Music to melt your face from New Years Day

New Years Day is Frankie Sil, Jeremy Valentyne, Ash Costello and Nikki Misery, from left.
New Years Day is Frankie Sil, Jeremy Valentyne, Ash Costello and Nikki Misery, from left.

If you go

› What: Attila — Let’s Get Abducted Tour with New Years Day, Bad Omens and Cane Hill.› When: 7 p.m. Friday, March 3.› Where: Revelry Room, 41 Station St.› Admission: $18 in advance, $20 day of.› Phone: 423-521-2929.› Website: reverlyroom.co.

In addition to being able to melt your face with their music, the members of New Years Day draw attention for their made-up faces and leather-and-chains clothing.

Lead singer Ashley "Ash" Costello will be wearing a new item when the band takes the stage at Revelry Room on Friday, March 3: a cast.

"I broke my foot," she explains in a telephone interview. The actual circumstances are very non-heavy metal - she stepped off a step wrong - but she says she'll come up with a better story soon. She did insist that the cast be black.

As for the makeup and clothing, Costello says, "This is who we are. It's a common misconception that we created our image for the band."

New Years Day was formed in 2005 with Costello handling vocals and bassist Adam Lohrbach doing most of the songwriting. Keith Drover played guitar and keys, Mike Schoolden played guitar and Russell Dixon played the drums. That lineup built the band's name and fan-base via MySpace and social media.

They released an EP in 2006 and a full-length debut, called "My Dear," in 2007. Schoolden and Lohrbach left the next year, but the group was still picked up for the Warped Tour in 2010. Bassist Tyler Burgess and drummer Nick Rossi joined in 2013. In fact, the group has had a total of 15 members over the years.

The current lineup is Frankie Sil, Jeremy Valentyne, Costello and Nikki Misery.

Costello says the changes in the band have all been part of an evolving process to get all of the right elements into place. Their sound has always been heavy rock, but it has ranged from loud angry metal to rock with a sense of humor.

"We've been trying to find the right band members," she says. "It took awhile to find our vision."

They have described their sound as "hauntedmansioncore," a mix of the horror movie "The Haunted Mansion" and rock music.

She says the band is always looking to move forward. She loves the notion of going in front of a new crowd that sees a band in makeup fronted by a girl, "and then we blow them away."

Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.

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