MUSIC
CRUZADOS CONTROL
Thirty years later, L.A. Band Reemerges with a New Album and Line-Up
BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH
H
ARD ROCKING CRUZADOS, A band that emerged in the mid-‘80s from the ruins of the harsh Los Angeles punk scene is back. Three decades after their second record was released, a new line-up revives the legacy of the group with She’s Automatic! Led by original co-founder-bassist-songwriter Tony Marsico, the band now includes members of fellow scene vets Little Caesar. Vocalist Ron Young, guitarist Loren Molinare, guitarist Mark Tremalgia and drummer Rob Klonel round out the line-up. The new album also features an impressive guestlist, including appearances from John Doe (X), Dave Alvin (Blasters), David Hildago and Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) and Melanie Vammen (Muffs,Pandoras), among others. Multi-instrumentalist/author Marsico - an indemand session musician and popular sideman for artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Matthew Sweet and Willie Nelson - spoke with INsite from his car on the 101 freeway, enroute to a recording gig in L.A. It’s rare to revisit a band 30 years later. How did you decide to revitalize Cruzados? It’s not like I’d thought about doing it for years because I really hadn’t. I never thought I would. But last year, I was kind of losing my mind at home, just like everyone else. I started writing some songs and playing them live on Facebook, which, for me, was torture but I did it. Then, before ya knew it, I had all these new songs. So I was like, what the hell, I’m going to just see if I could resurrect a few older songs, too. I got a little nostalgic because I hadn’t played my own songs in years. I dug out some of the old Cruzados stuff and that’s what really sparked my interest to try and write again. I’ve been writing all along, but to try and write in that vein and get something going was a real challenge. Obviously in that vein, it had to rock; it couldn’t be the typical singer-songwriter fare. My idea was it’s got to rock hard or why am I doing it? I didn’t want a soft, weepy album during the pandemic. But I had a lot of weird feelings in my head. I had a lot of aggression as well so I channeled the aggression rather than the bummer part, and pushed that onto the songs. I thought, maybe let’s just go in and get this aggression out. That’s the kind of stuff I like to listen to anyway. So you decided early on to do it as a band record instead of a solo project? Oh yeah. I’m a band guy since day one. I love being in a band, playing live gigs or just hanging out with my buddies. So whenever I can choose to do anything that’s a band project, I’ll choose that any day over solo stuff. Was recording those aggressive songs a cathartic process? I’ve got to tell you, it was really healing to go in the studio and track these things. It felt so good. I just turned my damn amp up to 10 and played really hard with a bunch of guys who are very like-minded. How did you get together with the Little Caesar guys? Little Caesar was happening on the L.A. scene in the early ‘80s. They were a great rock band. I kept my eye on those guys, checking them out. I became friends with Mark Tremalgia, the
slide guitar player who I wound up eventually recruiting for this band. We kept in touch and, before you know it, I was like, ‘Hey man, you want to do some playing with me?’ And then it spread because I knew the guys. They were very close friends with our old drummer Chalo back in the day. So I knew these guys could rock. I knew what they were capable of and I knew their blues and Southern rock influences. And I knew I could hang with them, which is a really important thing when you’re putting together a band. Resurrecting a band that a lot of people thought was gone forever is a major challenge. Well, I thought that too, honestly. The Cruzados tale is a sad one because we lost two of our members due to a lot of ugly circumstances. Chalo Quintana and Marshall Rohner, our drummer, our guitar player. How do you resurrect that kind of band? It’s very tough to fill in those kinds of shoes, with founding members. Our singer, Tito Larriva, he lives in Austin and he’s been busy with his own band, Tito & Tarantula, for years. I played with them back in the day. But it’s been years since we’ve really done anything together. I was hoping to get a band that was right here in Los Angeles. So if I wanted to go do a gig tonight, we could. But it is crazy how it all came together. Honestly, the Little Caesar guys are responsible for making it happen. All the pieces came together and fell in place faster than I could imagine.
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How does it feel to have been in the original band and now you’re the leader of the new edition? Well, the truth is, there was some pressure when I got it going because you don’t want to let down your old fans or people that knew the band. Nor in my mind, would I ever want to let down my fallen brothers who are no longer with us. I had to get this record right and it had to rock. It really feels good to bring these songs back, knowing that I’m dedicating it all to my brothers. Thirty years makes a lot of difference - in taste, approach and style. Yeah, my musical direction has changed a lot in 30 years. It’s gone toward a heavier blues feel. It’s still rock but with new influences. I really wanted to work them into this record. That’s the thing, when you bring something back like this, I don’t want to be a tribute band. But it’s funny, had it been a tribute, I would probably be working a lot more because that seems to be all people are booking these days. They’re working all the time, but I’m not going that route. I’m not trying to duplicate the Cruzados sound from back in the day. For us, it’s all about trying to create new sounds and new songs. She’s Automatic! is now available from most music outlets or straight from the band at www. cruzadosband.com.
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