If you’ve spent even a minute or two on the phone with N.Y.C. guitarist Tommy Bolan, or better yet in his presence, you’ll totally get the energy that Doro Pesch vibed on when she asked him to join Warlock for their Decibel Hall of Fame-inducted Triumph and Agony album in 1987. The man is an unstoppable ball of energy both with a guitar in his hands and just living his best life. Realistically, being a sideman for any band wasn’t going to be in his long-term plans, so unsurprisingly, he only performed on that singular Warlock full-length. Though he has toured with Doro/Warlock on other occasions over the years, the dude was born to front his own outfit. Hence N.Y.C., a nod to his Queens, NY roots.
Bolan launched the first iteration of the band in the ’00s and released a full-length Zyko on Concrete Castle Music in 2008. Though he wasn’t intending to do lead vocals himself, finding the right singer eluded him. “I was completely fed up and disgusted with all the BS and attitude out there,” he explains via email, “so I said fuck it and decided to sing myself.” Thus N.Y.C. began as a trio, with the ever-amped up Bolan fronting, and continues to today as one, albeit with a fresh rhythm section on their new long-player, Built to Destroy.
While playing in Warlock on a U.S. tour in 2019, Bolan had the opportunity to witness co-headliners Metal Church on a nightly basis and was blown away by their rhythm section. “I already knew Stet [Howland] and had been friends with him, living in Los Angeles, and I knew he was a monster drummer,” he tells us. “[On the tour], I also got to meet [bassist] Steve [Unger] and hang out with him and Stet. I saw them as the ‘Rhythm Section from Hell’ and wanted something like that in N.Y.C.”
Finally Bolan had the right chemistry and musicianship for a band he says draws influences from AC/DC, Judas Priest and Motörhead. “Those two guys are a perfect fit in my opinion,” he says. “They have a great attitude and are beyond easy to work with. I basically told them, ‘dig in and be you’ and they both played exactly what the songs needed.”
After more than four decades in metal (he started in Brooklyn quartet Armed Forces in 1984), Bolan has parlayed the lessons he’s learned into a band that effectively channels his limitless energy and over-the-top guitar histrionics. “I’ve learned that nothing in life is easy and you have to hammer home your dreams if you want to succeed,” he exudes. “And if you’re lucky enough to have the right people believe in you, then you have a chance.”
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