Adrenaline Mob's Pero is king of the road

Adrenaline Mob drummer AJ Pero is the band’s “enforcer”, according to singer Russell Allen.

The frontman says Pero is a pleasure to spend time with on the road and that he’s impressed everyone involved with the group since he took over from Mike Portnoy.

Twisted Sister drummer Pero is joined in supergroup Adrenaline Mob by Symphony X’s Allen, guitarist Mike Orlando and bass player Erik Leonhardt.

Allen tells JoeDaly.net: “AJ is the kind of guy who you just love to be on tour with. Let’s put it this way, he’s been around forever, he’s played bigger shows than anybody that’s ever been in our band.

“Twisted Sister was a huge, huge act and they still play headlining festivals in Europe. At the end of our shows, do you know what he’s doing? He’s helping the local crews load the trailer. That’s AJ Pero. There’s no rock star shit with him, he’s a man’s man, he’s a hard-working guy and I’ve got nothing but respect for him.

“He brings that sort of attitude on the road. So nothing really gets to him. Nothing gets him down that he’s such a rock in so many ways. He’s my enforcer — he makes it happen.”

Pero’s attitude is also rubbing off on Allen, the singer says.

He adds: “I’ve learned a lot from him and he teaches me to be patient, which is not always easy in this life and especially in this business. He’s a tough son of a bitch. I wouldn’t mess with him, but he’s a sweetheart of a guy and we have a lot of laughs. All in all, he’s an amazing asset and amazing addition.”

Adrenaline Mob brought in Leonhardt last year to replace John Moyer. The band will release third album Dearly Departed on February 9 via Century Media.

DEARLY DEPARTED TRACKLIST

Snortin’ Whiskey (Pat Travers) 2. Dearly Departed (Edit) 3. The Devil Went Down To Georgia (Charlie Daniels Band) 4. Crystal Clear (acoustic) 5. Sabbath Medley (Black Sabbath) 6. Whatever Gets You Through The Night (previously unreleased) 7. Angel Sky (acoustic) 8. All On The Line (acoustic) 9. Tie Your Mother Down (Queen)

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.