“We see ourselves as Robin Hoods of rock and roll,” says Burning Brides’ main man Dimitri Coats. The past few years have been one big adventure for the tough-as-nails rock trio. They came up from the streets of Philadelphia, raided the corridors of corporate record biz power and emerged with their artistic integrity intact. Now they’re ready to give it to the people. They recorded their first album, 2001’s Fall of the Plastic Empire, “which we made for 5000 bucks in a motorcycle garage in Philly,” Dimitri adds. Burning Brides quickly gained a reputation as a formidable live act. “That’s what got us out of Philly,” Dimitri notes. “Right away we started opening for bands like the Melvins, Royal Trux and J Mascis.” Pretty soon Burning Brides were a buzz band themselves. “We found ourselves in a huge bidding war,” Dimitri recalls. “We were the last of the unknown bands to get a million dollar record deal.”
The band signed to V2, who immediately re-issued Fall of the Plastic Empire and put Burning Brides back out on the road, which helped them expand and consolidate the dedicated fan base they’d garnered as an indie band. And in 2004, V2 released Burning Brides’ hard-hitting second album, Leave No Ashes, produced by George Drakoulias (Tom Petty, Black Crowes). The disc was well received by fans and critics alike. But in those years of major label downsizing, Burning Brides languished in promotional limbo. Things started falling apart. “During all this mess, Melanie and I were totally f****d up on drugs, ”Dimitri confesses. “On our first, and only, headlining tour we were broken up, onstage hating each other every night. Our drummer at the time said, ‘I’m outta here.’ That could easily have been the end of the band.” Instead, Dimitri and Melanie healed their wounded relationship. They moved out to L.A., got married and found a new drummer, Guzzard vet Pete Beeman. “Pete is what a rock drummer should be,” Dimitri raves. “He rides a motorcycle, smokes cigarettes, fishes and drinks beers. All the girls like him. And if anybody looked at me or Melanie the wrong way, he’d push ‘em against the wall.” Through deft legal maneuvering, Burning Brides were able to get out of their V2 contract with a six-figure check in their pocket. This gave them enough to live on for two years as they regrouped and retrenched, with enough left over to finance the recording of Hang Love. The band teamed with engineer Mathias Schneeberger (Joseph Arthur, St. Vitus, Mark Lanegan), whom Dimitri and Melanie met while contributing tracks to Lanegan’s ‘04 Bubblegum album. Hang Love was recorded in just a month and a half at Shneeberger’s Arcadia, CA studio.
The band signed to V2, who immediately re-issued Fall of the Plastic Empire and put Burning Brides back out on the road, which helped them expand and consolidate the dedicated fan base they’d garnered as an indie band. And in 2004, V2 released Burning Brides’ hard-hitting second album, Leave No Ashes, produced by George Drakoulias (Tom Petty, Black Crowes). The disc was well received by fans and critics alike. But in those years of major label downsizing, Burning Brides languished in promotional limbo. Things started falling apart. “During all this mess, Melanie and I were totally f****d up on drugs, ”Dimitri confesses. “On our first, and only, headlining tour we were broken up, onstage hating each other every night. Our drummer at the time said, ‘I’m outta here.’ That could easily have been the end of the band.” Instead, Dimitri and Melanie healed their wounded relationship. They moved out to L.A., got married and found a new drummer, Guzzard vet Pete Beeman. “Pete is what a rock drummer should be,” Dimitri raves. “He rides a motorcycle, smokes cigarettes, fishes and drinks beers. All the girls like him. And if anybody looked at me or Melanie the wrong way, he’d push ‘em against the wall.” Through deft legal maneuvering, Burning Brides were able to get out of their V2 contract with a six-figure check in their pocket. This gave them enough to live on for two years as they regrouped and retrenched, with enough left over to finance the recording of Hang Love. The band teamed with engineer Mathias Schneeberger (Joseph Arthur, St. Vitus, Mark Lanegan), whom Dimitri and Melanie met while contributing tracks to Lanegan’s ‘04 Bubblegum album. Hang Love was recorded in just a month and a half at Shneeberger’s Arcadia, CA studio.