Artist Spotlight ~ The Reveal

Artist Spotlight is a segment that we started to introduce our readers to some deserving up and coming artists/bands. They have made an impact on us for all of the right reasons. We think they kick ass, and we hope you do too! Today we’d like to shine the spotlight on the genre fusing trio The Reveal.

Emerging from the vibrant heart of Nashville, The Reveal is a raging power trio that seamlessly blends funky blues riffs, metal, and a punk/rap attitude into a psychedelic fusion. As fans venture into the desert, the band are poised to make a bold statement with their new concept album, “Hieroglyphics”, released on September 30th.

At the helm is Brother Dusty, whose commanding rock vocals and potent funk bass, aptly named Thunder Dragon, anchor the band’s signature sound. Joined by lifelong friend and lead guitarist, Josh Norfleet, whose soulful melodies channel the band’s global influences into a blend that they’ve been shaping since their childhood in the cornfields of Kokomo, IN. Drummer Ian Fleming rounds out the trio, as he infuses a late ’90s/early ’00s punk rock energy into the dynamic. With their undeniable chemistry, The Reveal are undergoing a rebirth, emerging stronger than ever as a true powerhouse.

We sat down with the band for a short, but fun Q&A session.

Every superhero or villain has an origin and a band is no different minus the radioactive spiders and secret government experiments. What is the origin of The Reveal?

THE REVEAL: After playing in several bands, Dusty decided it was best to take his music career into his own hands. From jamming in a few of the past bands with guitarist Josh Norfleet and finding out their dads used to play together back in the day, the two joined forces and put together what was at the time called “No Name Blues” until a name was finally found years later.

Dusty and Josh then moved to Nashville – Dusty to move in with his dad and scope the rock scene, Josh to transfer to a new position in the radio business. Within a few years the band had climbed the local scene ladder until finally coining themselves “The Reveal.”

Not long after, a few member changes put the band on hold for a while and had them taking on several side quests. This lead to finding drummer, Ian Fleming who showed up on day one ready to perform every song detail for detail, securing his position without any question.

The new line up practically started the journey over and reclimbed the local ladder again before spending the next year to record the new album Hieroglyphics.

After several highs and lows, the band is finally back up to speed with new music, tours, merch and a whole team ready to take on the world as a brand new entity. One could argue the years of history provided the band with the experience to grow, but practically existed as a different identity all together. So although the origin story takes place over 10 years, this current version of the band is a brand new face – still in its first year of existence.

Band names can have a meaning or it can be a name pulled out of a hat. What’s the story behind The Reveal?

THE REVEAL: The band began with the “No Name Blues” – “We are the No Name Blues and we HAVE the No Name Blues because all the other band names are taken.” For years the guys looked everywhere for inspiration – through books and movies, compiling a bank of key words, hosting a contest and allowing crowd members to try, using band name generators and even going on band trips to find the perfect name. Anytime the right one was found, it would end up being taken already. With no luck, Dusty scrambled at one last attempt to find the bands identity.

From years of exploring religion and spirituality, Dusty knew the band should have some sort of revealing presence to hopefully give the world a share of knowledge found through all these ancient sources he was obsessed with. The journey eventually lead him to dabble in the surface level of basic witchcraft – more specifically, Sigil Magick. Through careful research Dusty tried his first shot at casting a real spell just for fun but also out of sheer desperation for anything to give the band a real name. Surely enough to his surprise, the very moment the spell was finished, a vision literally appeared in his minds eye. A cloud of smoke slowly revealing the new name one letter at a time – The Reveal. Dusty shot up and opened his eyes with excitement and rushed to all the search engines online to see if this name was also taken like the rest of their ideas. Nope. A text was sent to the band and everyone agreed – we are The Reveal.

Is the band working on anything?

THE REVEAL: We’re is currently working on all the elements of today’s music business surrounding the release of a new album. From music videos to social media content, booking tours and designing new merch. So far we have created our own team with a manager, distribution agency, sync licensing agency, a few booking agents, some investors, several producers and video directors.

Who was your first celebrity crush?

Dusty: the Pink Ranger duh

Josh: Olivia Newton John

Ian: Padme from The Phantom Menace. First woman that made me feel something.

What was your favorite cartoon growing up?

Dusty: Dexters Laboratory & Dragonball Z

Josh: Rugrats

Ian: Catdog and Hey Arnold

What was the first CD/album that you bought?

Dusty: Paranoid by Black Sabbath

Josh: I forgot

Ian: Sum-41 Chuck

If you’re into comics, who is your favorite superhero and why?

Dusty: Goku is better than literally every super hero

Josh: Spider-Man

Ian: Batman, he’s technically a vigilante and not a superhero, but the fact that he’s human makes the story more relatable.

What’s your most useless talent?

Dusty: playing music

Josh: Ping Pong

Ian: hacky sack

What are your 5 favorite movies?

Dusty: 300, Suckerpunch, Fantasia, Step Brothers, Chappie

Josh: Oh Brother Where Art Thou, Forrest Gump, Dead Poets Society, Tenacious D & the Pick of Destiny, What a Wonderful Life

Ian: The Return of the King, Star Wars, The Hangover, Drillbit Taylor, Halloween

What are your 5 favorite albums?

Dusty: Black Sabbath – Paranoid, Black Keys – Brothers, Cage the Elephant – self titled, Wolfmother – self titled, Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon, also Lil Jon – Crunk Juice

Josh: The Beatles – Revolver, Jimi Hendrix Experience – Axis: Bold as Love, Ray Charles – Modern Sounds in Western and Country Music, Strurgil Simpson – Meta Modern Sounds in Country Music, Kaleo – A/B

Ian: Green Day – American Idiot, Sum 41 – All Killer No Filler, Blink 182 – Self Titled, Oasis – Be Here Now, Foo Fighters – Color and the Shape