Italian-born and Californian-based Alon Delon is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter who played guitar in Donita Sparks and the Stellar Moments, Sparks’ post-L7 project, and appears on the 2008 album “Transmiticate”.
He later formed the Los Angeles dark-rock band Shiteland Ponies with bassist Dat Ngo, combing shoegaze and dark pop with glam and heavier rock influences.
Delon played in the Hollywood hard-rock band Shire. A notable piece of his history is that a young Izzy Stradlin briefly played bass in Shire alongside him. Henow plays in Hector Penalosa Gang.
Whether or not I get to rock with this brother, I think he is an amazingly bad ass underground rock ‘n’ roll motherfucker, whose work is pretty much impeccable…my kinda songs, my kinda bands, my kinda style.
Don’t believe me? Here’s what some other people say about him:
"I love the Shiteland Ponies, and think Mr. Delon is a marvellous human. I'm very proud to call him my friend. I always enjoy watching their live shows, and look forward to their next record..." -John Easdale, Dramarama.
"I like Alan very much. He's a great songwriter and very talented musician. Very original ideas." - Evad Fromme, Moonchasers and Factory Superstars.
"I met Alan when I played bass for Donita Sparks and The Stellar Moments in 2005. We played for her for about three years. He added a lot of cool colors to her songs. ‘Curtains for Cathy’ is one of those hooky guitar line that stands out, so simple but very cool. We formed Shiteland Ponies right after the departure from Donita Sparks. We became good friends during those years and started writing songs together. Every Sunday Alan would come over and we would finish a song or idea we have together. His melodic guitar parts and cool lyrics and vocal style are truly the best.
“Around that same time. I was playing with Bam Ross from The Dogs D’Amour and his wife Share Ross from Vixen. I played some demos for Bam and Share that Alan and I made in my bedroom. They loved it and agreed to producing a couple of EP’s for us. Bam played drums on a track called ‘Church of Mad Love’ as well as a few others. ‘Church of Mad Love' is one of my favorites that Alan has written. Alan has so many great songs in his catalog already and we just tracked at Bam’s place. 2010 the debut of Shiteland Ponies arrived.
Shiteland Ponies. Artist supplied.
“Alan is currently living in San Diego and plays for Hector Penalosa Gang as well as a few others. Alan has released some fantastic stuff under Rain Ballet currently. So Damn Good!" -Dat Ngo, Crazy Squeeze.
"In regards to Alon: Moonchasers did a bunch of gigs over a couple years with Shiteland Ponies. It was always an honor and always fun to share a stage with them. The feeling of being connected in the San Gabriel Valley with lifers who embodied true rock and roll spirit was refreshing. Alon has the approach of a purist in his playing, where less is more but he effectively blends traditional style and tones with his unique classy strangeness of galactic subtle alien vibes. He always gave me the impression of being out of this world, perhaps a visitor from another dimension of cool grace and intelligence who loved rock and roll on earth and thus was visiting this realm to participate in the amplified electric vibrations. I picked up definite extraterrestrial vibes in his presence." - Tom Sanford Moon Chasers, Winter Kills.
"Is Alon the Italian guitar player that was shortly in Motorcycle Boy before me? If he is, that is kinda wild! Very nice guy. That band of his is killing it, that's for sure. That's amazing! If you're in contact with him, say Hi from me, I always liked the guy. That band of his truly is killer." - World Famous Mister Ratboy of Pillbox, Sour Jazz, Motorcycle Boy, The Golden Rat.
"Alon always had an ear for cool stuff...he was in the original Motorcycle Boy...played in the drills...great guitarist with great ideas, we fed off each other quite a bit...he left after the drugs got heavy on my end but then went on to play with an early version of Tsar..." - Roger Deering. The Drills, Smash fashion, Cryme Wave.
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JD MISFORTUNE: Tell us about your childhood, school life, and how you first discovered rock ‘n’ roll?
ALON DELON:I grew up in a city called Trieste, in northern Italy. My family makes for an interesting story: I come from a long line of manic depressives (or bipolar, if you prefer). To escape the chaos in my house, my early form of escape was comic books. I loved Daredevil but I'd read anything I could get my hands on.
My school life was a nightmare. I couldn't pay attention to save my life and I hated being around other kids.
Music, for me, started as soon as I can remember. Although I didn't play an instrument yet, I loved listening to classical music (Vivaldi’s "The Four Seasons" is still my favorite and anything by Chopin). I also loved the Bee Gees. I saw them on TV when I was five and I thought Barry Gibb was my estranged father.
