Worwyk (pron. war-wick) is strictly a studio project band, fronted by Tom Vitacco, a musician based in the suburbs of Chicago. Tom began playing guitar at age 16, jamming with some high school friends as they all learned their instruments together. While attending Illinois State University, Tom played in a couple of different bands, one playing generic cover tunes (mostly non-metal) while the other was mainly Metallica and Slayer covers. After graduating in 1986, Tom soon bought his first "real" guitar, a custom made BC Rich Bich, for which he waited six months while it was hand built in California.
In 1988, Tom hooked up again with his high school buddy John and they formed a technical thrash band with some local metalheads. After a few basement party gigs, the two guitarists decided to search for more serious musicians in the Chicago metal scene and after finding a new drummer and bass player, formed a band called Etheric Despotism. Unfortunately, problems within the band caused Tom and John to look elsewhere and after a while they gave up on trying to get a band together.
In the meantime, Tom bought a four-track cassette recorder and a drum machine and the two recorded their first album, called Serpentile Delusions, under the band name Vitalecco, which is a combination of their last names. Tom and John soon went their separate ways and Tom continued recording albums on his own as Worwyk. Over the years, Worwyk put out 11 albums, including Incinerator in 2002 and The Hanging Man in 2004.
Tom also has a side project with some friends called Affliction as has recorded two discs with them (My Rotting Place and Ignited Soul). Tom plays guitar and bass along with his friend Darren, and the vocals were handled by his buddies Lyle and Greg. You can check out Affliction by clicking the link on the left.
Tom's biggest disappointment with Worwyk has always been the vocals. He handled all the vocals over the years mainly because it was convenient, but he always thought his tunes would sound much better with a real vocalist. As he started to write new music in 2005, he decided it was time to look for someone new to sing on the tunes. Tom always stayed on top of technology and noticed how the internet was changing how home recording was done, especially in terms of working with musicians from different parts of the country. He frequented many online collaboration sites and saw how musicians were jamming together online, and the more he read up on the topic, the more interested he became in trying it out.
While online, he came across a project called Koalition, which is an online team of musicians from all over the world, who collaborate on tunes by sharing files online until the track is done. Tom offered two of his tracks from The Hanging Man to the project and Lee, co-founder of the project, agreed to sing on the tunes, replacing Tom's vocal tracks. The result sounded great and it inspired Tom to search the web for a metal vocalist whose voice would fit the new tracks he was writing - someone with an aggressive, modern voice that was clean enough to be understood while rough enough to blend in perfectly with Tom's riffs.
While listening to bands on Soundclick.com, he came across the band Dragonlips, which was also a one-man project band fronted by Mike O'Hara. Tom really liked the tunes and thought Mike's voice was exactly what he was looking for, so he contacted him to see if he would be interested in collaborating on the disc. Mike said he would give it a shot and the results turned out excellent.
Tom is still active in the Koalition project, contributing lead guitar to many tracks as well as creating three new tracks for the project called Beastmaster, Circle of Trust and The Sign (along with Darren from Affliction). Tom has also contributed vocals and drum tracks to Rebel81, which is headed up by Allen from the Koalition project.
Some info about Tom:
Gear: custom BC Rich Bich, Jackson Kelly, Schecter Hellraiser, BC Rich Warlock bass and Ibanez acoustic; Marshall JMP1 preamp, Marshall 80-watt power amp and 4x10 cab; Line6 Pod2, Cubase recording software and some misc pedals, rack units and a bunch of software...
Top 5 Metal Albums:
Mike O'Hara
Mike O'Hara, from the band DragonLips, began playing electric guitar at the ripe age of 15, after being heavily influenced to pick up the instrument from listening to Ace Frehley of Kiss. In 1992, Mike eventually connected with high school friend Jeff Sutphin, and the two began to write music together. Several years passed and the duo decided it was time to get a band together. They joined drummer Eric Trexler and bassist Craig Trexler to form the thrash metal band "Reality". Reality played several shows in eastern Pennsylvania in late '93. The band recorded a six-song demo entitled "Kingdom of God", which contained several original underground thrash metal hits like, "Deceiver","Possessed" and the title track "Kingdom of God".
