EYE AM Feat. TYPE O NEGATIVE And CROWBAR Members: First Single 'Dreams Always Die With The Sun' Now Available

EYE AM, the new band featuring former TYPE O NEGATIVE members Kenny Hickey (guitar/vocals) and Johnny Kelly (drums),along with Kirk Windstein (guitar, vocals; CROWBAR, DOWN, KINGDOM OF SORROW) and Todd Strange (CROWBAR, DOWN),has released its debut single, "Dreams Always Die With The Sun", via Corpse Paint Records. A music video for the track was recently filmed by Mike Holderbeast at Joy Theater in New Orleans, Louisiana and can be seen below.

"Dreams Always Die With The Sun" was written by Hickey and Windstein and was recorded in February by bassist Roger Lima of LESS THAN JAKE at his studio called The Moathouse in Gainesville, Florida. The track was mixed and mastered by Jay Ruston.

Windstein previously stated about the track: "For me, I just love jamming and writing songs with talented people. Of course, I've jammed with Todd Strange since the '80s, so I knew that would be great, but having the opportunity to get together with Kenny and Johnny was exciting. I was a little nervous at first, but once we started putting the song together, I had a great feeling we were on to something special. I love the song, and can't wait to write some more with these guys."

Hickey added: "Well, we didn't really know what would happen when we got together. I had a few riffs and half-finished ideas, and I recorded them and sent them to Kirk and he wrote some ideas off of that. I think because we're all around the same age, it echoes the music we grew up with, which was mostly '70s hard rock and metal. It has a classic rock quality to it. I hear some Hendrix in there as well. It's really satisfying when you throw musicians and riffs into a pot and then listen back to hear what comes out of it. It's somehow less contrived sounding, I think. It could have also hit the wall and ended up a disaster, which adds an element of risk to it as well. But I think we came out with something really cool."

Kelly said: "I loved getting together with some old friends! It was a lot of fun flying by the seat of my pants! I'm really happy with the way the song turned out. Kenny, Kirk and Todd really came through on this song. I hope everyone that hears it, likes it half as much as I do!"

Strange said: "What an opportunity to create music with a great group of guys. One of my favorite experiences in music to date."

Holderbeast said: "I've known Kirk and Todd for many years and have worked with them on projects for CROWBAR and DOWN. I've been a huge TYPE O NEGATIVE fan for years, so it was killer to work with Kenny and Johnny for the first time.

"We shot at the Joy Theatre in the heart of New Orleans. A lot of bands have played there because it's got cool vibes. The shoot went super smoothly, and it was a great experience — definitely one of the most fun videos I've shot. And for being a new project, the sound was incredibly organic and natural. You'd have thought these guys have been together for years."

Speaking to Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, Kelly stated about how EYE AM came together: "That was started with Andrew Spaulding. I met him; he was a merchandiser for DANZIG. And then TYPE O went on tour after that. We brought him out and he worked with TYPE O up until Peter [Steele, TYPE O NEGATIVE frontman] passed away. And we all remained good friends and stuff. And he started an indie label; he started a small little label. And he suggested putting me and Kenny together with Kirk Windstein and Todd Strange from CROWBAR. We've all been friends — I've known Kirk and Todd for, like, 30 years at this point. So we've always been friends and we've always crossed paths and hung out and this and that but never really had the opportunity to get in a room and play together. And Drew had it worked out. We all met in Florida, like, two months ago. We got into a room, came up with that song, recorded it the next day, and that was it; it was done.'"

According to Kelly, "Dreams Always Die With The Sun" was written and recorded in less than a day. "Drew literally picked me up from the airport and drove me to rehearsal," he said. "And the guys were in the room. And I just put my suitcase over to the side, set up the kit and we started working on the song. And then the next morning we went to the recording studio, tracked all the drums. And then I was on a plane. I don't know where I was going after that, but I had to leave right after we were done tracking; I think my flight was at six in the morning the next morning. So I was there just literally for a few hours."

He continued: "We are going to New Orleans at the end of June to do more writing and recording. If we get like a whole week, who knows what can happen?"

Regarding how "Dreams Always Die With The Sun" turned out, Johnny said: "It's a cool song. I really wasn't sure what to expect. I guess the best way to compare it — on a different scale, of course — would be like Scott Weiland and VELVET REVOLVER [got together]. You take these people from these bands and you put 'em together and you have a certain expectation of it. Then you're not sure if it's gonna meet it, if it's exceeding it or if it falls way below. But I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was and how much fun it was to work with everybody."

In addition to their work with TYPE O NEGATIVE, Hickey and Kelly had previously collaborated in a band called SEVENTH VOID, which released one full-length album, "Heaven Is Gone", in 2009, and SILVERTOMB, which issued "Edge Of Existence" in 2019.

In a 2018 interview with Rock And Roll Fables, Hickey stated about his chemistry with Kelly: "I've been working with Johnny long before TYPE O. I met Johnny probably in 1986. TYPE O formed in 1989, so we were already in a thrash band together. Basically, we grew up and learned everything the wrong way together and had to work it out over the course of the years. [Laughs] For me, it's completely natural with him. We got better at it. Dude, you do something for 35 years, I hope you're getting better at it."

Original CROWBAR bassist Strange returned to the band in 2016 for the touring cycle in support of the band's "The Serpent Only Lies" album.

Strange, who originally left CROWBAR back in 1999, stuck around for two years before departing once again to focus on his family life.

CROWBAR frontman Windstein, who also plays in the New Orleans supergroup DOWN, released two albums with HATEBREED's Jamey Jasta under the KINGDOM OF SORROW banner. Kirk's debut solo album, "Dream In Motion", arrived in 2020.