Anthony « Nino » Salazar is a man of many talents. We first discovered him behind the drum kit of Teenage Wrist. We had the pleasure to interview him and Marshall Gallagher earlier in June (HOS Season 1 episode 21) when Teenage Wrist released their brilliant last album « Earth is a black hole » (Epitaph). What we didn’t know is that Anthony aka Nino is also a great frontman (Guitar, Vocals) in the band Iron Point. In August, Animaan from Analog Party shoot me a text, they couldn’t perform a gig at Harvard and Stone so they asked me if Yard Of Blondes could cover for them. I was excited because Iron Point was on the same bill. See that’s what we talk about all the time on this podcast, building a rock community in LA that knows each other, supports each other, and can cover for each other when needed.

The show we played at Harvard and Stone reinforced that feeling because not only they are great people, but they also are amazing performers. Can you believe that people actually dance to their music? It might seem weird, but that doesn’t happen very often in Los Angeles, where people are, very often, too self-conscious to let go, unless they’re totally drunk or cocained. During our interview, Anthony said multiple times he was trying to make « unashamed » music with this project. I don’t see why they would be ashamed of having fun and sharing that fun with the audience. Iron Point is « rock n’ roll » in the pure sense of the word. It’s pretty straightforward, it embodies Anthony and Adam Gimenez’s (the other half of Iron Point) passion and drives. They’re not a band of poseurs and are not afraid of smacking guitar solos right in your face. Anthony’s influences reflect that spirit as he mentions two of his idols Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) and Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave), who don’t hold back when it comes to delivering a sincere and powerful performance.

As their latest single « Golden » shows, Iron Point’s backbone is Classic Rock. Anthony was fed on ZZ Top, Cream, Deep Purple, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and so on. When he was still a kid, his uncle dropped him a stash of CDs every Friday. This was a big part of Anthony’s rock n’ roll education along with the NOW compilation CDs that his father (who was a DJ in the ’80s) gave him. Oh, and Weird Al too. Whenever he released a new parody, Anthony traced the original song and discovered new bands to love. See, all roads lead to Rome. Unashamed, Anthony told us his backstory, with lots of tenderness for all the people that shaped his music tastes, even when he revealed to us his first concert ever was N’Sync. And it wasn’t a mistake. He actually saw them twice and loved it. Unashamed, there’s a lot of candor in the way he is and that’s refreshing.

Everything seems simpler around Anthony. He’s solar, positive, and ready to rock. Citing his friend Rebecca, Anthony tells us that « Rock N’ Roll is not dead, it’s just hangover ». It doesn’t need to be saved, it’s here, it might be snoring in a corner but with bands like Iron Point, but it’s ready to wake up and dance again any minute, unashamed.

Vincent Jacob

https://www.instagram.com/ironpoint

www.hangingonsunset.com