Triton was formed in 1989 in N.J. Vocalist Conrad Noto replied to an ad in Aquarian Weekly. They composed, recorded and performed in N.J and N.Y to the end of 1990. The band split up in 1991. In November 2020, three original members Raymond Sikorsky- Guitars, Greg Merkle- Drums and front man Conrad Noto- Lead Vocals/ Keys committed to creating more music. January of 2021 Conrad Noto created the Indie label Jove Records for purposes of online song sales. On Feb 7th Triton reissued some songs and released 89/90 a 5 song EP. Triton are open to signing with an Indie or major label that can provide greater distribution and physical product distribution in the future. New music coming 2021!
Contact us via tritonofficial2020@gmail.com
Where are you based?
We are Originally from New Jersey and New York. We are now in different states. Ray is in Colorado, Greg is in New Jersey and I’m in Florida. We reformed in 2020. We are taking advantage of facetime, pro-tool for now and working from where we are. Covid is clearing up, people are going out. It’s just a matter of time until we get together physically again
How long have you been making music?
We’ve all been playing performing I’d say over 35 years one way or another, just not together.
What genre would you consider your music to be?
Hard to say lol. I started in Opera. I’ve done Jazz, Blues, Pop, Metal and various hybrids of Rock. Ray has done Blues, Rock Hardcore, Metal. Ray can play anything. Greg plays many things, but I know him as a Hard Rock and Progressive Metal Drummer. As a group I would say we are Progressive Metal, Rock with a few elements of radio rock, a hard edge and dark undertones. We are also very melodic, pretty with noise. My great Uncle was a Tenor at Teatro Massimo Di Palermo in Italy. My Great, Great Uncle was some sort of manager there, he passed before I was born. My father sang Opera when he was younger, but didn’t go after it. I grew up around it.
What inspired you to pursue a career in music?
I can’t speak for my bandmates, for me, it’s in my blood. Always was, I just sang since I started walking.
What are your biggest musical influences?
Wow, everything and anything for me. We are very individual beings in Triton as members. different taste, styles, attitudes, however we jell and work well together. I think that is why I love this band most of all the bands I’ve been in, why we are back. I’ve been in and out of many bands. Most of the other bands did that thing where they felt a need to tell me how to dress, or keep my hair style. Trying to make me sound like other singers from other bands they like. In Triton we just are who we are and try to compliment each other. I lived in Seattle for 4 years. I have a lot of Pacific Northwest influence and I’ve influenced a few. I gave Layne Staley his first few voice lessons. About a year before Alice in Chains. He was a drummer in the band that rehearsed across from my bands rehearsal room at Music Bank under the Ballard Locks. He wanted to sing. He was very shy back then, had no confidence for singing. I referred him to David Kyle after a few months, not sure if he went. Maestro David Kyle was a staple vocal instructor in the Seattle area. Many vocalist studied there at various times, Ann Wilson, Geoff Tate, Terry Young many others.
Are you signed to a label or are you an independent artist?
We just started our own label, easy to distribute on internet now. Our label is Jove Records. We are open to opportunities, but will grow this. I would like to eventually sign other artist and really grow the label. We’ll just let it goes as it goes. If we were offered a place on a label that does hard copy as in CDs and Vinyl, I think we’d do it, just depends on situation.
What have been the biggest challenges in your music career?
You have six months for this interview? Most recently I had a major heart attack last year, was rough. We move on.
How many songs or albums have you released to date?
We released TRITON 89/90 EP in January 2021. The quality didn’t transfer well to laptop, current broadcast and so forth. The songs were recorded in 1989 and 1990. Two were recorded at Kajem-Victory Studios in PA. the other three at Stardust Studios in N.J. Top of the line studios in their day. We then Remastered and released again to get rid of a few unwanted sound qualities and boost other qualities. Removed some compression went to wav files and higher speed, better quality MP3. We had cassettes when this stuff was originally put out. Two inch masters, 1/4 inch safeties and cassette. CD was really big yet. Didn’t make it to vinyl because we split up. We also released live TRITON IIII which is three songs on a boom box from the original writing sessions and one song from a small show encore. A few old fans asked about the songs and those were only existing copies. I cleaned them up and put them out. When you have people that remember your your band from thirty years ago, give it!
Can you tell us a few things about your latest release?
Triton 89/90 is as I stated before an EP of five songs from 1989 and 1990. We wanted to release them before working on a new album. We had a large following back then, want to find our people.
Any plans for new music or upcoming projects we should know about?
First off, We’ve added Temple of Triton to our name. Our distribution was getting lost. There are forty plus bands named Triton now. There was one in Germany in 1984-85 before us. We didn’t know that back when we started. There are many now and our songs were ending up in their Spotify, iheart and so forth. It was annoying, then there were a few radio station, one in particular in Rio that was using another Triton band’s photo while playing our music, frustrating. Everything will be labeled Triton-Temple of Triton, Year and than album or single title from now on and hopefully that will resolve the matter. Our upcoming album in progress is Triton-Temple of Triton 2021 Nevermore, Evermore. We were looking at release in November, but things have changed. Instead of me going to New Jersey to record. We are each recording our parts in home studios, sending file back and forth. We will most likely have a few singles out sooner and release entire album a little later. Space things out some. I really hope we can get together and play out in 2022, We are itching to rock and excited about the new songs. We are well seasoned now. We lacked that first time around. It makes a huge different when you know for instance the speed and amount of the reverb or delay to use, how to sculpt the sounds you want. We hear many cheats now auto-tune, massive compression. We didn’t have or use things like that and don’t plan on using that now. However there are many things new to take advantage of. We want to keep our sound from the 80’s but bring it current with the seasonings. Going well so far.
