Allocco's music dogma has businesslike flavor Forgive Phil Allocco for being a little skittish about his band's new-found success. Allocco, singer-guitarist for the hard rock band Dogma, has been around the music industry for a number of years. He previously was a member of Law & Order4, which was signed with MCA for a time.
"I've been around the reality of how things work in this buisiness," said Allocco from portland, where Dogma played Thursday night. "Things can go one way or the other at any time. So I'm a little tenative."
Dogma, which will play at 9:30 P.M. in Bangor, is the first band signed to King Recordings, the new rock imprint for rap label Def Jam records, It's debut on King,"Feeding the Future," is being distributed by Polygram.
Allocco can explore both sides of being the rock groundbreaker at King. "You always worry that you're going to be the guinea pig," he said. "You hope things come together for you, not just for the bands after you. On the other hand, you get more attention. It seems like people care more about you."
Allocco and bassist Sean Carmody have known each other since just after high school. They put Dogma together three and a half years ago, just after recruiting drummer Dave Femia. They then found guitarist Randy Dzielak through an ad in the village voice.
When developing the Dogma sound, the quartet kept things simple. "We really wanted to make stuff that turned us on, that we would go out and buy ourselves," Allocco said. "We had no preconceived vision of where to go. It was kind of free-form."
Allocco and Dzielak generally bring songs to the band, which then fleshes them out. But occasionally a song comes out of the foursome's jamming, such as their first single, "Cancer."
"You never Know where a good song will come from," Allocco.
The video for "Cancer was directed by Matt Mahurin, who previously has directed videos for Bush, Hole, Metallica and Soundgarden. It is designed for airplay on music stations such as MTV and the Box.
Cancer went up the metal and college radio charts and is now shipping out to bigger stations. The New York City-based group is now in the midst of an east coast tour.