After several years, Reality was unable to keep up with the changes within the existing metal scene, and the band disbanded and went their separate ways. Mike went on to study video and music production at a local college, and he began to focus heavily on song writing within the rock genre. A half decade would past before he would ever pick up an electric guitar. During this time, Mike produced several original acoustic demos. In 2004, Mike established a close working relationship with a fellow guitarist/songwriter, Charles Silket. Charles re-introduced Mike to the electric guitar and metal music. Charles was an up-and-coming luthier, and he was able to restore much of Mike's old electric guitars, thus re-lighting the passion for metal music. The two experimented with song writing and more importantly, home recording. During this time, Mike was able to use the song writing and music diversity learned from the acoustic works, and apply that to his new form of metal.
In late 2004, DragonLips was born (click link on left for more info on DragonLips). Mike began to work on writing complete songs, focusing on the structure and lyrical content. He envisioned a metal sound that called on his personal influences from all musical genres. This brand of metal would be mainstream, yet experimental - current but with a retro appeal. He began to churn out several demos to showcase this work. Tracks like "Political Dissonance", "The One" and "Bleed the Sheep" saw modest online circulation. In 2005, Mike continued to work on his first self produced EP, aptly titled "Political Dissonance". In late 2005, Mike was approached by Tom Vitacco from the band Worwyk to collaborate on a new metal project. Tom had written several original metal tracks, and he felt that his music would be a good match for Mike's vocal style. Work on the new Worwyk disc began immediately. The latest Worwyk CD entitled, "In Solitude" is due out later this summer.
Some info about Mike:
Gear: ZDG Custom Guitars, Ibanez, Fender, Peavey, Michael Kelly Guitars, Line 6 Pod XTL, Nady Patches, M-Audio Delta Products, ART and Digitech Vocal Preamps, Crate Power, G/K cabs, Behringer preamps and mics, Sonar Producer Studio
Top 5 Metal Albums:
Previous Bands: Affliction (my other band), Koalition, Etheric Despotism, some college bands...
Musician Influences: Jason Becker, Marty Friedman, Chuck Schuldiner (R.I.P), Randy Rhoads, Dave Mustaine, Kirk Hammett, Toby Knapp, Birelle Lagrene, Stevie Ray Vaughan
Band Influences: Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Kreator, Destruction, Death, Iced Earth, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, In Flames, Onward, Mercyful Fate, Black Sabbath, Gamma Ray, At the Gates, Dissection
Favorite all-time Band: Megadeth
Favorite Guitarist: Jason Becker
Favorite Bassist: Geezer Butler
Favorite Drummer: Gene Hoglan (Dark Angel, Death, etc)
Favorite Vocalist: Eric Adams (Manowar)
Best Concert: Death & Hammerfall (11/24/98 - Chicago, IL)
Favorite Food: Italian
Favorite Sports Team: Miami Dolphins
Favorite Movie: Hellraiser
Favorite TV show: Married with Children (when it was on), The Shield
1) Megadeth - Rust in Peace
2) Metallica - Kill 'em All
3) Death - Symbolic
4) Slayer - Reign in Blood
5) Iced Earth - The Dark Saga
Previous Bands: Reality
Musician Influences: David Gilmore, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, James Hetfield, Rob Flynn, Dave Mustaine
Band Influences: Metallica, Sevendust, Megadeth, Pantera, Machine Head, Sepultura, Pink Floyd, Kiss
Favorite all-time Band(s): Pink Floyd/Sevendust/Kiss
Favorite Guitarist: Joe Satriani
Favorite Bassist: Stu Hamm
Favorite Drummer: Vinnie Paul (Pantera)
Favorite Vocalist(s): Geoff Tate (Queensryche), Rob Zombie
Best Concert: Sevendust (Allentown, PA - Animosity Tour)
Favorite Food: Italian
Favorite Sports Team(s): Philadelphia Flyers/Eagles
Favorite Movie: Braveheart
Favorite TV show: Anything from the History channel
1) Metallica - Black Album
2) Sevendust - Home
3) Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power
4) Megadeth - Rust in Peace
5) W.A.S.P. - The Crimson Idol