BLITZ VEGA (feat. Andy Rourke of The Smiths and KAV, ex-Happy Mondays) Announces NYC/LA shows… Releases New Song!

One of the most revered bass players in alternative music, ANDY ROURKE (of The Smiths) has teamed up with British frontman / guitarist KAV (formerly of Happy Mondays) to launch new band BLITZ VEGA. Based between New York City and Los Angeles respectively, Andy and KAV have been working on new music together and have debuted their first track “Hey Christo” recently, which has been described as “big driving tracks, guitar hooks, heavy beats, loops and live drums. File alongside; Iggy & The Stooges, BRMC, Queens of The Stone Age, The Kills, Kasabian and Primal Scream.”

With more new music on the way, the band has announced two live dates at New York City’s Mercury Lounge on Monday, June 10th (ticket link) and Los Angeles’ The Roxy on Wednesday, June 12th (ticket link).  Tickets are now available.

“Andy was one of the legends all of us musicians growing up in the UK looked up to and respect,” says KAV of his bandmate. “He came to see one of my early bands play in Manchester and I met Andy after the show and we really got on.”  Both Andy and KAV ran into each other periodically, but it wasn’t until a fateful chance meeting backstage at Coachella that the seeds of Blitz Vega took root. “A couple of years ago we talked about recording some songs together and Andy came over to LA and things just naturally progressed from there. It felt good & we surprised ourselves a little. The vibe just clicked for us instantly.”

“Kav and I have bumped into each other on a more than regular basis over many years,” agrees Andy. “We always had a mutual respect for each other and always talked about ‘sometime in the future working on a project together’. It seemed we were always busy on other projects. Well, this year we finally got it together! The stars were aligned or something! We are so happy with the results and excited for all to hear.”

Instead of the standard strategy of releasing studio material first, Andy and KAV pulled together a handful of musician friends and took up shop at the legendary Abbey Road Studios on Saturday April 20 and recorded a number of tracks live in-studio to be released as a live EP and docu-film (release date TBD), capturing the energy of the live and the historic surroundings. In addition, the band appeared on the UK’s television program This Feeling and performed “Hey Christo” live for a studio audience

One of the most revered bass players in alternative music, Andy Rourke helped craft the iconic sound of the ’80s with The Smiths, who critics have called the most important alternative rock band to emerge from the British independent music scene of the 1980s. Based in NYC since 2009, composing, writing and recording on various projects. He recently guested live with fellow Smiths member Johnny Marr and over the years has toured and collaborated with The Stone Roses‘ Ian Brown & Mani Mounfield, Sinead O’Connor, The Pretenders, Badly Drawn Boy, Killing Joke, Peter Hook, Bonehead from Oasis and, most recently, the band D.A.R.K. featuring Dolores O’Riordan who passed away unexpectedly last year.

Based out of Los Angeles since 2010, KAV helped Shaun Ryder re-form the legendary Manchester band Happy Mondays, getting the band back together and onstage to 10,000 people on London’s Clapham Common (their first show in several years).  He went on to tour internationally with the Happy Mondays for four years, co-writing their album Unkle Dysfunctional as well as the title track “Playground Superstar” from the soundtrack to the soccer film GOAL!  After playing Coachella with Happy Mondays in 2007, he spent some time in LA, which started his love affair with California.  KAV released his debut album The Man With No Shadow in 2012 and has toured around the US, UK, Europe with his solo project.  He’s guested live with Datarock several times, released a track “Mr Nice” in conjunction with Howard Marks and recorded a music project with the late, international fashion icon Zombie Boy.

“We have so much more music ‘in the bag’,” concludes Andy.  “Lots of releases coming at you soon, plus more live shows & festivals in the works. I’m beyond excited and proud of this band! We hope to see you soon!”

Blitz Vega is Andy Rourke (bass) and KAV Blaggers (lead vocals/guitar). The live band is Thomas Arizmendi (guitar/backing vocals), Asa Brown (keyboards/backing vocals), Greg Gent (guitar/ backing vocals) and Craig Eriksson (drums).