Andre Comeau

Comeau was lead vocalist of the New York/New Jersey based hard-rock band Reigndance, which also featured future Queens of the Stone Age/The Dead Weather guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Dean Fertita. After several demo releases, the band released their debut LP Problem Factory in 1993 on Interference Records.[2][3][4][5][6]

After forming in Michigan in the late 80s, the band relocated to New Jersey, when, less than a year later, Comeau was tapped to appear on the first season of MTV's reality series The Real World. Reigndance received massive exposure from their frequent appearances throughout the first season of the show, including being interviewed on-air by Matt Pinfield, but Comeau would later state in interviews that it did not attract the right audience for the band's Grunge-oriented sound.[7] Reigndance released 3 full-length albums before disbanding in 1997. After disbanding, Comeau relocated to Los Angeles and began working in music licensing while continuing to perform in several folk-based projects through the 2000s. Meanwhile, Guitarist Dean Fertita went on to play keyboards and guitar for The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather, and Queens of the Stone Age, performing on the #1 Billboard album ...Like Clockwork.[6][5]

A 2019 article in the STYLE section of The New York Times entitled This Gen X Mess states, "It’s easy to forget that 'The Real World' started out as a documentary — if not an artsy one, at least vaguely art adjacent, with its initial cast members being a dancer, two singers, a rapper, a filmmaker, a poet and, Eric Nies. By modern reality TV standards, it is boring and poorly constructed, but as a document of hot youngs in 1992, it's remarkable. TV may have never seen a better embodiment of Gen X slackerdom than Andre, whose band was called, with utter seriousness, Reigndance."[8]

Comeau said, "Reigndance was really a great band, and we took it up the mountain. I’m extremely proud of everything we did. ‘The Real World’ thing, for a long time, was something I disconnected with, and at the time, it was really its own thing. For a long time, I didn't even talk about it."[6]

After Reigndance disbanded in 1997, Comeau turned his attention to acoustic and folk music, including a long stint in the successful LA folk/rock/americana outfit River Rouge. He then returned to his Hard Rock roots in 2015, when he started writing and demoing electric Rock songs.[6][9]

In 2020, after reconnecting with his friend, music producer, manager, and label executive Thom Hazaert, and his partner David Ellefson of Megadeth, Comeau released the Wrong Within EP via their EMP Label Group, which has achieved success at Rock Radio with the singles "Firebird" and "Son Of A Gun". Comeau has announced several upcoming singles, and a full-length album, also releasing via EMP Label Group in 2021[9][7][6] "I have always been a fan of Andre’s music, which, of course, I discovered through ‘The Real World,’" Hazaert says. "Reigndance was a great rock band, and, from a distance, I have perpetually kept up with his musical endeavors over the years. While we had discussed briefly working together during the early 2000s, which ultimately never came to fruition as he transitioned away from rock for a season, i’m extremely excited that it has come together now the way it has. Andre has always been an extremely gifted songwriter and a true entertainer."[4][10]

On the transition from Rock to folk and back, Comeau states, ""The song is just what it is to me and I don't really write in any particular character or voice. It really, it all depends on the song and whatever that song is calling for. Lately the hard rock has been my direction, so I'm thrilled to be back in that genre." [11]

In April 2020, Comeau performed live on Ellefson and Hazaert's Oh Say Can You Stream fundraiser, to benefit their Ellefson Youth Music Foundation, in conjunction with the Grammy Music Education Coalition, alongside guests including Alice Cooper, Rhett & Link, Nita Strauss, Chris Kael of Five Finger Death Punch, Charlie Benante of Anthrax, Troy Sanders, Rob Caggiano of Volbeat, DMC, and more.[12][13] Comeau also appeared as a guest on the May follow-up broadcast, celebrating legendary Rock photographer Mark "Weissguy" Weiss, and the release of his book The Decade that Rocked, with guests including Zakk Wylde, Nuno Bettencourt, Rudy Sarzo, Dee Snider, and more.[14]

In October 2020, Comeau appeared on the Kiss (band) podcast Three Sides Of The Coin to talk about Wrong Within, being a KISS fan, and his time performing in a Detroit KISS tribute.[15]

Comeau is also a noted music supervisor, working for San Francisco-based music licensing agency Seven Seas Music, founded by Brooke Wentz and Maryam Battaglia, who are also the founders of The Rights Workshop. Comeau also contributed to Wentz and Battaglia's book American Film Market Presents: Music Rights Unveiled: A Filmmaker's Guide to Music Rights and Licensing.[16][17]