Main Street Magazine Ten Miles of Venus Modern Rock with Poetic Origins By Sean Casement A few years ago, Stuart and Reginald Bragg were playing dance music under the name of the The Bragg Brothers. The Bragg Brothers opened for Expose, Sweet

By Sean Casement

A few years ago, Stuart and Reginald Bragg were playing dance music under the name of the The Bragg Brothers. The Bragg Brothers opened for Expose, Sweet Sensation and George Lamond, all of which play Top 40 dance music. They were building a following and performing in some packed clubs. “But there wasn’t were our heart was,” Stuart explained. “Our heart was in rock and roll, and we had management that was trying to take us in more along the pop market. We were much more interested in playing solid rock.” The inevitable demise of The Bragg Brothers followed and Ten Miles of Venus was born.

TMOV derived their name from a book of poetry (author and location unknown), when they formed slightly over a year ago. The four-member modern rock band is Stuart Bragg (vocals), his brother Reginald Bragg (guitar), Johnny Trauma (bass) and Leszek (Alex) Mroz (drums). TMOV’s sound continues to evolve as a blending of ‘80s-style rock (influenced by The Cars and Pink Floyd), with a ‘21st Century edge.

Stuart and Reginald met Johnny while they were performing at a wedding to make extra money. Realizing that weddings were a “dead end,” the three began rehearsing some original music. After rehearsing and recording for three months in a five-foot by five-foot studio in Stuart’s Manhattan apartment, they decided it was time to find a drummer.

After months of placing Village Voice ads and failing to find someone compatible, Stuart reluctantly contacted Alex from an ad placed by him in the Voice. They immediately “hit off” and TMOV was completed. Alex, originally from Poland, came to the US (the NYC Metropolitan area in particular) to pursue a career in music.

Three of the four members of TMOV (Johnny, Stuart and Reginald) are local to NYC, so they are always working on generating a fan base there and have built their mailing list to around 500 in the Tri-State area (growing 75-100 with each show). TMOV continues to build a following in NYC, with regular performances at well-known clubs CBGB’s and Elbow Room.

Alex resides in Connecticut and has been very thorough with publicity here, resulting in recent opening act performances at Toad’s Place in New Haven and Danbury’s Texedo Junction. TMOV has also been interviewed by collage radio stations WXCI (West Conn) and WRIU (University of Rhode Island).

TMOV has been actively seeking any form of publicity, and realizes that it’s a necessity to achieve continued success. Most bands have difficulty signing with a major record label, especially when they are relatively new like TMOV. Without a label, bands typically can’t produce a quality CD.

TMOV appears to be the exception, however, because of the connections Stuart and Reginald have made at work. Stuart works for a CD manufacturer (Europa Disc) and has access to a “myriad of talented people” to help produce it. In addition, they have provided assistance with mastering time and a “generous” price reduction.

Reginald manages a rehearsal studio and as a result, he interacts with many bands and their management on a daily basis. TMOV is also able to use the facility for their weekend practice sessions.

The live performance at the “Toads Place” showed a vast improvement from TMOV’s five-song demo CD which was produced earlier.

Without altering their overall style, TMOV’s new songs (as performed at the Toad’s show) incorporate many of these elements. The guitar and bass are more distinctive with a faster tempo. There is also more diversity and energy in their music, and they play very tight as a band. The overall sound and range of the vocals is also strong, but TMOV should lay off the vocals slightly to feature the instrumentals more throughout their songs.

TMOV’s new CD will consist of approximately 10 songs which are currently being performed live: “Mountain”- about a friend that got trapped in a cave while climbing a mountain, “Alive”- about a crazy ex-girlfriend,“ Unwind”- unemployed brother prior to present job, “Chemical”- an ex-girlfriend (different) with a drug problem, “Mary”- a friend pursuit of a girl that’s not interested, “Superstition”- man’s (politician) efforts thinking they can save the world by themselves, and “Mighth long time”- a reggae groove with a catchy beat. It has a different style from the rest of TMOV’s music.