Now…exclusive
The Roots of the band sink far away in 1998, year in which MATTEO VAGO, the founder, decided to build up a band with a strong, rocky and essential sound, free from frills, main feature which even gives the idea of the band’name: you only need only a guitar, cables, PA’s and.. the ON-OFF switch.
The early years see a continuous alternating of musicians on bass guitar, vocals and drums, but finally in 2000 here’s the first stable line-up and the beginning of a hard mess-tin made of many concerts characterized by covers chosen among AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Beatles sets and, as news for cover-bands of the period, some classic rock’n’roll or blues songs like Chuck Berry, Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker or Joe Williams, played in a hard mood! After all, blues from B.B. King, Robert Johnson, Chuck Berry, Yardbirds etc. has always been the base of the inspiration and musical background of the band. In this period, drums were “beaten&kicked” by SAMUELE SQUAIELLA who, with Fabio Turci and Silvio Bianchi, became one of the “oldest” member of the band.
The beginning of 2001 sees the first important change: ANDREA MASTROGIORGIO joined mon vocals and immediately, a few months later, the AC/DC covers became almost integral part
of the repertoire. On suggestion of many friends, the band started a project of AC/DC tribute, rather quite new idea for the period, when the major request was for commercial coverband, and at the same time, quite innovative from the “stage” point of view: shows were based on an extremely faithful show-act of the original band, focused on the figure of the school-dressed guitarist ANGUS YOUNG. The band already had the idea of producing their own songs, (after all this was been the aim since the beginning), but it was unanimously decided to momentarily keep on, the tribute project, in order to create the best musical feeling among the members and to grow up a strong experience of live performing on stage.
Besides this, the good stability and the wide range of songs in repertoire was ensuring the necessary time and concentration to enable the starting of a serious work on the unreleased material project. However during the following years, the tribute took more and more place among the appointments of the band, until some “different creative point of view” and personal problems of some members, did start creating some changes to the band’s lne-up (stable up to 2007). During 2007 and 2008 the drums saw LORENZO MILANI joining the band who has been drummer for U.D.O. and coverband ALTO VOLTAGGIO, and JGOR GIANOLA, U.D.O.’s guitarist and founder of ALTO VOLTAGGIO, as a rhythm guitar in many gigs. The “unreleased songs project” was at this
point stand-by, first due to the alternating of musicians, then to Andrea’s decision to exclusively follow the AC/DC tribute, and also for the lack of time available after work. Matteo was keeping on accumulate ideas, riffs, lyrics and arrangements to be used at the right moment, beside the material created during 2005/2006, born always from Teo’s guitar. The end of 2007 sees the joining of the bass player FABIO LAZZARIN into our family, member who became fundamental for the “re-birth” of the band, which reached
the stability with the return of SAMUELE SQUAIELLA on drums, then the new entry of DAVIDE BATTISTELLA to the rhythmic guitar
makes the new stage to ON-OFF to begin at the end of 2008. This last phase of ON-OFF rapresents the definite beginning of the
“unreleased songs project”, focused on the production of our own rockin’ songs, in typically Classic Rock style, sung in English, with Matteo on lead guitar and vocals, decision which was taken under the agreement of the whole band, because of the difficulties encountered in finding a new who could easily join in a just-startedband. By the way, the fact to have a smaller number
of “thinking heads” to be put together” is absolutely a positive feature to keep in mind. The Tribute Band project still exists, (with ANDREA MASTROGIORGIO on vocals), alternating gigs entirely devoted to the AC/DC (marked as “ON-OFF plays AC/DC”) to concerts only dedicated to ON-OFF own production.
Year 2010 sees the BIRTH of the debut-album of ON-OFF: RIBCRASHER… so the band start a long promotional tour
completly made by gig where the original song are the main part of the show. With the first month of the 2011, a new drummer join the band: ALESSANDRO MOTTA that take the place of Sam, always in trouble with his job! In April 2012 the band go out with a new album: “Don’t FORGET THE ROLL” a new page in the ON-OFF history starts!!!
1. Another Bone to Suck [Explicit]
2. That’s What I Call Rock’n’roll [Explicit]
3. Catch the Bunny [Explicit]
4. Money Makes Money [Explicit]
5. Turn Off My Brain Control [Explicit]
6. On the Railroad [Explicit]
7. Don’t Put Your Finger (In Every Hole You Find) [Explicit]
8. She Drank All My Booze [Explicit]
9. Let’s Play the Fools [Explicit]
10. Every Stone Got to Roll Someday [Explicit]
11. The Last On the List [Explicit]