(Photo: Andre “Virus” Karkos – Guitarist for Rock of Ages 2015)

Just finishing up my second contract as music director and keyboards for Rock of Ages out of New York with NCL International. What an awesome run this has been! The arsenal band for this run are some of the most talented and just all around cool musicians I have ever worked with. Awesome grooves and strong, hard hitting rock performances throughout the entire contract. Way to go Arsenal!

The band for Rock of Ages the musical is lovingly called “Arsenal” and for the 2015 NCL International run the musicians were Gino Del Sole (guitar), Andre Karkos (guitar), Steve Such (drums) and Conrad Askland (music director and keyboards).

(Photo: Steve Such, drummer for Rock of Ages 2015)

Gino Del Sole (guitar) is from Toronto, CA and played on the Rock of Ages show up there and has played in rock bands and for musical theatre shows for years. Andre “Virus” Karkos (guitar) is a member of the hardcore rock band “Dope” and has also played on the Broadway run of ROA. Steve Such (drums) plays with the RHCP tribute band “The Red Not Chili Peppers”, creator of the viral “100 Rules for Drummers Video” and a very imaginative musical entrepreneur.

Thank you Arsenal for such an awesome run (highest ratings of any NCL ROA run to date!) and thank you NCL for letting us rock the house night after night.

Conrad Askland
Music Director Rock of Ages 2015 NCL International

So once again I join the Rock of Ages cast as music director and keyboardist for the 2015 runs in New York and Bermuda. The band “Arsenal” is rocking hard this year with Guitarists Gino Del Sole, Andre “Virus” Karkos, Steve Such on drums and myself.

The hit metal songs from the 1980’s hair bands are featured in Rock of Ages the musical with songs by Journey, Twisted Sister, White Snake, Styx, Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar, Poison, Europe and many more.

This run’s band is awesome and it has been so great working with director Rye Mullis and Broadway director Kristin Hanggi on this run. Probably one of the best vocal directors I’ve worked with is Randy Glass also on this run.

What’s it like to be music director for Rock of Ages? With this cast and powerhouse of singers it’s a dream. One of the best rock choruses I’ve ever worked with and extremely strong rock soloists.

Here’s some photos of the band, which is called “Arsenal” in the show:

From left to right: Miki Santamaria (Guitar 2), Conrad Askland (Music Director and Keyboards), Paul Wandtke (Drums) and Angel Paz (Guitar 1).

Diario de Pontevedra, a Spanish newspaper, published an article about our Rock of Ages lead guitar player Angel Paz and included a photo of our band. This is “Arsenal” for the 2014 Rock of Ages at NCL New York.

We’ve had a great run as the 80’s Arsenal band on this show. A lot of work, but totally worth it and a stunning cast to work with both on and off the stage. Now, if I can only figure out what the article actually says…

Here’s the Rock of Ages band for the NCL Breakaway run from March through September 2014 out of New York. We just finished several weeks of rehearsals down by Tampa, Florida and we’re getting ready to install the show on the ship.

MIKI SANTAMARIA
Electric and Acoustic Guitar for Rock of Ages
Bass Guitar for the “Burn the Floor” show
Miki is from Terrassa (Barcelona), Spain

ANGEL PAZ
Electric Guitar for Rock of Ages and Burn the Floor
Angel is from Pontevedra, Spain and a graduate of Berklee School of Music

PAUL WANDTKE
Drums for Rock of Ages and Burn the Floor
Paul is from Chicago, Illinois

CONRAD ASKLAND
Music Director and Keyboards for Rock of Ages and Burn the Floor
Conrad is from Mount Vernon, WA

*Update: Well, we’ve opened the Rock of Ages show, as well as the Burn the Floor dance show, with our new casts and all is going well. Both shows are very fun to perform. If you happen to be on the NCL Breakaway between March and September 2014 give a shout out and say hi!

Partial cast photo – Rock of Ages 2014 NCL New York

Rock On – Be Strong!

From left to right: Miki Santamaria (Guitar 2), Conrad Askland (Music Director and Keyboards), Paul Wandtke (Drums) and Angel Paz (Guitar 1).

Diario de Pontevedra, a Spanish newspaper, published an article about our Rock of Ages lead guitar player Angel Paz and included a photo of our band. This is “Arsenal” for the 2014 Rock of Ages at NCL New York.

We’ve had a great run as the 80’s Arsenal band on this show. A lot of work, but totally worth it and a stunning cast to work with both on and off the stage. Now, if I can only figure out what the article actually says…