SpySociety99 Wins Contest From TRG Recording Studios
by Daniel Sylvain

Published in the Aquarian Weekly
Vol. No. 2-43 July 19 - July 26, 2000 edition.

This past February, TRG Studios in West Paterson, N J, held a contest where bands sent in their demos to be judged for a grand prize of 50 free hours of recording time at TRG Studios. TRG owners, Angelo Carlo and Rui Oliveira, arranged the contest, which drew in over 500 band submissions from around the tri-state area. Out of all the cassettes and CDRs that were submitted (as competition was stiff from all the bands that partook in the contest), one local NJ band came out as the winner. That band was SpySociety99.

As some of you may already know, this four-piece ensemble, based out of Kearny, N J, is headed by lead vocalist Myke Hideous (a.k.a. SpY99), ex-vocalist of The Empire Hideous and the ex-vocalist of the legendary punk band the Misfits, having toured South America and Europe. Hideous also has worked with Overkill's bassist DD Verni on his side project known as The Bronx Casket Company and currently is shopping an autobiography he has written entitled King Of An Empire To The Shoes Of A Misfit.

Submissions for the contest began in late February of this year and came to an end on May 1st. Judging took place over the next four days, and the winner was chosen on May 5th. "The contest was based on the quality of the bands' music, style, songwriting ability, performance and originality. The whole package," explained Carlo. "We thought SpySociety99 was the best group we heard out of all the submitted band demos in the contest, and we had bands sending us stuff from all over NJ, NY and PA."

“I found the songs to be real catchy and tight, with great musicianship," added Oliveira, a studio engineer of 12 years. "I really liked the material I heard from SpySociety. They stood out from the rest of the bands."

There is a chance that TRG will put together another contest like this somewhere in the future, but right now they'll be focusing their attention on recording the music of SpySociety99, who are already underway with the project.

While at the photo session used for this article, the band members had this to say about their triumph.

Agent G-13 (drummer, tactical strategy) - “I can't really talk about the contest because it was top secret, and still is.”

Agent Que (bassist, aeronautics) - "I'm not at liberty to discuss the matter."

Agent  SpY99  (vocals, counter intelligence)  -  “Our actions are highly confidential, and as a result of this media  outbreak, we have no choice but to avoid giving any other unnecessary information. We know what's got to be done.”

SpySociety has been keeping busy with their performances spanning the area including Scranton, PA, with The Cadavers (OH), New Haven, CT with Voltaire (NYC) and the Loop Lounge (N J) with NJ's Demonspeed.

To find out more about the secret missions of SpySociety99, go to their web page: www.premise.com/ss99

-DS