Fatso Jetson

Biography

Fatso Jetson formed in the wee hours of 1994 after Tony Tornay, and cousins Mario and Larry Lalli spent way too much time together playing pool, drinking shitty beer and watching TV in the after-hours at Mario and Larry’s nightclub, "Rhythm & Brews". They decided that since they already played the appropriate instruments, their time would be better spent playing music instead of eternally making double-or-nothing bets on a crummy pool table and watching History Channel documentaries.

After cobbling together 9 or 10 songs (and coming up with a name that references an old Ingmar Bergman film character) they played their first show in September 1994, opening for former Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn. On the basis of this show, Ginn decided he wanted to release an album with the band on his SST Records imprint. The band then went on to play as many shows as possible including a tour with fellow desert dwellers Kyuss.

Then, in August 1995, Fatso Jetson’s first record Stinky Little Gods was released. Just over 2 years later in November 1997, the band released their second full-length opus Power Of Three, again on SST featuring the band's first collaboration with Vince Meghrouni. It was around this time that the band hooked up with Brant Bjork (ex-Kyuss, ex-Fu Manchu kinsman) who played rhythm guitar. Brant stayed in this capacity until touring with Fu Manchu forced him to leave the band, though he did appear on two 7″ releases, one of them a split with The Bloodshot, and the other a split with Fu Manchu.

In late 1997 Fatso Jetson started to look for another record label and found themselves in the company of Bongload Custom Records. In April 1998, Tony, Mario, and Larry entered Monkey Studios in Palm Springs to record their third full-length offering for Bongload. The album they came up with is Toasted, produced by Chris Goss (Masters Of Reality, Desert Sessions).

Around this time famed artist Frank Kozik asked the band to record a record for his now legendary "Mans Ruin Records". In August 1998 the band re-entered Goss’ Monkey Studios to lay down the tracks for a record that would eventually become "Flames For All". Long-time Lalli collaborator Gary Arce joined the band as a rhythm guitarist for a tour with Queens Of The Stone Age and continued to play with the band for a European tour an appearance at the Dynamo Festival in Holland and an appearance at SXSW in Austin, in 1999 until he finally departed in April 2000.

Amidst all of this activity, Fatso Jetson also contributed to The Desert Sessions releases. The Desert Sessions were the brainchild of Josh Homme (Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age). He organized these recordings bringing desert musicians, outsiders, freaks, and other creative like-minded rock musicians together to collaborate. At these sessions Mario Lalli co-wrote two songs with Homme ("You Think I Ain’t Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like A Millionaire" and "Monster in the Parasol") these would eventually make their way on to the Queens of the Stone Age albums 'Rated R' and 'Songs for the Deaf'. All three members contributed music to other tracks that would find their way onto 'Desert Sessions' records.

In 2000 Fatso Jetson headed back into the studio to record their fifth full-length studio album Cruel & Delicious. Recorded in Silver Lake, California at Donner and Blitzen Studios with Earthlings and Twilight Singers collaborator Mathias Schneeberger. The album was subsequently released on Josh Homme’s Rekords Rekords in November of 2002. At this point, Fatso Jetson quieted down for a few years.

The permanent members Mario, Tony, and Larry had found themselves living in different cities with other obligations taking over their time. They consistently played regional shows and spent time in various studios recording but it would be a few years before any new music would come to light. In 2007 the band joined full-time by Vince Meghrouni playing multiple instruments and singing, released Live, as well as the name implies, a live record recorded in their adopted hometown of Los Angeles and released on Cobraside Records.

2010 saw the release of Archaic Volumes again on Cobraside Records with subsequent EU and US tour dates with Oaks Mary and The Atomic Bitchwax including sold-out performances at The Roadburn Festival and Stoned From The Underground Festival.

In 2013 Fatso Jetson was joined by Dino Lalli (Mario’s son) and released a Split 12" record with fellow desert dwellers Yawning Man and headed out for an EU tour to promote it, including sold-out co-headlining performances at both DesertFest London and Berlin.

Tony spent a few months at the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014 recording and touring with childhood friend Brant Bjork on his project “Brant Bjork And The Low Desert Punk Band”. They hit Australia, America, and Europe before Tony bowed out to re-focus on Fatso Jetson. 2014 has seen the band playing festival shows and some regional touring while being featured on the Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways documentary.

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