- Prong -

PRONG has released 12 studio albums, and 2 live albums since 1986. The sole remaining founding member, Tommy Victor has been nomanatied for 2 grammies with Minsistry, and has collaborated with Trent Reznor, Rob Zombie, Ministry, and Glenn Danzig. Tommy is also a member of the band Danzig. While living on the Lower east Side of New York City, Victor worked as a sound man at CBGB's from 1986 - 1990, where Prong played many shows alongside Bad Brains, Biohazard, and Cro-Mags. The band signed to Sony and toured with bands like Pantera, White Zombie, Sepultura, COC, Ozzy Osbourne, Flotsam and Jetsam, and many more.

“PRONG was definitely a Lower East Side band" says Tommy Victor. "We weren’t a bunch of kids in the suburbs playing in garages. We were part of that whole art scene, the same scene as street artists like Keith Haring and Basquiat. It was a completely different world back then. A lot of people were willing to live Spartan lifestyles in shitty conditions in this fantasy art world.”

"I grew up in Flushing, Queens, and used to go down to Bleecker Bobs in the east Village to and look for New Wave records. I waited in line for hours at CBGB's to watch the early Ramones, and New York Dolls shows. Eventually I ended up finding an apartment in the Village Voice on 2nd Ave between 2nd and 3rd St. for $350 a month. It was poor Ukrainian Immigrants, biker gangs and drug addicts. Nobody wanted to live down there. "

Initially, Prong was a very lonely metal-core trio from the Lower East Side of New York. Forget about Anthrax and Overkill — theirs was the New York City of Tompkins Square police riots, Warzone, art/noise, and urban decay. While hatecore groups like Sheer Terror and School of Violence were running back and forth between the metal and hardcore neighborhoods in 1986, Prong were squatting on something special and different. There was something extra burning in their ashy skulls.

Victor on working at CBGB's and the bands he saw there:

"Hilly (owner CBGB's) just threw me in there. I had no idea what I was doing. He trusted me because I was "in a band" and had me give thumbs up or down on the band playing the hardcore matinees"

"Soundgarden was really artsy and just blew me away. Bands that took traditional, maybe even classic rock, and made it artsy and cool really appealed to me at that time"

"Agnostic Front would have 20 to 30 of their friends on stage, constant stage diving and general extreme violence in the crowd. A memorable show to say the least and one of the great hardcore moments of the club. And it’s documented on that record. I’m proud to have been involved."

Having been clean from drugs and alcohol for many years, a sober Tommy reflects on the glorification of the early "druggie chique" days of CBGB’s and Max Kansas:

“In those days, it was cool to be a junkie. A lot of early punk times revolved around that. That type of rebellion against society, the ultimate rebellion is trying to kill yourself with drugs. That era, where a dark hedonism was a priority in people’s lives doesn’t really exist anymore, which I think is good."

“Inevitably, if you survive, you come to the realization that all that stuff was a fad, really, and there’s more to life than those old statements that you thought were so important earlier on. There’s important aspects of it, but there has to be balance in your life, you have to move on, you keep walking in life, you don’t just stay there.”

read more on www.prongmusic.com