RUBIX KUBE: The EIGHTIES STRIKE BACK Show!
For almost two decades, RUBIX KUBE has taken the universe by storm as the most original ‘80s tribute band of all time! Its one-of-a-kind, ever-evolving and interactive “The EIGHTIES STRIKE BACK Show” captivates public & private audiences of all ages.
From their NYC headquarters, to our U.S. troops overseas, The KUBE rocks for the coolest fans in the most prestigious venues across the globe . . and galaxies far, far away. More than just a cover band, “The EIGHTIES STRIKE BACK Show” is like the rad lovechild of a Rock concert and a Broadway musical – from a honeymoon down Electric Avenue!
What People Are Saying
“THEY PARTY LIKE IT’S 1989!”
— THE NEW YORK POST
“RUBIX KUBE, THE ULTIMATE ’80S BAND, TAKES YOU BACK IN TIME.”
— THE TODAY SHOW
“THESE GUYS ARE PHENOMENAL, THEY SOUND JUST LIKE THE RECORDS!!”
— DEBBIE GIBSON
“RUBIX KUBE IS AWESOME!””
— BRET MICHAELS
“IF YOU GET A CHANCE, GO SEE RUBIX KUBE. THEY ARE AMAZING!”
— RICK SPRINGFIELD
“YOU HAVE TO CHECK IT OUT, IT’S SO MUCH FUN! IT’S LIKE GOING BACK TO THE ’80S!!”
— KELLY RIPA
Cherie Martorana Neve
Frontwoman
Cherie hails from Boston, MA, the fourth in a clan of six kids. She credits her sister, Susan, for turning her on to music at a young age – when she gave Cherie her first vinyl Pat Benatar record. And to her Dad for introducing her to R&B greats like Sam Cooke, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder. At first an untapped ‘shower’ singer, Cherie embarked on a successful career as a board game developer / puzzle book author until 2006. When she took her mom’s “It’s never too late advice” she then moved to NYC, where her career as a professional performer took flight.
Cherie’s first gig as a singer was doing back-ups for the legendary “World Famous Live Rock & Roll Karaoke Band” at Arlene’s Grocery, where she was dubbed “Cherie-oke”, The Rock ‘n’ Roll She-Devil. Soon after, she became a back-up vocalist for The Little Death, an original Rock & Blues band featuring the Grammy-nominated artist MOBY and vocal powerhouse Laura Dawn. In 2007, RUBIX KUBE was formed and Cherie quickly moved up the ranks to frontwoman, while working tirelessly as Rubix Kube’s co-founder, show creator, costume designer, band stylist and more.
Cherie has had the honor of singing backup vocals for ‘60s legends Chubby Checker and Donovan, and has performed at venues/festivals nationwide, including the 2007 SXSW, singing with Lou Reed. She fulfilled a lifelong dream in 2009 when she performed in David Lynch’s “Change Begins Within” benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall, backing up Sheryl Crow, Ben Harper and MOBY, headlined by the two surviving Beatles, Sir Paul McCartney and Mr. Ringo Starr. Cherie is also a session singer and is constantly working on various musical projects of her own and for charity. She can be heard on the Dalai Lama’s benefit album, “Songs For Tibet”, and on MOBY’s “We Are All Made Of Stars”, as well as Tokyo Motor Fist’s “Look Into Me” from their sophomore album “Lions” on vocals with Ted Poley of Danger! Danger! and her beloved band brother, guitarist, song-writer, producer & founder of the mighty Trixter, Steve Brown.
Scott Lovelady
Frontman
Scott is just a small-town boy, yet born and raised in the not-so-tiny town of Manhattan, NY. The son of a master puppeteer who worked on “The Muppets”, Scott was destined to a life of grand performance and theatrics. He made his stage debut at the tender age of 6 months as Baby Snow White and later went on to model for Capezio and Sears.
