Johnny Kelly isn’t going to sit still, but he has a very good reason. When Type O Negative frontman Peter Steele died in 2010, Kelly faced the double whammy of losing his best friend and possibly his career. It’s been a shock to the system that’s been keeping the drummer moving ever since. As Kelly says, at the time of Steele’s death, he’d been playing Type O Negative for most of his adult life, so he set out to find where else his musical talents could lead him.
Kelly has proven to be very prolific, having played with numerous bands throughout his now storied career, including Danzig, Quiet Riot, Silvertomb, A Pale Horse Named Death and Kill Devil Hill.
Kelly’s latest, Eye Am, is a supergroup of Type O Negative and Crowbar members. Eye Am & Kelly consist of Type O alumni Kenny Hickey, Crowbar frontman Kirk Windstein and former Crowbar bassist Todd Strange.
The band’s just-released first single, “Dreams Always Die with the Sun” (listen below) sounds like Black Sabbath meets The Beatles if they opened for KISS in the 1970s.
kelly sign in Serious consequences Taking a rare break from his schedule via Zoom from his home in Texas, he discusses the formation and future of Eye Am, as well as some interesting tidbits surrounding the recent re-release of Type O Negative.
Crowbar and Type O Negative, both bands known for their heavily tuned riffs, seemed like a perfect match. How was Eye Am born?
So happy to finally have the opportunity to work with Todd and Kirk. I have known them for many years. All of us have been friends, Jesus, for like, 30 years. Our paths crossed many times over the years, but we never had the chance to play together. We were on social media all the time, but it was (our mutual friend) Andrew Spaulding who came up with the idea for us to play and record songs together. He put it on his independent record label, Corpse Paint Records.