Circus Of Power

Circus Of Power was a tattooed, unshaven and leather-clad biker band that played an uncompromising brand of sleaze metal. Early publicity rumors stated that the band played several shows for the New York chapter of the Hell's Angels in their formative years. Formed in the Lower East Side of New York by Alex Mitchell (vocals), Ricky Beck Mahler (guitar), Gary Sunshine (bass) and Ryan Maher (drums), their rough and rugged New York gutter image set them apart from emerging west coast sleaze bands. They toiled in the New York bar scene for years before RCA picked up on their blues-based, AC/DC influenced brand of metal. For Vices, the group moved Sunshine to guitar, and added bassist Zowie as the fifth member. But their brand of raunchy rock 'n' roll failed to catch on and the band was dropped. The band revamped with Zowie being replaced by Mark Frappeir, and Maher by Victor Indrizzo respectively. They signed to Columbia and relocated to Los Angeles, but by the time Magic & Madness saw the light of day, the hard rocking music of the eighties was out of style. Circus Of Power disbanded in the mid-nineties without much fanfare, but has periodically played one-off shows. Sunshine recorded with NY Loose, The Silos as well as a solo artist since the break-up while Mitchell fronted Uncle Max's Cosmic Band and its offshoot Fat Nancy as well as writing a book titled Life Is A Phantom K-Mart Horse Starting Up In The Middle Of The Night.