High-energy rock n’ roll band, WICKED, will be in Pittsburgh for a show at Crafthouse on Sunday, October 12. They will perform alongside Tuk Smith & the Restless Hearts, starting at 6 pm.
One thing that is abundantly clear when you listen to their music is that the members of WICKED were meant to come together and form a brotherhood and a band; in part, I mean that literally. Lead vocalist Chad Michael and bass player Danny Doll are actual brothers, and guitarist Scotty V and drummer Gunner complete the ensemble. All of them gravitated towards rock n’ roll since childhood by watching the greats. Once you see videos of Angus Young from AC/DC on stage doing his thing, it’s only natural to want to try it yourself. Out with the regimented and boring-to-some practice required to learn the saxophone, into the larger-than-life attitude of becoming a rock star.
Once the dream to start a band was incepted, Chad and Danny began the search to fill out the big sound that is the music they aspired to make. “At one point, we even auditioned our cousin. We brought him in to see if he could play the drums, but he couldn’t cut it,” Danny said, jokingly. Gunner, the restless drummer, was actually already playing in a band with his father before joining WICKED. “It was so natural,” Scotty said of his experience connecting with his new bandmates. “Growing up, there was no one to play with, but we came together and became family.”
The band officially formed in 2012, and over those first few years, they lived together in different variations, but were sometimes even just one bedroom short. All they wanted was a place to play music with full energy and volume, so they bought a house. All four have been living together for the last seven years. It is the perfect living situation for artists. “Sometimes we get song ideas and we can come together in the same moment and work through it so that we never lose creativity,” Scotty said. Aside from the creative benefits, who wouldn’t want to live with people who just seem to get it? “It really is the best life,” Danny said. “We’re always with our best friends. It’s some real Peter Pan shit.”
The WICKED members are from Rochester, New York, where they still live. “People say ‘get out of town,’ but we never left,” Danny said. It is understandable to want to break the mold and experience the world, but coming from somewhere that is filled with talent and showmanship of all kinds, it’s hard not to appreciate where you came from. “You can take us out of New York, but you can’t take the New York out of us,” Scotty said.
After forming the band, they needed a name. Huge music fans themselves, they were always looking for new inspiration. Danny saw a variation of the word ‘wicked’ on something else, which led Chad to have a vision. He actually put pen to paper right then and began sketching a logo. “I knew it had to be one word and something that could be really big and eye-catching to see on a marquee,” Chad said. Their logo is now definitely bold and stylized in a way that complements the legendary bands that came before them, but with a fresh twist.
Just as essential as their logo is their personal style. If you look at any photo or video of them, you’ll see rock n’ roll maximalism, but in a way that truly feels authentic. We’re talking the full glam of 70s-80s rock. Danny said, “It’s larger than life.” I think it’s really fun! Some modern artists lose originality in trying to keep up with trends, but in this case, the men of WICKED are just being themselves and wearing what makes them happy, and it’s so freakin’ cool. “It’s effortless. It’s not a costume, we like to wear it,” Scotty said.
The style fits the music. On my first pass through their Spotify, I got the sense of classic rock reimagined, with a touch of pop punk. One of their early releases is an album titled “The Last American Rock Band.” Do they think that rock n’ roll is dead? No. But, as the music industry cycles through eras of popularity, right now WICKED’s style of rock might be more popular underground than in the mainstream. How can artists bring it back to the spotlight? Danny said, “People need to support each other and see each other’s shows. We’ve done that and even traveled to watch other people perform. It’s about coming together and being part of a community.” Fellow rock artist, Yungblud, is a good example of old meets new, carving a path to success by reflecting on where the genre has been and where it could go with original sounds and ideas.
Another one of their releases is titled “Sunburn,” which is the name of the album and one of the singles. Listening to the lyrics for the single, you have no choice (the guitars and vocal harmonies might actually hypnotize you) but to reflect on their meaning. It’s a song of living life to the maximum to squeeze out happiness and memories, but also unavoidable pain. Such is life, but worth the ride. Chad said, “When we wrote that song, it was very true to what we were going through at the time.” Gunner and Scotty joked about this a bit. In 2023, WICKED was on tour with the legendary band, Raven. The catchy hook of the song is “live life like a sunburn,” through the good and bad. “Raven’s drummer (Mike Heller) asked us, ‘What does that even mean?’ I think we processed a lot of who we were then, and on the next album, we sound more mature. It’s a coming of age, yet still youthful,” Scotty said.
The new album, “Go Rebel,” will be released soon, with new songs dropping through the end of 2025. The first new release is just around the corner, with the single “Obsession” debuting on October 31. Aside from encouraging you to see them live in Pittsburgh, if you take away only one other point from this feature, that should be to stream “Obsession.” Tuk Smith, who they are touring with, helped to produce this album. No doubt, fans will be anticipating the new music.
Besides the energetic and theatrical rock n’ roll, the band also shines in their released music videos. In “Gorgeous,” there is an unmissable scene of them all falling into a swimming pool. The video for “Sunburn” is incredibly scenic, and the sun reminds us that it is a star. And then in “Reptile Roots,” you get a little bit of everything. There are on-stage performances, bull riding and an arcade. The band carefully planned each one. And while they were all fun to make, they were also a lot of work. Gunner reminisced about having to drag his gear outside at 4 am and Scotty talked about having to get the timing just right for the sunrise and sunset. Their efforts were worth it, I think. They are a true glimpse into the creative minds of WICKED. You can notice another detail about them if you watch the videos on YouTube and scroll through the comments. So many fans share how they met the band in person and how that was a positive experience for them. That speaks volumes. In a world that can feel very bleak sometimes, imagine how great an interaction with a band you are just discovering would be, that it leads you to not only find their videos, but also leave a comment to tell others about it.
To learn more about the band and their upcoming shows and releases, check out their website here.