The Amazing Story of Harmonie Park Creative Group

If every day is a winding road, the days and nights of Harmonie Park heads Mark and Brian Pastoria must be a mangled mass of dangerous curves; but when viewed from afar, it all looks like one straight, true, concrete highway.
The history of Harmonie Park begins with the dreams of six young men, all friends from elementary school to high school. Brian and Mark Pastoria, Jimmy and Mike Romeo, Bruce Schafer and a guy named Flash (now known as Mike Haggerty) began their rock and roll dreams in the mid-seventies with the help of lead singer David Larson in their first band, Adrenalin.
Adrenalin created a huge buzz among fans and the music industry alike, as well as quickly earning the respect of musicians such as Bob Seger and the most "rock and roll" rock band of all time, Aerosmith. They continually won awards throughout the late '70s and well into the '80s when Marc Gilbert joined the band and were getting radio airplay across the country. Their albums boasted true rock hits like "Angel In The Day," "Faraway Eyes," and "Road Of The Gypsy," a song featured in the blockbuster film, Iron Eagle. Adrenalin was even in rotation when MTV was still a fledgling station that actually played music videos.
But don't think that Adrenalin was all about 15 minutes of fame or even the kind over-the-top decadence that had such a mean grasp on the '80s. They also gave of their time and talent to organizations such as the Wayne State FM station, WDET, Mother Waddles, and the Missing Children's Center in Southeast Texas. As you will see, this kind of caring attitude never stopped for these men and is now a part of Harmonie Park.
It has been said that adversity makes the soul stronger, that a victory easily won is not a victory at all. By the end of Adrenalin's run as a band, the members had coped with the suicide of their original lead singer, David Larson; they had dealt with the sting of being dropped by Polygram and the mid-'80s collapse of MCA records; they stood tall and never gave up, even when Rockshire records failed.
"Through all of this," remembers Brian Pastoria, "we never considered packing it in. We believed in what we were doing... Giving up was not an option."
This attitude followed the Pastoria brothers and the Romeo brothers in the formation of a new band, DC Drive. With the addition of Doug Kahan on bass and Joey Bowen on vocals, DC Drive picked up right where Adrenalin left off: as the reigning kings of Detroit rock. They debuted by warming up for Cheap Trick in front of 50,000 screaming fans and stole the show.
During all of these changes, the band realized that they wanted to record and produce themselves. They had the experience, the talent, and it just seemed logical. "With a $125,000 recording budget, you can pay per diems (to studios on the East or West Coast) or buy the equipment (yourself)," reasoned Brian Pastoria.
DC Drive took out a long-term lease on an abandoned building in downtown Detroit on Macomb St. and began turning another dream into action. Band members gutted the building, added heat and running water and promptly moved in, much with the same can-do spirit that drove Berry Gordy to create a recording dynasty with Motown. They called the newborn company PR Music.
The band was soon rewarded for their efforts with a recording deal from Capital-EMI of Canada and began working with famed hard-rock producer, Vini Poncia. The result was a self-titled disk full of rock and soul. As bassist Doug Kahan so gracefully put it, "Imagine the MC5 in bed with the Supremes."
The album and the single, "You Need Love," were a success across the Motor City and in Canada. In 1993, DC Drive and PR Music garnered many awards and much recognition, including seven nominations and four awards including Best Rock Group and Best Single ("You Need Love") at the Motor City Music Awards. All through this tremendous success, a new sun had been rising for the Pastorias: in October of 1992, over fifty musicians from different walks of life and different musical styles gathered at PR Music to create a historic recording.
This new record that highlighted area musicians such as Sun Messengers, Skeleton Crew, the Howling Diablos, the Blues Disciples featuring Motor City blues queen, Thornetta Davis, and, of course, DC Drive was called Christmas In Detroit. This record would be different from all of the others. It's sentiment was, as always, of hope, but this time, the hope would be spread around, in that all proceeds were to be donated to the Dream Fund and Lakeshore Optimist Club, an advocate of children, where the money was then directed toward local scholarship funds and poverty assistance programs. Struck by what had become the familiarity of the disenfranchised hanging about their studios on Macomb St., DC Drive took the initiative to do something positive in response.
It was said that this record was made "for the people... by the people." In some cases, it was made by the most unlikely of people. For example, young Tramaine Gandy, only 11 years old, provided the surprisingly mature "Someday at Christmas." Even Free Press columnist Mitch Albom got in on the act. All of these elements, powerful when separate, unstoppable when brought together, combined to make Christmas In Detroit a success and even spawned a sequel, Christmas In Detroit, Too. Once again, the Romeos and the Pastorias had put a dream into action.
During this whirlwind of activity, DC Drive was shelved and PR Music took off as Harmonie Park Creative Group. In another visionary move, Mark found another abandoned building on Randolph St. This particular building was over 100 years old and had been empty and devoid of life for thirty years. The new company moved again. The three story building was outfitted with a restaurant on the ground floor, and offices on the second. The third floor became a place of volatile creative energy: a recording studio with state-of-the-art equipment and cutting edge technology. It is a sharply designed studio that has drawn praise from top producers such as Vini Poncia (KISS), Ron Nevison (Led Zeppelin, The Who), and musician's such as Carlos Alomar (David Bowie) and Detroit's own alternative rockers, Sponge.
Mark and Brian Pastoria began to focus more on other people's musical endeavors, especially television and radio commercials. Business began booming right away for Harmonie Park as Mark Pastoria put his sharp songwriting skills in high gear and began produced hits for Detroit Edison, "E=DTE," and the Metropolitan Detroit Convention and Visitor's Bureau's theme, "It's A Great Time In Detroit." From there, they saw an open market for music in advertising. They made it their mission to craft what Mark called "one-minute songs, not jingles." Mark and Brian knew the power that music can carry and proved it to every one of their customers. Harmonie Park's most recent artist projects have been local soul-man, Michael Brock, and Alto Reed, famed sax man of Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band. Radio station WDXG (105.1, The Edge) even brings in two national performers a month to record, play on the air, and perform live for audiences lucky enough to win entry.
Harmonie Park has quickly progressed from an abandoned building that no one wanted to the gem of the downtown area. Their presence has brought about a renaissance for the area with the opening of Harmonie Pointe Grille, Nick Apone's beautiful Intermezzo Ristorante, and the newly refurbished Hunter House Hamburgers. HPCG's talent as musicians and community advocates is an achievement in itself. The Harmonie Park area has become a magnet for Detroit's business leaders, attracting Forbes and the Gem Theater, Mike Ilitch, and Solomon Friedman Advertising. Within a few years, the list of major attractions in the Harmonie Park area will blossom: in an area of just a few blocks, visitors to Detroit will be able to hear music coming from the Opera House and the remodeled DAC Music Hall. They will be able to attend events at two brand new sports arenas. They will be able to try their luck at any of the three downtown casinos. Obviously, the Pastoria's sense of vision is anything but short-sighted. They took the risk, and others have followed.
As one can easily see, the days of Mark and Brian Pastoria have been winding roads, leading them to places they may have never expected. Let it be known though, that they were always behind the wheel and in full control of their vehicle.