After four long years of working with Bang Tango on the documentary Attack Of Life: The Bang Tango Movie, filmmaker Drew Fortier has now become a member of Bang Tango.

Drew screened the film in Chicago, IL in April, with the band in attendance. It went incredibly well. Then for fun, Drew played rhythm guitar with Bang Tango for their whole set at their Chicago gig. The band really enjoyed having a second guitarist, especially lead player Rowan Robertson who truly appreciated having a rhythm guitar underneath what he loves doing.

Then that Friday morning, Bang Tango vocalist Joe Leste called Drew and told him the band would love to have him come out to the M3 Festival, which was the next day. So enthusiastically, Drew jumped into a rental car and drove 12 hours straight to Maryland.

Speaking exclusively to BraveWords, Drew Fortier recalls the gig as "Absolutely surreal! Everyone really enjoyed the two guitar punch. After all, Bang Tango is a two-guitar band, so it was a return to form in a way. But man, it was absolutely insane, after four years of making a movie on Bang Tango, and being able to play with them, has been the most amazing experience. What a way to cap off this whole thing. And I can't thank Rowan, Joe, Timmy, and Lance enough for giving me this opportunity to be apart of something that means the world to me. It has been an honor to perform with such great friends and talented musicians. I am flattered and humbled by the whole experience, and I am looking forward to the future gigs with them, which includes the Cathouse Live Festival at Irvine Meadows in California on August 15th.

And as for the movie, expect more test screenings to pop up around the country, and distribution offers have been coming in; hopefully the film should be available before the end of the year."

Listen to an audio interview with Drew Fortier and Joe Leste (via the YouTube clip below) conducted by Fishman of Toxic Radio, at the M3 Rock Festival.

To read BraveWords scribe Aaron Small's review of the Bang Tango Movie, click here.

(Top photo courtesy of Mike Ellis, bottom photo courtesy of Joel Walter)