Holy City Zoo is a four piece alternative punk rock outfit hailing from New Brunswick, New Jersey. The band consists of Joe Lanza (Guitar/Vocals), Frank DeFranco (Guitar/Vocals), AJ Russo (Bass/Vocals) and Brian DePhillis (Drums). The group blends driving, forceful rhythms with healthy doses of organized chaos. Some main influences of the band are the Foo Fighters, At the Drive In, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Fall of Troy, ..And You WIll Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Bear Vs Shark, Weezer, Tera Melos, Sonic Youth etc.
The band formed in 2007 as a side project for Joe Lanza. Quickly after this formation, Frank DeFranco came on board and the two began to compose material. Bassist Aj Russo, who has worked with Joe in previous bands, liked the demos that he heard and eventually decided to leave his other band to join. In the summer of 2010, the band’s drummer decided to call it quits. Brian DePhillis, who had previously been in a band with AJ, was asked to fill in the role. This line-up solidified the sound the band had been looking for, as they wrote brand new material and decided to take the side-project a bit more seriously.
March of 2011 saw the release of the bands first EP. It was released by their own independent label Tiny Giant Records, which the band co-founded with fellow New Jersey musicians The Nico Blues. Along with the label, they also formed the Tiny Giant Artist Collective, which vastly improved the communication amongst local bands in the New Jersey/New York area. This helped spread the word about Holy City Zoo’s shows and EP, which helped create a sustaining buzz in the New Brunswick music scene.
http://holycityzoo.bandcamp.com/
