Johnny

Hello, out there. I'm Johnny Rage: singer, dancer and guitarist with the now-infamous rock outfit ITO. I've been working very hard of late, playing all over town, laying vocals until the early hours in the studio and generally being Johnny. So I haven't very much to say at the moment. I'm a bit tired.

Ev

Qui je suis?

I am Ev! nothing more, nothing less. I'm the bass player in ITO, and as such I don't exist outside the band. I bring the groove. Mellow, funk, rock, folk? ...maybe, but it's not that easy to label. It's the ITO sound and we all work to create it.

I sing, I play, I write. So I'm not just a bassplayer, I'm one fifth of ITO and until that can be defined I'll just be Ev. Nothing more, nothing less.

Steve

I am the Case man. Always on the Case and will be on your Case. I've always loved music but unfortunately didn't have music in my life till I was 12ish.

Once the light was turned on, I ventured into the world of music with my eyes wide open. Since I've always had rock'n'roll in my soul, I fell into the classic rock scence, idolizing all of the fantastic batteurs of that era. Reachin adulthood, I started discovering bands and musicians of the more modern scene. So I like to think that I'm worldly influenced by all the great music that I listened to and put that into my idiom of drumming...dude.

Niall

Greetings Earthlings. I am called Niall. Like Donatello, I do machines: synths; sequencers; the occasional oscillator. When I'm not trying to emulate the sounds of the future of the past, I can be found playing keys and organs too.

If you should see me passing through your neighbourhood, dressed in my finest apparel and playing on my miniature pianoforte, why not invite me in to your house? I'm good with pets and children and I'll try not to sleep with your wife. Failing that, come and see me; I'm sure to be playing in some bar or saloon nearby, adding my distinctive keyboard stylings to the famous ITO sound. Why do you run from us? We are your friends!

Conrad

Conrad joined ITO in October '04. Since then he has rocked our worlds, increased our collective libido and slept with our fan base.

Biography

Humble Beginnings

The Band, known today as ITO, was formed in January 2003 in Ireland on a cold wet night, in an old room on the top floor of a Georgian house, in the little city of Dublin. Its arrival into the world had been preceded by the collapse of an earlier ensemble called The Marionettes that included founder members Johnny Rage and Ev.

An intermediate project, The Fauves, hooked them up with Steve 'the' Case on drums. This three-piece played as ITO for some months before recruiting Niall 'O' Styles to play xyls, and later a smart little keyboard. Being as they were three philosophy graduates and an American, it didn't take ITO long before they were playing venues all over Ireland, Herefordshire, and the state of California.

The State of California

ITO touched down in LAX on the 20th of October 2004. Delighted to find the natives hospitable, they slept on wooden floors and sofas--but only as a treat. The rest of their nights were spent in Bertha: a Dodge Ram conversion with a V8 engine pulling a half tonne chassis, and enough room in the back to sleep two children and a midget. With all the bands equipment and worldly possessions back there, the children and their midget had to sleep outside...

The tour started in San Diego, in one of its best-loved alternative venues: Brick by Brick. The next performance was slightly lower key, in the Blarney Stone off Balboa, but the crowd we're so convivial, the women so appealing and the beer so free, that ITO warmed to the establishment and were to return to play there six or seven times over the coming months.

Next stop was the bright lights of Los Angeles. The Knitting Factory on Hollywood Boulevard rocked to the rhythm of ITO. Molly Malones on Pico rang out with their peeling melodies. They jammed loud enough in The Viper Room on Sunset to wake River Phoenix. And Santa Monica Main street swung to a new breed of swing with ITO shows in O'Briens and Finns. The farewell gig was held back in San Diego at Winstons, Ocean Beach.

Since their return, ITO have remained constantly busy, playing in assorted venues around Dublin, Ireland and the world. The new album, Standby is available now.