What band was he in?

[Jacob M.]

 

I stumbled onto this clip a while back. I even ask Leykis about it. I am very curious to know what band Rollo was in. It sounds like he was part of the LA glam scene back in the day. No idea what band it was. They must have had a sizeable following though. It could be a challenge to figure out. Rollo Tomassi is just a pen name. Any help figuring this out would be much appreciated.

[whiplash1972]

Real name George W. Miller

Couldn't find anything on HH or Brutal Metal for "Rollo Tomassi" or "George Miller" that fit the bill, but there is a Rollo Tomassi in this band: Trial of Ascension

Is that him on the left? 

[whiplash1972]

He discusses the 80s metal scene in Hollywood a little bit here: 

Rollo Tomassi's Blog (goodreads.com)

From 2000 to about 2015 organizing live events and conventions was a fairly lucrative proposition in the burgeoning Hustle Economy. Being a speaker at a TED talk held a certain gravitas for the Brand of Me who was invited to relate his very important, self-affirming ideas to a rapt audience. Today, not so much. The TEDx series saw to it that anyone could pay-to-play and thus debased any legitimacy the original TEDs started with. I remember the pay-to-play grift that destroyed the late 80s’ metal scene in Hollywood. Show promoters would buy out a classic venue like Gazzari’s or the Troubadour for a night and then talk “up-and-coming bands” into playing the gigs. All they had to do was sell enough tickets to cover their portion of whatever the promoter had paid to reserve the venue. Whether the bands decided to sell their tickets at a profit or a loss was irrelevant to the promoters – they just had to cover the rent on the club for that night. Most promoters were making their money on marking up that rent, and a percentage of the alcohol sales they’d arrange with club owners. It didn’t matter if the bands were great or they sucked, just that they covered the rent with ticket sales – usually to friends and family to come watch them play on the same stage that Van Halen and Ratt got their start on. The promoters weren’t selling actual talent, they were selling the fantasy of playing on historic stages in L.A. to guys who believed they were good enough to play them. By 1989 pay-to-play was killing what was once a vibrant music scene that naturally culled the talentless bands from the great ones.

[whiplash1972]

And talks about being in a band, and his motivations here: The Death of Rollo Tomassi (therationalmale.com)

 

He goes out of his way to NOT mention the band name 

[SunsetHoliday]

I'll keep my eye out for a bass player named George or something similar next time I check out old magazines

[Jacob M.]

4 hours ago, whiplash1972 said:

Real name George W. Miller

Couldn't find anything on HH or Brutal Metal for "Rollo Tomassi" or "George Miller" that fit the bill, but there is a Rollo Tomassi in this band: Trial of Ascension

Is that him on the left? 

That does look like Rollo. It would appear that once he started the manosphere work he completely dropped his real name. That is some good detective work whiplash.