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Post by Erik Rupp on Dec 27, 2009 15:26:32 GMT -5
These guys were really good. The most notable aspects of the band were their great songs, and solid, tight musicianship.
Falling squarely in between Metallica and Pantera style Heavy Metal and Alice In Chains, Tool, and Soundgarden style 90's Alternative music, My Middle Finger carved out a fairly unique niche for themselves.
With two album releases to their credit (Sign Language and their self-titled 2nd album), My Middle Finger proved that they could deliver in the studio just as well as they could live.
Here are some examples from their 1st album, Sign Language (PM me if you're interested in buying a copy).
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Post by Erik Rupp on Jul 21, 2018 20:34:42 GMT -5
My Middle Finger was born when San Diego band Rise or Fall imploded while recording new demos around 1993. Disagreements over musical direction and performances led to the departure of one of their guitar players and their lead singer.
Filling the spot on lead vocals, bassist Greg Rupp pulled double duty. The band's drummer was the next to leave, and with only Rupp and guitarist Steve Bernstein left they changed the band name a couple times before settling on My Middle Finger.
The band wrote, recorded, and released two albums locally on CD - Sign Language, and a self titled second album. Both albums were a great blending of 90's Alternative and Grunge with 80's Heavy Metal. As a songwriter, bassist/vocalist Greg Rupp was heavily influence by Iron Maiden, Rush, Megadeth, Black Sabbath (Dio, Gillan, and Tony Martin era stuff), and King's X in the 80's, and in the 90's he became a big fan of bands like Alice In Chains, Tool, Pantera, Korn, and Soundgarden. The style of My Middle Finger was a blending of all those influences, and as a result their music holds up amazingly well over 20 years later. They sound far less dated than many of the big name bands from that era.
After almost 10 years of gigging and recording as My Middle Finger the band took a hiatus that became more or less permanent. Rupp joined San Diego's premier Hard Rock cover band (6one9 Rocks, or just 6one9), while gigging occasionally with other bands, including a stint in local band Bed of Nails (and appearing on their self titled EP that was released locally on CD).
Joining Rupp in 6one9 was a guitar player named Jef Poremba, who had played with Rupp (for about a year) in his first band, Black Diamond (along with Rupp's brother, Erik, who played drums), as well as playing for a time replacing Steve Bernstein in My Middle Finger (after making a guest appearance on their second album). The old chemistry came right back, and when Rupp was working on an album of new material (initially set to be a third My Middle Finger album) Poremba was involved.
Ultimately, My Middle Finger was no more, and in it's place was a new band featuring Rupp, Poremba, Steve Bernstein, and drummer Mikey Pannone. The band settled on the name Leadfoot Overdrive, and a 10 year project of a new album (self titled, or LFO) was finally completed and released in late 2017. The album saw Rupp play bass on the album, and guitar on some songs. Poremba and Bernstein both contributed to the songwriting and played some outstanding guitar tracks on the album as well. The album is a more modern take on the My Middle Finger sound, and definitely sees the band firmly looking forward while still rooted in the past. Like My Middle Finger, Leadfoot Overdrive has a sound that spans several decades in style, while not sounding like any one particular period of time, musically.
The new Leadfoot Overdrive album can be purchased at CD Baby or through the band's facebook page. There may be a few My Middle Finger CD's left, so contact them through that Leadfoot Overdrive facebook page to check on availability (Greg Rupp may still have some).
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