SCOTT IAN's 10-Year-Old Son REVEL Launches Three-Piece Rock Band HONEYBEE

Revel Young Ian, the 10-year-old son of ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian, has teamed up with 16-year-old Liam Williams (guitar/vocals),and 15-year-old Theo O'Gara (bass/vocals) to form a three-piece rock and roll band called HONEYBEE.

Formed in 2019 deep in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California, HONEYBEE's musical style is described in a press release an "explosive cocktail of hard rock and heavy metal with a dash of psych, prog, and an alt-folk edge."

HONEYBEE will perform at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, California on May 15. They will also play at the Topanga Days music festival at the Topanga Community House in Topanga, California on May 30.

Struck by the otherworldly John Bonham-like beats that he heard rising from his little sister's basement band rehearsal, Williams, who had been looking to form a band of his own, discovered the natural-born talents of young drummer Revel and promptly asked if he could join him on lead guitar in an impromptu jam. Immediately, the two boys gelled in sound and vibe. Realizing that they needed to carry on making music together, they quickly joined forces with Liam's classmate bass-master Theo O'Gara, and the trinity was formed.

With all three members of HONEYBEE being true multi-instrumentalists, each born into musical families all with slightly different styles, Liam, Revel and Theo recognize collectively their individual musical flavors and they bring them together to enhance their own music's deep foundation through the spectrum of rock and roll from classic rock to nu metal and everything in between.

Pouring together an avalanche of original song ideas, HONEYBEE quickly put together an album of brand new tracks that would have bands the likes of QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE afraid to follow them. All together, they spent four days at the famous Studio 606 in Northridge, California plugged into the legendary Sound City Neve console. There they let the fresh waves of their organic inspiration flow and coagulate through storied and time-worn channels touched by the vibrations of some of music's greatest artists in history, creating HONEYBEE's self-titled debut album, which is due on May 27 via Swingin' Pipe Records/The Orchard.

Speaking about what it is like being in a band, Revel, who was born in June 2011, said: "It's one of the most awesome feelings you can ever have. Playing music with people is one of the most creative things you can do. You can make music whatever you want. And at my age? Forget about it. I am so grateful to be able to play music with two guys that are 5 years older than me. I am so grateful to be able to play like I can at 11 years old. Quick summary: Being in a band is the best feeling you can ever have."

Regarding how it feels performing songs on stage, Revel said: "Performing on stage is such a bonding time for the players in the band. When you perform on stage and the drums and the bass are tight together and the guitar and vocals follow, it's like the most exciting and wholesome feeling you can get. Performing your own songs, that you wrote, all by yourself with a little bit of help from others in front of a crowd! That likes it! You'll feel like you just become a god that controls everything. (That can't always be good haha)".

In recent months, Scott has been sharing videos of him jamming with Revel on songs from SEPULTURA, HELMET, SYSTEM OF A DOWN, KORN and FOO FIGHTERS, among others.

Revel is apparently a gifted multi-instrumentalist who joined the FOO FIGHTERS on stage in September 2019 at the Bourbon & Beyond festival in Louisville, Kentucky to perform "Everlong" on guitar when he was just eight years old.

Back in 2014, Ian told Horns Up Rocks that his then-three-old son was a big fan of METALLICA, THE BEATLES and AC/DC and that he could already tell the difference between Bon Scott's voice and that of Brian Johnson.

"He knows a lot of the stuff that he hears or sees in the house," Scott said at the time. "But what's really cool is that he actually recognizes and knows the difference between Bon Scott and Brian Johnson, which is pretty cool, I think, for an almost three-year-old. Anytime AC/DC is on, he'll go, 'That's Bon singing.' And then when it's not Bon, he'll say, 'That's not Bon singing.' He knows. That's pretty cool, I think."

Asked whether metal musicians should be parents, Ian said it was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He added: "I think you have to take that on a case-by-case basis. I couldn't say enough about having a child; I think it's the greatest thing ever in the whole world. But I do think that there are a lot of people on this planet, not necessarily metal musicians, that shouldn't be parents."

Photo credit: Eric Larsen Images