Toronto Star
Marty moves on
Aug. 8, 2006. 01:00 AM
Marty Casey — does it still sound sort of familiar? — has resumed a life on the road since finishing in second place in last year's version of Rockstar.
Casey and his band — that would not be INXS — will be in to Toronto on Thursday to play at Lee's Palace.
Casey would have dropped everything to be INXS's new lead singer. And the rest of his band, the Lovehammers, weren't too happy about it.
"There was openness, discussion, shouting matches and hugs," he said over the phone. "When you're with a group of people this long, they become a family ... They would have felt like they would have been left behind."
Pre-Rockstar, the Lovehammers had been together since the early '90s, and had released four unsigned albums.
"I couldn't have pictured (the competition) going any other way," Casey said, about his loss.
Fortunately for the Lovehammers, Casey's loss ensured that the band would live to play again.
The exposure that Rockstar granted him gave the Lovehammers the chance to release a compilation album of their greatest hits, signed through Sony. Then they toured as the opening act for INXS.
Casey insists that the bands actually got double billing. He may have come in second on the television show, but it's clear his ego has remained exceptionally healthy, despite being beaten out by J.D. Fortune.
"People came there to see Marty Casey and Lovehammers. They wanted to see INXS because of the show," Casey said. "(The tour) was awesome. We actually had a bigger tour with Nickelback though," he added.
On the TV show's original promotional materials, Casey is listed as a musician/real estate appraiser.
"(Our fan base) is not a Marty Casey fan base. It's a Lovehammer fan base," he says. "People understand it's not fabricated. It's not rock posing ... Fans see that and respect that. There's something real and authentic."
But Casey did not walk away from Rockstar: INXS unscathed. The show is now in its second season, with a new group of various rock sort-of stars, including Tommy Lee, forming a band called Supernova.
"I learned how to take criticism. I wasn't too good at that before," he said.
The blond-haired chiselled-chin rocker was often chastised for his over-the-top performances and stunts.
"Before I thought `I'm not a singer. I'm an entertainer," he said, adding that he's still trying to deal with the reality that he has a half-decent singing voice.
"I realize that I don't need to do back flips across the stage for an hour and 15 minutes in order to keep people's attention."
The Lovehammers, Casey says, are a rare breed of band that brings together unique personalities to create "gritty, gutsy and sexy rock and roll."
He hopes that the Lovehammers are at the forefront of a musical revolution.
"A band comes out once every 10 years that just blows people away," he said.
"We're trying to be that band."
Jen Gerson