A matrix of careers in puppeteering, animatronics, medieval armory, sound design, songwriting, and acting followed. Yet it was singing that became his calling, when in the 90s he began fronting the infamous NYC rock band Fat Bastid. Stints also in Legion of Decency and Silverboy garnered him chops and notoriety in the music scene.
When the seeds were planted for RUBIX KUBE, Scott was an obvious choice for lead male vocalist with his wide range and diversity of styles and tones. His uncanny ability to simulate a multitude of 80s stars in voice, dress and body movement, along with a high-energy, quirky stage presence make him a perfect fit in The Galaxy’s Most Original Eighties Tribute Band!
Steve Brown
Guitar & Vocals
Steve is the guitarist, founding member and chief songwriter for the internationally notorious, million-selling Rock band TRIXTER! With over 25 years of rockstar experience, Steve is also an award-winning player, singer, producer, and musical director. He recently filled in with the legendary Def Leppard and on Broadway with Rock Of Ages!!
TRIXTER’s self-titled debut album, released in May 1990 by MCA Records, spent 54 weeks on Billboard’s Top 200 Album Charts and peaked at #28. In February 1991, the record was RIAA-certified Gold and has sold over 1 million total worldwide. Steve co-wrote the band’s 3 Top 100 Billboard Singles: “Give It To Me Good”, “One In A Million”, and “Surrender”. The singles were also long-running #1 Dial MTV Videos (“Give It To Me Good” for 8 weeks, “One In A Million” for 5 weeks, and “Surrender” for 2 weeks). Steve has also been featured on NBC, FOX, Entertainment Tonight, HBO, TNN and VH1’s ‘Where Are They Now?’ and ‘Top 40 Hair Bands of All Time’.
Steve’s tour accomplishments include rocking every major arena, theatre and club throughout the United States and Canada as TRIXTER opened up for for KISS, Scorpions, Poison, Warrant, Stryper, Dokken and Blues Traveler in the ’90s. In ’93 through ’95, the band headlined a tour in Japan and hit the club, theatre and state fair circuit back in the U.S. and Mexico. Steve has also shared the stage with legends David Lee Roth, Vince Neil, Foreigner, Cheap Trick, and Tesla!
2008 brought the return of TRIXTER and long-time fans swooned! Today the band continues to tour in support of their 2015 release “Human Era”, chock-full of TRIXTER’s signature hooks and riffs.
Drums
John Laspina
John “The Machine-a” LaSpina got into music at an early age and began playing drums by age 8. He has studied with Long Island based Jazz drummers Howie Mann and Al Miller. His early influences were Carmine Appice, Liberty Devito, John Bonham, Nicko McBrain, Stewart Copeland, Jeff Porcaro and Ringo Starr. At age 14 John was a top 10 finalist out of several hundred entrants in his age group in the first ever ‘Battle of the Beats’ drum solo contest held by the Long Island Drum Center.
John has worked with several local bands/artists in the Long Island/NYC area including Arrival, Joker’s Child, Reckless Fortune and Sonic Blonde. He has also shared the stage with former/current members of Twisted Sister, Billy Joel, and Dave Chappelle’s backing band.
John continues to push his independence/interdependence limits to cover both the drum and percussion parts of the songs RUBIX KUBE plays, and he interprets without the use of any loops or backing tracks. In addition to drums he also plays guitar.
Bass & Vocals
P.J. Farley
P.J. started his professional career as a musician at the ripe-old age of 16 as the bass player for TRIXTER, along with Steve Brown [above]. Signed to its first major label record deal with MCA in 1989, TRIXTER went on to sell well over 1 million records and had 3 #1 videos on MTV. Touring with bands like KISS, Poison, The Scorpions, and Warrant, P.J. has played almost every iconic arena, theater, pavilion and club all over the world.
