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Published by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY Friday, September 7, 2001 Rockin' in the reel worldRockers such as Slaughter's Elias, Verpe Pipe's Vander Ark add flair and hair to 'Rock Star'
"We were on tour a couple years ago," explains Blas Elias, drummer for the rock band Slaughter, "and we had a script sent to us by Budd Carr - he was our manager and he is the music supervisor for a lot of movies. They were looking for '80s rock-type songs for this new movie. Well, we never got around to writing the music for it, but I read the script, and I dug it." Elias, 34, called Warner Bros. for the audition times and made the pilgrimage from his home in Las Vegas to Hollywood. In "Rock Star," the lead singer of the band Steel Dragon calls it quits, and the remaining rockers tap the lead singer of a small-time cover band to take his place. The unlikely rock star (played by Mark Wahlberg) goes from playing dive bars to arenas within weeks. The story is loosely based on events surrounding the departure and subsequent replacement of former Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford in 1996. A natural It made sense that the same kind of scenario could happen when casting the film. "At the time, they weren't casting any real musicians," said Elias, who grew up in Houston and attended the University of Texas in Austin. "They'd videotape you playing the drums - I would do the whole stick-spinning '80s-rocker thing that I do when I play - and I still don't think they realized that I wasn't an actor. I got to the casting director's office, and her kids were fans of our band, so she knew who I was. She asked me if I wanted to read a couple things with her in the office, and she said, 'Wow, you're really natural with this,' and I was hired." It was around that time that director Stephen Harek and his crew realized that including real musicians could benefit the film. They didn't need music lessons or nearly as many hair extensions as the actors. Other musicians-turned-actors in the film are Brian Vander Ark (The Verve Pipe), Stephan Jenkins (Third Eye Blind), Jason Bonham (Healing Sixes), Jeff Pilson (Dokken) and Zakk Wylde (who played guitar for Ozzy). "Brian Vander Ark, he grew up listening to the alternative stuff, but he also grew up on Kiss, and he fit in still," said Elias. "I've toured with Jeff Pilson and Zakk numerous times. ... We felt like we were actually a band." Authentic flavor Elias and Vander Ark play in the cover band Blood Pollution, and they started their work by spending a lot of time in a rehearsal studio working on arrangements of Blood Pollution's songs, Elias said. They gelled during rehearsals and got to know each other on personal and professional levels. "The director wanted it to be authentic," Elias said. "We'd be hanging out, and he'd ask us to tell him stories about the road - the lifestyle, the musicians, the life - and we would talk to him, and he incorporated a lot of it in the movie. (Director Harek) was always asking me, 'Would this kind of thing happen?' And it came out very, very authentic - due partially to the fact that there were real musicians in it." Pop culture and media critic Ricardo Baca can be reached at 886-3688 or by e-mail at bacar@caller.com
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