CONNECTCOMMENTEMAILMORE
Cinder was going to be huge. At least, that’s how it looked way back in 2002.
The Fort Myers hard-rock band had a No. 26 song on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart (“Soul Creation”). They’d signed with Geffen/Interscope Records. And they’d just recorded an album with one of their heroes, Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland.
Things were finally happening for Cinder after years of playing half-empty bars in Southwest Florida and performing as their cover-band alter ego, Soapy Tuna.
But then, Geffen/Interscope went through a merger and inexplicably dropped Cinder from its lineup. And the label permanently shelved the band’s debut album, “Break Your Silence.”
And that was that.
Game over for Cinder.
“It’s a shame,” says Cinder singer Roger Young, 52, of Cape Coral. “There’s some magic on that album. There’s some heart and soul on that album.
“It’s very sad. … It’s sitting on a shelf somewhere, covered in dust.”
Cinder tried to recover and recorded a 2006 follow-up album and then a 2010 EP. Both went nowhere. And so the band quietly faded away.
Until now.
Seventeen years after their brush with potential stardom, Cinder’s ready for another go with a new album called “The Machine.” And they’re hoping to re-ignite that rock ‘n’ roll fire.
More: Live music in SWFL: Punta Gorda Woodstock, Cinder, Artimus Pyle and more
More: Five Finger Death Punch to play Hertz Arena with Three Days Grace
The songs are definitely there, Young says. They just need a little luck and some national exposure.
“This is Cinder music,” Young says. “It’s undeniable. It’s just the vibe, the feel, the power behind it.”
For the first time in years, Young says, he’s feeling optimistic about Cinder’s future. Although he’s hesitant to admit that.
“I get that question a lot: ‘Are you excited? Are you nervous?’” Young says. “I don’t want to answer that to anybody. Because we’ve had our hopes up before, you know what I mean?
“But secretly: F— yeah, we are! Definitely. This is what we do. And whether we go out and tour in support of an album that’s successful, or we stay home, we’re still playing music.”
Cinder officially releases “The Machine” this Saturday with a show at Fort Myers’ Buddha Rock Club, where its members have often played as both Cinder and Soapy Tuna.
Cinder hadn’t planned to record a new album, admits guitarist Scott “Scooby” Bush, 53, of Nashville. Not after the Geffen/Interscope disaster and the shelving of their album “Break Your Silence” (whose recordings have never seen the light of day).
But then they started jamming together after Bush joined the band about three or four years ago. And that changed everything.
“We clicked right away,” Bush says. “We just started writing and writing and writing.”
The first song they finished was “Sounded like Goodbye,” which Bush says they wrote in a mere 20 minutes. Other songs quickly followed.
“We just jammed,” Bush says. “And as soon as we started writing these songs, we were looking at each other and going, ‘Man, if nobody likes these songs, I don’t even care.’ These songs, to me, feel and sound great, and I love what we’re doing.
“So we just said, ‘Heck with it. Let’s just do what we wanna do. If people like it, great. That’s totally awesome. If they don’t, well, that’s OK, too!’”
Other songs included “Suicide Girl,” “The Machine” (the first single to be released off the new album), hard-rock love song “Human After All,” and especially “Rocket Boy” — a song inspired by Cinder’s mentor and “Break Your Silence” producer, the late Scott Weiland.
Young lifted some of the song’s lyrics from an interview Weiland gave to Esquire magazine shortly before he died of a heroin overdose in 2015. The song has a Stone Temple Pilots vibe, he says, and lyrics that refer to Weiland’s childhood, his drug habit and more.
“It turned into a tribute to him,” Young says. “He would have loved the song.”
Cinder recorded that and the rest of “The Machine” at Bush’s home studio in Fort Myers and later, after he moved, in Nashville. To mix it, they tapped Los Angeles producer Chris Collier, who’s worked with Lynch Mob, Lita Ford, Korn, Prong and other hard-rock acts.
The 11-track album is being released through the label Art Is War Records, home to rock artists The Nixons, Skinlab and Pissing Razors.
After Saturday’s album release show, Cinder has a few high-profile gigs lined up, including playing the Blue Ridge Rock Festival in Concord, Va., with headliners Stone Temple Pilots and Godsmack. Plus they’re planning their first U.S. tour since about 2006.
“We’re just excited to finally get back out as Cinder,” Bush says.
Will this album be The One — the album that finally breaks Cinder to the masses. Who knows?
Maybe this will launch Cinder back onto the hard-rock charts. Or maybe it won’t.
Young says he’s just happy to be making music again. Music that rocks. Music he’s proud to perform, whether it’s on a huge national tour or just back home in Fort Myers.
“We love the life,” he says. “It’s always music. We’re very excited about going out again and doing this professionally.”
Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells (Facebook), @charlesrunnells (Twitter), @crunnells1 (Instagram)
If you go
What: Cinder CD release party
When: 10 p.m. Saturday
Where: Buddha Rock Club, 12701 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers
Tickets: $10 admission includes a free copy of the album or a piece of Cinder merchandise.
Info: 482-8565 or buddharockclub.com
Learn more about Cinder: facebook.com/OfficialCinderBand
CONNECTCOMMENTEMAILMORE
Read or Share this story: https://www.news-press.com/story/entertainment/2019/08/06/cinder-returns-album-the-machine-first-years-fort-myers-band/1899486001/