Amid seas where pop sugar is traded as high art, most purebred rock 'n' roll bands have learned to be content simply surviving the voyage in one piece, let alone walking away with a measure of pride intact.
But once in a while, when a band refuses to give in, sell out or play it close to the chest, fortune's pendulum has been known to swing in favor of the underdog.
Jersey-bred heavy rock outfit Mean Venus has existed for more than two years, paying its dues locally while facing many trials not uncommon for a band working its way up the long hill to success.
"It's definitely been a battle trying to keep this together," said lead singer and bassist J. "We started out as a five piece; I'm the only original member. Right before we recorded our debut … the first session was around January of 2007 … members started taking off and moving on to different things. We're a three-piece now, and hoping to fill in the bass spot soon.
"From the beginning, I had this grand vision of what I wanted to do with this band, but it's only been the past six months or so that things have really started to work out in our favor."
The turnaround for Mean Venus began in 2007, when the band was extended the offer of a gig by Hawaiian Chopper Magazine.
"The people at the magazine were basically like, 'We want to pay for you guys to come out here and play our festival in the spring,' " he said. "It was an amazing offer, and we weren't about to turn down the opportunity.''
In April, Mean Venus headed west to play the magazine's annual Motorhead Classic at the Aloha Tower Marketplace in Honolulu.
"They must have spent thousands of dollars on us, to fly us out there, to put us up," J said. "We headlined the thing. It was a big deal for us … and a huge honor."
"Ever since then, all these different things have kind of fallen into our laps. And we've been riding that wave home ever since."
Mean Venus' upcoming gigs include opening for metal's LA Guns on Friday (Aug. 15) at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville and a performance at Asbury Park's Clearwater Festival on Saturday (Aug. 16).
Mean Venus, which also includes drummer Chris Dowd and guitarist Jimmy Whip, released its debut album, "PCP," in March. The band plans on touring throughout '08 in support of the album, and it already has begun preproduction on its follow up.
"Aside from the obvious, the title of the album is also an abbreviation for our personal motto: persistence, consistency, patience," J said. "Apparently that attitude has paid off for us."
J, who holds a bachelor's degree in English and music from Rutgers University, has piled up stage and studio credits as a drummer, bassist, guitarist and singer with such previous bands as Trench, Hangman's Jury and Negative Nine.
"All my life I've envisioned getting to this point. Now we have, and it's hard to believe," said J. "I've been doing this forever; that's long enough to know when to be humble. This band has taken on a life of its own; I see that every day when I look in my inbox.
"We recognize what opportunities these are, and we have no plans on letting them go to waste. We're not about to turn into divas. We're just grateful for every fan we have … and everything that's come and gone our way."
