JUSTIN FIUTEM - drums
Justin began admiring music and especially the sound of drums early in life and began playing the instrument at age 10. Initially, Justin taught himself how to play drums by watching and listening to many of his favorite bands and drummers. He began playing in an original three-piece rock group called Leviathan at age 13 and played his first gig at the age 16. Justin also played in his high school’s drum line.
In 1993, Justin met up with three other musicians at The Ohio University and formed an original hard rock band called Sativa. Sativa recorded 3 full-length CD’s and opened for national acts such as Poison, Dokken, Cinderella, Slaughter, and Anthrax. The band took their project to Orlando in 2000 for further opportunities until finally ending their long run in 2004-2005. Upon moving back to Ohio from Florida, Justin had the opportunity of either taking lessons with or attending master classes from many of his favorite drumming influences and heroes (i.e. Dave Weckl, Steve Smith, Horacio Hernandez, Jo Jo Mayer, Todd Sucherman, Virgil Donati, Keith Carlock, Chris Coleman, Jason Bittner, Cleveland’s Billy Coakley, Thomas Lang, and many others). Justin auditioned for Victory Hwy in 2007 and got the gig. He has continued to drive the rhythm for this very talented group of musicians. When not playing with Victory Hwy, Justin and Mike Solarz (the bass player for Victory Hwy) play in another band together called Mother Ale (the guitar player in Mother Ale is from Justin’s original band Sativa). |
JUSTIN'S OTHER PROJECT WHEN HE'S NOT GIGGING WITH VICTORY HIGHWAY.......
