An Exclusive Interview With Surge!

Tell us who you are and where you’re from/location!
SURGE members are from all over the Rochester area, Greece, Fairport, Churchville, Hamlin and Rochester. Our base is in Greece where we rehearse and have our meetings. Our members origins are local except for Eric who hails from Brooklyn NY.

Read More »

Posted: 2009-02-26

Hear Rock that ‘Surges' from the Gut
By John Turner / The Citizen Thursday, June 4, 2009

There's no doubt about it: these guys are on a mission to rock your face off.

Surge, a quintet from the Rochester area, is becoming known as one of the premier rock bands in upstate New York. During its four-year existence, the group has played hundreds of shows at bars, nightclubs and outdoor venues in several regional communities, even sharing the stage with nationally-known acts.

Friday night, local music fans will also have a chance to rock out, as Surge is set to play Suzy's. Last week, lead singer and band co-founder Jimmy Nealon talked about Surge's rising career, and exactly why fans have to be literally carried out of clubs after many of its shows.

“All our energy for our shows comes right from the gut,” he said during a telephone interview. “When we're up there I know we have a real connection with the crowd, and I think the band and the audience really feed off each other,” he continued. In 2005, he explained, Nealon, lead guitarist/keyboard player/vocalist Eric Ferreri formed the core of Surge's lineup. “In the first couple years, we went through a couple of bass players, a couple drummers too,” he said, before finally acquiring current bassist Brendan Ayers and drummer/vocalist Tracy Murray.

In the past year or so the band has recorded about a dozen songs, which Nealon said will be released as an album, “Begin to Burn,” probably in August.

Though Surge relies more on covers for its live material, the original tunes themselves have a rambunctious, almost raunchy appeal.

One original song, “You Make Me Wanna ... Pop!”, combines Ferreri's discordant guitar line with Nealon's growling vocals, and sounds almost like an '80s hair-metal band reinventing itself as a grunge outfit. But Surge's live show, and the cover songs therein, are the band's bread and butter.

“The guys in the band, and our audiences too, range in age from their 20s to their 50s,” Nealon said. “So our set list is pretty diverse.”

Surge has the ability to musically turn on a dime, and will play intense rockers like Disturbed's “Down With the Sickness” immediately followed by ballads like Poison's “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” Surge has been in talks with promoters about performing gigs with other national acts like Skid Row and members of Warrant.

“You can't imagine how much we appreciate all the support we get from our fans,” Nealon said. “They really drive it every week, and that's why we do what we do.”