Suzanne Hockstein (vocals) and Richard Hockstein (guitar) have been writing and playing music in bars and clubs around NYC for many years and for some reason still seem to like it. They've hit all the usual suspects CBGB's, The Cat Club, The Bitter End, Kenny's Castaways, The Continental, The C Note, Don Hill's and countless others many of which have faded into the misty purgatory known as the NY real estate market. They have also played many notable outer boro spots such as the An Beal Bocht Cafe in the Bronx , the late lamented Freddy's in Brooklyn and have even ventured upstate on occasion.
Their more notable groups over the years have included Cult Failure, When Worlds Collide and currently Seeing Voices. Their music has been described as blues tinged psychedelic rock or even Blondie meets the Yardbirds.
Suzanne has a strong melodic voice, an engaging stage presence and a deep often introspective lyrical sensibility. Richard wears his blues/rock influences squarely on his sleeve and strongly believes in little amps turned up loud.
They reside in the Bronx with a large household of 19 warm and cold blooded creatures, 16 of which are non-human and fortunately not very large.
Steve Giordano - Bass, Vocals
Way back in the late 70's, at the tender age of 16, Steve Giordano started playing bass in all the clubs on that well known strip of Bleecker St. in Greenwich Village with characters like David Peel and the Lower East Side, "Tuneful" June Dafgard, Terry Mann, and harmonica/vocalist supreme, the late "Motor City" James. Many legendary characters dropped in to do guest spots like Buzzy Lindhardt, Tuli Kupferberg (of the Fugs), Maruga (Santana), Steve Martin (The Left Banke) and Les Braunstein (Blue Oyster Cult). Steve is on 3 David Peel records which he sometimes finds in the bins at Beatlefest conventions. One of them also features Wayne Kramer from the MC5, another had Les Fradkin of Beatlemania. After several years of playing blues, folk, and 60's rock tunes, he formed his own punk/new wave band called "Teenage Furniture" and wrote hits like "You're So Dead", "I Hate Flowers" and the classic punk rock love song "I'm Gonna Kill My Dog" They played at all the hip places like Max's Kansas City, CBGB, Great Gildersleeves, Trax, and many others. After Steve left, they released a record (on vinyl baby!) as "Glory" which didn't make much of a splash.
In his next band he combined his electronics skills with his musical talent in a band with only two members, called One Plus One. The singer/guitarist was another alumnus of Max's and Gildersleeves, Bug Esposito, of Moonbeam fame. Terra Blues mainstay Michael Powers is the other former guitarist from Moonbeam. One plus One released a vinyl EP and got some radio airplay and were written up in Musician magazine among many others. In following years Steve played in a full sized band with Bug and several others, it was called Inner Exit. An excellent CD was recorded but never released.
Some R&B followed, playing with Joy Ryder, the goddess of blue eyed soul. And a stint with Valerie and the Vikabillies, including recordings produced by Popa Chubby and then Genya Ravan (Ten Wheel Drive).
In the late 90's, Steve got together with ex-Teenage Furniture guitarist Mark Westin, and drummer Chuck Black to form Tiny Rhino, a twisted, balls-out rock trio that shined a dark light on the grimy underside of society, the media, and romance. They released a 4 song CD containing their hits "The Naked Houseboy" and "Pickin’ Up Chicks at the Crate and Barrel". Steve and Mark also collaborated on 3 film soundtracks, one of which was featured at the Telluride film festival, another received multiple Emmy nominations.
After gigging and recording blues with Blue Rooster Pie, classic rock with “Just Some Guys from Jersey” and “Jimbeau and the Retrocasters”, and prog-rock with “Drift”, Steve started a classic rock band called Hired Guns, featuring the incomparable Victoria Warne on guitar and vocals. Steve and his drum buddy George Schaeffer are the rhythm section for singer/songwriter/guitar shredder Paul Gargiulo. In his spare time, he composes and records techno electronic trance music. A CD of recordings spanning the last 2 decades will be released soon. Steve has gigged with drummer Tommy Price (Joan Jett) and jammed with Ace Frehley (Kiss) but has not heard from them lately.
Joe Guzzardo - Drums
Joe Guzzardo has been playing with Seeing Voices for most of the 21st century. He is originally from the great but mysterious boro of Queens where he learned to play drums in the attic of his ancestral home. Joe is fluent in rock, jazz, pop, latin and hip hop styles and has an excellent sense of dynamics. Somehow he can make the band sound huge even in some of the smaller venues you find in NY without blowing everyone out the doors. Joe practices law by day and drums by night and lives in the wilds of Long Island with his gorgeous wife and 3 lovely and energetic female offspring.