Thirty Round Clip

Thirty Round Clip officially formed in the late fall of 2001 and consists of four musicians who have played in various settings throughout the world. The music can be described as heavy groove, hard rock/metal that has captivated listeners across age and gender lines. The exciting live performances reinforce the band's highly skilled musicianship, igniting crowds and leaving them screaming for more.

In late fall 2001, after an introduction by Keith Lynch, guitarist for the Bill Ward Band (of Black Sabbath fame), the line up of Thirty Round Clip was completed with the addition of vocalist Mike Anthony, who was then currently fronting the South Bay metal band, NME. The line up at that time consisted of Rick Steel, formerly of Kill Van Kull, on drums, Felix Nunez, formerly of Potato Salad (a progressive jazz group with David Garfield), on bass and Dave "Dr. Shred" Bates on guitar. The band began writing new music, and in the spring of 2002 were ready to begin the recording of a 10 song demo. Helping guide TRC at that time were gold record producer Bob Kulick (Motorhead, Kiss, Driven By Hate) and grammy nominated producer Billy Sherwood (Yes, Quiet Riot, Fear Factory) who sharpened the bands sound and direction. After playing a number of memorable live shows around the Hollywood area, TRC headed back into the studio at the end of 2002 to finish writing and recording. This time they began working with Stevo Bruno (Fear Factory, Brides Of Destruction, Prong) at Klown Records in Santa Monica where they finished the remaining songs.

2003 saw the band visit Nashville, Tennessee after an invitation to play at The Outer Limits, a popular Nashville club, where they promptly "...blew the roof off the place." Upon returning to LA, TRC returned to the studio to begin writing and recording the, to date, unreleased single "Listen" at The Wall in San Bernardino, CA under the direction of producer Dave Bush. Differences in vision between producer and band eventually separated the two and in the later months of 2003 Bates left the band to pursue other musical opportunities. Bates was replaced by guitarist Doug Nofsinger who was with the band for about 6 months. The end of 2003 was a difficult and trying time for TRC; when their vision and commitment were tested. Dejected by the seemingly slowness of progress and unclear direction of the band, bass player Felix Nunez left Thirty Round Clip.

Rick "Boom" Steel and Mike Anthony made the decision to continue on with the band and after having forged a vision and purpose, the creation of a new album, the target was set and the two remaining members of Thirty Round Clip took aim.

Beginning in December 2003 Boom and Anthony started writing the album "...on target", "Dissipate" being the first tune smelted from their songwriting mill, Anthony's South Bay studio. They continued on throughout 2004, 2005 and 2006 creating the rest of the 13 tracks on the album with focused determination. Boom and Mike both took side gigs during this time. November 2006 saw the completion of the writing and preproduction process which had been going on concurrently. In early 2007, Boom and Anthony approached producer Darian Rundall (Pennywise, Suicidal Tendencies, Dokken, Dio) and began recording "...on target" in April at Stall #2 Studios in Redondo Beach with Brian "Stone" Pennington on guitar and John "JJ" McNeil (Ankla) on bass. Distractions with another project caused JJ McNeil to depart, leaving TRC to acquire another bassist while in the middle of tracking. Kevin Ogden, an instructor at Musicians Institute in LA, got the slot. Tracking was completed and in mid July "Stone" Pennington left to tour with Contortion. The album was finished in late August '07 and Ivan Manoloff joined the band on guitar after his time with Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Planet X). In fall '07 the band began playing shows throughout California where they have again begun to cause tremors in the hard rock/metal scene. Spreading ever outward like a runaway locomotive that can't be stopped, TRC continues to deliver a live show that is vibrant and aggressive. The band; skilled, focused... the vision; definitely ... on target.