Split Sydney Retrospective and Interview with the East Coast Rocker, Chris DeLisa:

By: Lucy Hall

Chris DeLisa Performance Photo

     One man, two sticks - big sound! For a drummer to have had such volume from his kit, and a right foot that could have moved mountains; Chris DeLisa was completely oblivious to the mark he had made on both the 80's club scene and cult movies when he began his career in music.

Chris Delisa Performance Photo

     During the decade of excess when many vain rockers were more concerned with working on their hair rather than their sound; Chris DeLisa and his band Split Sydney were focused on playing unadulterated rock and keeping it real with their audience. They exerted a profound and acutely recognized influence on the rock club scene during the '80s and '90s. The band unintentionally wrote revolutionary compositions with a heavy sound and performed energetic rock anthems because they were creating the music they loved and not what was expected from a hard rock act during that era. 

Split Sydney Concert Flyer

HEAVY MAKEUP: What was it that shaped you into the amazing drummer you are today? What was the appeal for you to stick with drumming?

Chris DeLisa: Well, I actually started drumming when I was about two or three years old. I started banging on anything I could find be it boxes, pots or pans. I would use wooden spoons for drum sticks; just anything my mom had lying around. I was banging all the time. My parents were like "This kid, all he does is bang on things". My dad worked and I had a stay at home mom. You know, I love music and my mom always played music around the house. So, we always had music around. My dad got me my first snare drum when I was around five years old but I really took to it around the age of seven or eight. It was at that age that I got my first drum set and started playing along with records.

HEAVY MAKEUP: Your band Split Sydney was portrayed by the fictional rock band Jaded in the horror cult classic, Neon Maniacs. How did the project come to you?

Chris DeLisa: Well, the deal with that was Split Sydney actually didn't star in the film. The recording was ours but actors played the part of the band in the film. How the project came about was we were recording tracks in North Lake Studio in Westchester County and Eddie Solan was the engineer. He worked with KISS in the early days and he was good friends with Ace. He worked with KISS prior to the band making it in the Bronx. Eddie was recording tracks with us and he said there is a horror movie and they need a song for the soundtrack. He said he thought that "I've Had Enough" was a great song. We were like sure we will do it! I think the movie was filmed in Glendale L.A. We recorded the track in New York. We specifically recorded that song for the movie but that is not us in the movie. Those are actors. I found out that the film has a huge cult following. It's kind of really campy! But man, looking on Rotten Tomatoes it has a 4.8 out of 5 ratings. It continues to have a huge cult following to this day. I have it on DVD and it's funny that I saw the movie at the theatre when it initially came out.

HEAVY MAKEUP: While performing "We Had Enough" Jaded looks like trouble; shrouded in the dark, dimly lit fog-filled stage, the singer cracking whips, jerking back quickly from the microphone while the band is rocking hard. They look like glam rock outlaws. With that said, compared to the fictional band how would you describe Split Sydney's onstage persona?

Chris DeLisa: We were more raw edge like I said before and I would classify us closely to Guns N Roses. We wore jeans, t-shirts, bandanas, we had no makeup, and we had long hair. We weren't glam what so ever. We actually were the opposite and that's why a lot of people liked us because there were a lot of bands that had that look with the makeup and stuff. We weren't doing that we were just totally more about the music. However, we did have a big stage show. We had lights, bombs, and flames. It was one of the most amazing shows that were actually in a club. We had like ten thousand watts of lights and flames that shot up to eight feet high on each side of the drum riser. I remember feeling the heat off of the flames and we had a licensed pyrotechnic do the bombs on stage, so our shows were unbelievable. I mean for a club it was as if we were playing Madison Square. I mean it was an insane show with lights and sounds. The cost was probably twelve or thirteen hundred for us but we were making good money at that time. But yea the band was more raw edge and not so glam and it was more about the music and stage show rather than an image.

HEAVY MAKEUP: How did you get involved with Sabian Cymbals?

Chris DeLisa: I was actually working on 48th Street at a famous music store called Manny's Music. The store opened in the 50s and Hendrix, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin shopped there. It was probably the most iconic music shop in the world. A friend got me a job down there and I worked there for two years on 48th Street Music Row. It is gone now because they knocked it all down. Sadly, the entire block and everything are gone. While I was working there I got a call from a friend that said Sabian needs a rep. So I started out as a West Coast rep and ended up getting a job with them and was the regional manager for ten years. I was able to do clinic tours with a lot of famous drummers such as Neal Peart of Rush whose drum set was all over Canada and Western U.S., Ray Luzier of Korn, and Todd Sucherman of Styx. I became really good friends with those guys so it was a fantastic job. I would travel all over the West Coast.

Young Chris DeLisa and His Kit

You can read the complete Chris DeLisa Interview and Neon Maniacs - Cult Movie Review in HEAVY MAKEUP: A Book about Camp that Rocks! The 80's Volume One set for release Dec. 2019 -Jan. 2020.