From Punk Outcasts to Hall of Fame Inductees, Virus X Gets Its Due
(EDITOR’S NOTE — For much of its 43-year career as a punk band, Virus X was considered an outsider in its hometown of Niagara Falls; long viewed as unruly delinquents whose original music about youthful alienation, drug addiction and general malfeasance fell far outside the city’s more traditional musical landscape, which in the 80s and 90s was dominated by classic rock and Top 40 cover bands. But now, nearly five decades after its birth, this band of perennial punk outcasts is finally being welcomed into the fold with its induction Nov. 5 into the Niagara Music Hall of Fame — nearly one year to the day when the 1120 Press/Shepherd Moon Studios documentary ‘Zip Tied: The Virus X Story’ was released. 1120 Press recently spoke with the band’s Rick Miami (guitarist/vocalist), Sam Fruscione (drums) and Jerald Genova (lead guitar) about the honor, what they make of it, and how much longer they plan to keep making music together. — All photos by Matt Smith/1120 Press)
1120 PRESS: Thank you for speaking with us, and of course, congratulations: Forty-three years after the band started, you are now Niagara Falls Music Hall of Fame inductees. How does that feel?
RICK MIAMI: There started to be some buzz a week or two about this possibly happening after the documentary about us premiered at the Screening Room last year. So, I was thinking, ‘Maybe this might happen.’ But I just put it on the back burner and thought, ‘Well, we’ll see.’ You know, until it happens it isn’t happening. But I was still excited just by the idea. And now, it’s unreal.
JERALD GENOVA: After 40 years of jamming and working hard and, really, just doing things our way, I think it's a serious tribute, you know what I mean? And for our hometown to recognize us and all that, it’s crazy. When Sam told us about this, I was like, ‘Oh my God. This is the apex.’
1120: Sam, take us through that day. How did you find out?
SAM FRUSCIONE: I was just kind of just sitting around my house, partying, you know? And then the phone rang and I looked down and it was Bruce Wojick (Niagara Falls Music Hall of Fame president, noted musician and 2017 HOF inductee). I answered the phone and Bruce says, ‘Hey Sam. I just want to let you guys know that you are going to be inducted this year in the Niagara Falls Music Hall of Fame.’ It was pretty cool.
The first thing I asked him was, ‘Can we come?’ (laughs) ‘Like, are we just going to get an award and not be able to jam?’ And then I asked, ‘What version of Virus X?’ I knew it was me, Rick, and Jer, of course. But I wasn’t sure about who the bass player would be because we’ve had a few. And Bruce said, ‘We're inducting the three of you, plus Leo (McDonald, the band’s original bassist) and Dave Klein, who played bass for us for more than 30 years before he passed away. The Niagara Falls Music Hall of Fame gets a lot of respect and has a lot of famous people in it. When you Google who’s been inducted, you see pop stars, well-known singers, people with gold records and shit — people I didn't even know were from Niagara Falls. (Editor’s Note: Leo McDonald is also a 2019 inductee with the band, God’s Children.)
1120: As a punk band that, from Day One, did all original music in a city where that was far from the norm — and given that you guys were treated like outsiders for such a long time — do you feel any sense of validation in this?
SAM: It’s 100 percent validation.
JER: I mean, we played in town here in every bar, in the streets, we played everywhere. We've been jamming such a long time, and made all this music, and so, to me, it's a serious, serious honor.
SAM: Yeah, it's definitely a validation for all the hard work we did and all the recordings we released and all the vinyl we put out there and CDs. Years ago, we would actually get criticized in the Gazette. Even if they put us on the front cover of the freaking Nightlife magazine, there still would be a negative twist to it, no matter what. And now, here we are 43 years later, we're still going at it. So, yeah, we appreciate the validation and the recognition of our hard work and persistence in doing what we do.
RICK: We were considered a pile of animal shit by some people. (Laughs) And so, this means a lot to us. I'm glad it happened at this age too. Looking back on our career as a band, I'm able to put everything in perspective. And I'm still having a good time doing it and I want to keep doing it. I’m grateful for this and all that’s been happening for us. And I think we still have a lot of good years ahead of us.
SAM: Yeah, you know, Rick’s right. Back in the day, there were people here who just didn't like our music and what we were doing. When we started, this was a cover-band town. So, we do feel that validation.
1120: It's been quite a year for you guys with the release of a full-length documentary about the band and its history, AP Records in Canada doing a run on the legendary Virus X ‘Pink album,’ and now the Hall of Fame honor. What do you make of the band, after nearly a half century, suddenly getting its due?
SAM: It feels good, but we're also just going to take it humbly. We're just going to go in there to the induction ceremony and jam like we always do and perform. It's not like we're going to walk around like we're big shots. We're just the same old guys. We're going to be real humble, say ‘thank you,’ and for me personally, this honor has had a very nice little calming effect on me. I feel like I can just chill a little now. You know, managing the band for 40 years and always trying to figure out what you’re doing and where you're going with it: Well, I think we've finally got there.
JER: I just think that between the documentary and now this, and to have both happen in a single year, is a real honor. Not a lot of bands survive. There's nobody left from the time when we started except for the superstars, like the Goo Goo Dolls and Green Jello. Everybody else is pretty much gone from the '80s.
1120: Back in November of last year, the Buffalo hardcore punk band GOA performed at Area 54 and at the end of the show, they played their excellent cover of your song, ‘That’s Too Bad.’ You guys were in attendance that night and Rick was called up to join the band during that song. How did it feel seeing the packed room of kids crowding around Rick and joining him on the mic? You have to figure those kids are three generations removed from the year that song was written — and, in fact, their parents were probably just kids then too. It was a pretty amazing thing to see, as well as a testament to how punk rock can bring people together.