When I was 12 some school mates of mine asked me to translate to Italian the lyrics of this band called KISS. As I listened to the cassettes they gave me I thought it was the most awful noise I'd ever heard. However, three days into it I suddenly started loving it. I asked my grandfather for a guitar and he bought me a beautiful Italian electric guitar called an EKO Cobra 2.
I was an awful student, pathetic athlete, antisocial but, somehow I thought I could maybe pull this music thing off. I would practice obsessively everyday but it took me three years to even become decent at it.
The Glam Rock influence started when somebody gave me a cassette of Ziggy Stardust. I instantly loved it and knew I wanted my own music to have that kind of emotional content and diversity.
The first song I ever wrote was called: "There Must Be Love". The main distinction of the song was that it said: "There must be love" about 50 times through it. But it didn't suck that bad and I realized that , if I wasn't going to be a good singer or great guitar player, I wanted to focus on songwriting.
I came to America in the summer of 1979 and immediately started going to major concerts. I saw AC/DC with Bon Scott, Scorpions, Ted Nugent, Kiss, Van Halen, Queen, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult. I would also go to many Los Angeles clubs like the Starwood, the Troubadour and the Whisky. I saw a band called London that featured a young Nikki Sixx.
At the time, I was living with my father but he didn't want me there and was trying to send me back to Italy so I ran away in March 1981. I was only 15. I had put an ad in the paper for a lead singer and this other young guy, David Anthony, answered. We immediately started the band Shire Heavenly, influenced by bands like Scorpions, UFO and early Def Leppard.
Even though we were only 16 we were playing all the cool clubs in LA. At one point we even had Izzy Stradlin playing bass with us in 1982. That band eventually released a record produced by Don Dokken but when it didn't sell, we disbanded.
At the time (1985) I was working on the trendy street, Melrose Avenue, and everyday I would see this guy with huge black hair walk to the liquor store and get a 40oz. of beer. One day he asked me if I wanted to form a band. That band turned out to be Motorcycle Boy.
Quite the opposite of Shire, we were dirty, sleazy Rock 'n' Roll and were drawing all kinds of people to our gigs. I was young and naive though and couldn't keep up with the hard partying Francois. So I left. Thus begun a long musical drought for me that lasted until 1989 when I met Florida transplants the Drills, featuring future frontman of Smash Fashion and Crymwav, Roger Deering. We instantly bonded over our mutual love of Aerosmith, Alice Cooper and the Stooges.
We wrote some really good songs together one of which, "Street Life", I still play to this day with my band La Strega (see Bandcamp). Once again I couldn't keep up with the Rock ‘n’ Roll lifestyle and had to bow out.
In February of 1990, I answered an ad for a guitarist into Stones and the Faces. It turned out to be Edan Everly, son of Don Everly and brother-in-law of Axl Rose. We got signed to Hollywood Records and began touring the States incessantly. Unfortunately nothing happened with that band.
At the time I was writing a lot of songs in a Power Pop vein and I started a band called Heavenly Bodies After three years of that I joined future Tsar members in a band called Stupid Gurl. The songs those guys were writing were fantastic and I was certain we were poised for success. Unfortunately, the inherited bipolar disorder started to catch up with me an I became an unbearable nightmare to be around. For the first time in my life I was fired from a band.
I was 34-years-old, feeling like a played out player until i joined former singer of the Comatones, Giovanni Vitanza, in a band called the Nobs. Needless to say his songs were great but it was shortlived. I began collaborating with former bassist of The Superbees, Dat T. Ngo, and we formed Shiteland Ponies.
After writing and recording 30 songs, we started playing live. I was feeling like we needed a more powerful frontman so we got Tony Snow. He had his own band the Change but agreed to sing for us too. Thus began one of my proudest achievements. Our two EPs can be heard on YouTube.
In 2017, I moved to New York and began recording songs for the band Rain Ballet. Those recordings are also available on YouTube. I currently have a solid line-up for Rain Ballet and we play a lot in San Diego, where I reside.
JD MISFORTUNE: I also wanted to ask you about Edan. You know, they were one of the first bands I bought from the cut-out bin when the promos first shipped, dug the album and then lost it in a divorce. (It was part oi an amazing record collection from years of working at record stores.) Been re-discovering Edan this year. Great band! I almost moved back to Hollywood in the mid-‘90s to be in a band with Anthony and Joe, my friends from Slow Motocade.
