The San Francisco Bay Area’s hot rod modern rock group, founded by vocalist Alicia Perrone and bassist Victor James in late 1997, delivers danceable music and choreography that’s exciting, daring, and smooth, with a fierce sound that is undeniable. “Tough, sexy, and smart...Stinger’s singer is bionic,” says Tourdates.com. Combining Perrone’s remarkable vocal skills, James’ fearless bass playing, guitarist Mary Cary’s strangelove guitar playing, and drummer Elvis Katic’s explosive rhythms, Stinger’s devilish hooks, cool melodies, and bizarre electro beats come to life with a fringe of spy film soundtrack around the edges.
In their first month as a band, Stinger released their debut on 7-inch vinyl on their own Muscle Car Records. Two months later, their first CD, Private Collection, followed, also on Muscle Car/C2 Records. Their second CD release, the 13-song Devil On My Mind, was supported so strongly by Bay Area press, radio, and retail, that the band was offered a deal by Chicago Kid Records to release it in April 2000.
Film music supervisors reacted the same way. In 2002, the Miramax motion picture “Diamonds” starring Kirk Douglas, Dan Aykroyd, Lauren Bacall, and Jenny MacArthy, featured Stinger's song “Fringe Authority” alongside Elvis Presley’s “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” Members of the group also had a cameo in the film. SF Weekly says, “led by the enchanting force that is Alicia Perrone, Simon Stinger landed a cameo and song in the comedy “Diamonds,” but that’s a small accomplishment next to the realization of Devil On My Mind—the most dazzling, fun, and charmingly insolent album I’ve heard this year.”
Simon Stinger is currently recording their third 16-song release with producer Sylvia Massy Shivy (Tool, Powerman 5000, Prince) due out in early 2004. A self-released 9-song EP was released in August 2003 and features the first single "The Future Will Blow Your Mind," featured here—an appreciation of the fact that the universe has much more in store for all of us than we could ever imagine. The song's original demo was recorded on a Power Mac G4 with a Digidesign Digi 002 and Pro Tools setup. The master version of the CD was recorded at Radio Star Studios in Weed, CA, with producer Sylvia Massy, and recorded through a Neve mixing board using a G4 and Pro Tools setup. EP 2003 is now available online at MP3.com, CDBaby.com, Amazon.com, and at selected brick & mortar retailers.