In 2002, P.J. joined up with Active Rock chart toppers RA (Universal/Republic), embarking on the second chapter of his recording and touring career. Also venturing with Modern Hard Rock artists such as Staind, Seether and Sevendust, he was able to remain relevant and creative in the music business while TRIXTER took a 13 year hiatus. Rock goddess Lita Ford had P.J. on tour worldwide for almost 4 years starting in 2009. Besides The KUBE, his other current projects include Eric Martin of Mr. Big, comedian Jim Breuer, and Fozzy (wrestler Chris Jericho’s band)!
Keys / Keytar / Sax & Vocals
MIKE PEX
Mike’s been playing ’80s keyboards since, well… the ’80s! He got his start in a Poconos hometown band, Mirage (which included John Gaffney of Sinister Realm and film/tv composer Jeff Cardoni). After graduating from MIT, Mike had a brief stint in Boston with Woody & The Boyz (where he also added sax to his arsenal), Mike moved to NYC and quickly became part of downtown’s most high energy backing bands, including The Material Boys, The Vanities, and The Full Muscular Band.
In addition to The KUBE, he’s also the fixed keyboard player for “Love Bites”, an annual Valentine’s Day celebration of 80’s monster ballads, and “Madonnathon”, a tribute to the blonde ambition material girl now 10 years and running.
Also an original kids music composer, Mike’s work has been heard on PBS, the Disney Channel, and NICKELODEON/Nick Jr.!
David Z ~ in memoriam
Immortal Soul and Eternal Inspiration
David Z was an incredible musician with an accomplished and celebrated career, most of all he was our beloved band brother with a huge heart, a love for cosplay, comfort food, film-making, and a good debate! He performed on stages all over the world, gaining recognition for his extraordinary ability on the bass guitar. In addition to being a business partner, bass player and music director for RUBIX KUBE BAND, David was also known for the bands ZO2, The Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO), and Adrenaline Mob.
David formed Legend, his first band in high school, which his brother Paulie later joined. While playing packed clubs all over the city David was getting noticed for his virtuoso bass playing and being presented with bigger opportunities. He was recruited to play bass for a project focused on Christmas rock music. That project eventually became the extremely successful group Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO). From their first tour in 2000 onwards, David remained their bass player, playing sold-out venues around the country, including every New Yorker’s dream: Madison Square Garden. While David continued to get more recognition within the industry while also playing bass for Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, he and his brother Paulie decided to form a new band called ZO2. In 2004, the guys scraped together enough money to release their first professional album and soon were on a 40 date national tour opening for KISS and Poison.
While David was building his impressive rock star status, he and his brother Paulie were also working with children as music teachers. Together they would perform concerts as The Z Brothers and teach music classes. They released a kids CD in 2007 called the ABZ’s. The brothers loved working with kids and became very successful at it. They were soon approached about doing a TV series based on their dual life as rock stars at night and kids stars by day. The show, Z Rock, made its debut in 2008 on the IFC channel and ran for two seasons.
David and his brother also formed the Rock Asylum Foundation, an organization that provides free rock concerts to New York public schools in an effort to inspire children to succeed in their education.
In 2010, David joined RUBIX KUBE and the metal group SOTO.
In 2011, David was asked to join Adrenaline Mob - a new metal supergroup. The band was getting a lot of major press as they toured the country to support their new CD.
On Friday, July 14th 2017, while en route from a gig in Biloxi, Mississippi to St. Petersburg, Florida, a tractor-trailer veered off Interstate 75 into two vehicles carrying members of Adrenaline Mob as they stopped to fix a flat tire.
David died on impact. He was 38.
David’s youthful spirit and passion or music and dance our part of us in every performance. We will forever carry-out his choreography, music lessons and vibrant energy.
The DAVID Z FOUNDATION was formed in David’s honor. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization started by singer/guitarist Paulie Z in memory of his brother and inclusive of all and serving a diverse population of underprivileged kids. The aim of the DZF is to instill a passion for music in kids while providing them with engaging music education opportunities and funding, putting together collaborations between kids and veteran music industry professionals and developing programs within academic school settings as well as music schools, both across the country and internationally. Please help keep David’s legacy alive and find out more at:
https://www.davidzfoundation.org