ALAN DELON: Edan also featured Frankie Avalon's son on drums. We played with such bands as Foghat, Bad Company and Grand Funk Railroad. We opened for Brian May at The Palace. Edan's sister Erin was married to Axl Rose for a week. We were supposed to open for Guns N Roses on the "Use Your Illusions" tour but then they got divorced. I met Joe (Normal) in New York when he was in Dramarama. I know Slow Motorcade; “16 Forever” is a killer song.
JD MISFORTUNE: What was your shared history with Guns n Roses?
ALON DELON: I first met Axl Rose in the summer of 1982. He came to the garage where i rehearsed with the band Shire in which Izzy Stradlin (then Izzy Bell) was the bass player. He asked if he could do a song with his friend Paul. They played “Shadow of Your Love”. That was the first time i heard that Axl scream.
Izzy Stradlin, Tony Snow and Alon.
A year later they formed Rose, then Hollywood Rose. We played several gigs together. One was at Madame Wong's West with Poison - their first gig in LA. At one point in 1984, we both worked at Tower Video in West Hollywood. It was during the time at Tower Video that Axl really opened up to me. He talked about his childhood, musical influences and told me something I'll never forget: "I hate my voice but I have to admit it's starting to get better". The last time i saw him was at Raji's where I was playing with Motorcycle Boy. We asked him to get on stage with us and sing "I Just Want Something To Do” by the Ramones. When we called him up he had left. That was the last time I ever saw him.
JD MISFORTUNE: What can you tell me about The Drills?
I met the Drills in the Spring of 1989 through an ad in the local trade paper, The Recycler. During our first phone call, me and Roger talked for over an hour. They had just left Florida to seek a better scene in Los Angeles but unlike the Guns n Roses wannabes that crowded Hollywood in those days, these were dedicated, hungry musicians striving to do something different and constantly evolve. We started rehearsing and writing songs right away and , before long we were playing all the happening clubs of the day. On lead guitar we found Robert "Harley" Davidson, formerly of the band Scream whose drummer was a young Dave Grohl.
Even though musically we were kindred spirits, personally we couldn't have been more different. The guys were hard-partying individuals committed to experiment with everything that was going and , since I was totally sober and naive back then, they lovingly referred to me as "Mister Clean Weenie". Although there was management and record label interest, eventually I had to make my exit. There went another great band I was in. Although shortlived, it was a great experience and I learned a lot from those dudes. Me and Roger remain friends to this day and , in an ironic twist, it was him that inspired me to eventually get sober.
JD MISFORTUNE: Comatones are my all-time favorite band after Generation X and The Pretenders. What do you remember about The Ultras? The Moonchasersd? Iris Berry? Smack? Scarlet Rowe? Darling Cruel?
ALAN DELON: I remember the Ultras because Alice was my friend. We once went to visit his family in Palm Springs. He coukd sing any cover song i would start playing. A great frontman and person. Greatly missed. I knew Brian Murphy from Hello Disaster; i hired him to work with me on Melrose Avenue in 1989, his first job in LA. He already had 30 songs written for Hello Disaster - all hits. Their first gig at the Coconut Teazer was packed with scenesters.
I know the Moonchasers from sharing stages with them with Shiteland Ponies. Evad and Andy are great musicians and lifers. I never met Iris Berry but once Motorcycle Boy and the Lame Flames played a gig together at White Trash au Go Go. Between Paul Black and Phil Lewis, for singer of LA Guns, I prefer Paul. As much as I loved Phil in Girl, I find that Paul comes off more real and he wrote all the cool songs.
I was a fan of Hanoi Rocks until I had the dubious pleasure of meeting Andy McCoy. The guy is so bipolar, he makes me seem like Snow White. I never met the other members.
I saw Smack once at the Coconut Teazer in 1989; unbelievable live act. I met Scarlet Rowe when he was playing bass with Smash Fashion but never back in the day.
The current bands I love are She Wants Revenge and a San Diego band called the Slashes (you can hear them on YouTube). Great songs and vocals. I saw Nancy Boy at Club Cherry in 1994. I auditioned for Lions & Ghosts in 1989 but they decided to go with Pete Comita of Cheap Trick. I saw Darling Cruel several times - my friend Vicky Hamilton was managing them. I never saw Kommunity Fk but I have one of their records.
Lastly I'd like to thank anybody that pays attention to anything I've done. God bless you and keep reaching for the stars!
All images artist suplied.
