AC/DC Frontman Throws His Weight Behind Florida's BIG MACHINE

March 17, 2005

AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson has co-written all of the material and handpicked the members of a new Florida-based band called BIG MACHINE. The quintet has labels and industry folk alike shuffling about trying to find out more about the group performing the first new material written from the iconic frontman since 1988.

Looking to stretch his own musical muscles a bit, Brian compiled in BIG MACHINE a band of monsters that would best portray his classic songwriting style, and rip it a new ass on stage.

It all starts with a frontman that can cast his own shadow so to speak along side the story that is BIG MACHINE. That guy is former NEUROTICA/ATHEIST vocalist Kelly Shaefer. Shaefer was also one of the final four vocalists chosen for the frontman spot in VELVET REVOLVER.

Johnson discovered Shaefer in a small club in South Florida a few years back and offered to produce Shaefer's then-band NEUROTICA's first record "Seed". Johnson also sang alongside Shaefer on the track "Deadly Sin" that Johnson and Kaye penned for the band, marking it the first and only time Johnson has produced in his illustrious career.

With music making a retro fitted return to "classic" songwriting qualities, BIG MACHINE spits out a sound ironically reminiscent of the Bon Scott-era of AC/DC. Shaefer's vocal on "Somebody's Looking" casts an eerie resemblance to that of the late Bon Scott.

BIG MACHINE's demo is currently making the rounds to industry insiders, and the stage is set for this band to emerge and flatten the "pretenders" to the throne of rock and roll. How fitting that the beating would come from the man who has carried the torch to that sound for over 20 years!

The buzz on this band is so hot that its first live appearance, on March 24 in South Florida, is sold out two weeks before the date of the show. Not bad for a band that just got together at the top of the year.

Johnson will also be making an onstage appearance with BIG MACHINE on March 24.

BIG MACHINE is:

Donny Jaurols - Guitar
Doug Kaye - Guitar
Joe Scibilia - Bass
Kelly Shaefer - Vocals
Jeff Klosterman - Drums

This five-piece outfit promises to be a breath of fresh air in these times of "ProTooled" cookie cutter bands that plague the airwaves. With Jaurols and Kaye's relentless wall of guitars, Klosterman and Scibilia's rhythm section providing the perfect soundtrack for Shaefer's throaty approach, songs like "Party Time for 2" and "All Women are Crazy", along with the radio-ready "Wild Wild West", bring back a fun, but daring time of rock.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).