Punk/Pop bands at the other joints. I played in a rock band (PUSH) and a Ska/Reggae/Police type band (Planet 10) and enjoyed them both. I like songs with grooves and energy that gets you moving. A bass line can be a straight 8th note line, but if it’s got energy and drive I’ll jam on it all night long.

How close is Diane & The Deductibles to releasing new music?
We are trying to wrap up our latest studio project now. All the songs are mixed … maybe a few more tweaks here and there….. sometimes you just gotta let it go and say “it’s there”. Then we master and …. do they still make CD’s (showing my age). I’m sure we’ll have multiple formats available.

Any final words of wisdom?
Wisdom is something I ask the Lord for every morning. I think there are two trains of thought musically. 1- Don’t listen to anyone and you’ll truly create your own style, no rules to follow (ex: learn the guitar upside down, make up your own fingering, etc) or 2-The more people you listen to musically the more you develop your own voice (style) by using things you’ve learned and heard and making them your own. Lastly, Be grateful for all you have and whoever/whatever you are, be a good one.

Diane & The Deductibles are:
• Diane Adams– lead vocals/rhythm guitar
• Robert Sarzo– lead guitar (Hurricane/Queensryche, GT)
• Cliff Rehrig– bassist, vocals (Air Supply)
• Keith Lynch– guitar, vocals (known for his work as MD with Black Sabbath’s Bill Ward)
• Ronnie Ciago– national recording and touring drummer

Diane & The Deductibles on Facebook

Buy tickets for the Bow Wow Wow, The Untouchables, When In Rome II and Diane & The Deductibles show at The Canyon Club Santa Clarita here!