RICK: You're pulling at my emotions now. I feel a little bit of water in my eyes. (GOA vocalist) Jorden (Cudzilo) does such a great job with that song, and he really knows how to share it. When we were singing it together in Syracuse when we performed together there, I was real hyped up and wasn’t sure where I should come in and when. But Jorden is so great and he makes it easy on me. The dynamics of that performance at Area 54 that night, and all those kids going crazy, I was like: ‘Am I dreaming this? Should I wake up now, because, man, I don’t want to wake up if this is a dream.’ It was such an amazing thing to feel. And I have to say, I get really excited every time GOA plays that song. They do it so well.
JER: And I love their intro to it. That sort-of surf lead in — it’s just excellent. I love that. I love what GOA’s done with it.
1120: What do you guys have planned for people the night of the induction?
SAM: There's a party in our room, in our suite. We're going to go wild.
RICK: We're going to fill the jacuzzi with ice and fill it with whatever you want.
SAM: And then when we go down to the ceremony, I guess they're going to recognize us, we’ll get our award, and then Vinnie Mameli on harmonica and Dan Pilon, our bassist, are going to join us. The first tune we're going to perform is going to be with Leo on bass, and we're going to do ‘Saturday Night at the Morgue.’ And then we're going to kick into two other tunes with Dan playing. It’s a beautiful stage. It's gorgeous. It's casino quality, so you feel like you're playing in Vegas, you know?
1120: Speaking of famous musicians from Niagara Falls, Tommy Tedesco — the legendary guitarist who was part of the famous session-player collective known as The Wrecking Crew — is in the Niagara Falls Music Hall of Fame (inducted in 2017), along with so many other great musicians. Has it hit you that you will be enshrined in the very same hall as people like him? That is some astonishing company.
RICK: It validates the weight of the Niagara Falls Music Hall of Fame. It’s not just a bunch of cover bands and us original punk rock guys that everyone thought was on drugs all the time. We're in there with Tommy Tedesco, baby.
SAM: That is some very nice company.
RICK: And the people being inducted this year with us: Me and Sam were looking everybody up and it was like ‘Holy shit! These people are amazing.’
SAM: We didn't know Mark Scabilia had three gold hits, for example. I didn't have a clue. And I didn't know Richard Raphael. And yeah, you mention Tommy Tedesco — he played on every major recording in the world.
1120: So, for the short term, what’s on the agenda for Virus X in the near future?
JER: Well, Sam already has us booked for the entire year.
SAM: Yeah, so our actual plan for the year moving forward, I can tell you this: We're going to start doing some recording in the winter. We're going to call the record ‘Niagara Falls Blues.’ It's going to feature some old tunes that we're going to re-record and maybe a new tune. We’re also going to be doing eight shows again in 2027. And we're going to be opening up for Tim Polecat from the Polecats in December at Nietzsche's. I also put together a festival for us down in Franklinville for the summer — the Red Fox Ridge Music Festival. We'll also be playing Erie, PA. And as for the new record, it'll be a four-song EP and also be put out on CD. It'll be done and produced and ready to go by like July or August. And Rick's the artist, so he'll do all the artwork. Plus, we're going to do our famous show, like we do every year, in Syracuse at Funk-N-Waffles on February 27. That'll be a good time. Syracuse does like Virus X a little bit.
1120: And what about long term: After 43 years, how much longer do you guys see yourselves doing this?
SAM: A minimum of five years. I'm ordering a new drum set. So, five more years at least.
RICK: Yeah, I want to say even more than that, but I'm forever the optimist.
SAM: It all comes down to arthritis. I'm hoping I can get at least five more years in. Then moving forward, we'll just do like local reunion shows in Niagara Falls, you know what I mean? Just be very selective what we do after that. But I’d like to go at it hard for five more years.
1120: At this point in your career, is there anything you guys want to still accomplish?
JER: We’re just gonna keep jamming. That’s what we do.
RICK: We are working, too, on adding a Virus X song to a television or movie soundtrack.
SAM: Yeah, we're working on this right now, trying to sell our music to different places. We want to sell one of our tunes to a TV show. I think that's our long-term goal: get one or two of our tunes on television. I've been working it pretty hard. I could see some of our tunes on some shows because they're about drug addiction, and others would fit into crime shows. When we were younger, we had some good contacts in the music business. We were good friends with Charlie Cavage (founder of the Cavages Records retail chain) and Lenny Silver (founder of Record Theater) and they helped us quite a lot. Both have since passed.
RICK: The guys in Teenage Head, too. But those guys have all passed away.
SAM: Yeah, that’s what happens. We all get old and after a while, people are gone, you know?
1120: Thank you again for speaking with us and congratulations on your induction into the Niagara Falls Music Hall of Fame. Before we wrap up, is there anything you want to add.
JER: I would definitely say the documentary made us live forever. I'm forever now, man. I say that all the time. Our music is forever too because it's on every platform. Knowing that, and having the movie out there, I’m very grateful. And now, I’m grateful for the Hall of Fame too.
SAM: We don’t want to look like braggarts. We're humble, happy guys. They could have ignored us forever, and we just would have gone on doing what we do. But this recognition is something we’re very grateful for. And we're very excited about having our family there that night, and especially our children.
JER: Yeah, that's a big thing. My mother will be there. She’s 84 years old.
SAM: Just think about that … That’s freaking awesome
JER: I'm so thankful for that. I’m thankful for it all.
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