Metal Mavens in Our Backyard

Heavily pierced and tattooed guitarist, Nikki Misery, greets Palisades’ favorite Lenny’s Deli customers with a friendly face. Occasionally gifting young customers with quarters, Misery enthusiastically informs diners and celebrities, some of whom include Adam Sandler, of his metal band, Stitched-Up Heart. 

Created in October of 2010, alternative metal band Stitched Up Heart has been climbing the metal charts and is currently placed at an influential fourth place on popular music promotional site ReverbNation.

With solid guitar riffs from Mikey Alfero and Misery, robust rhythmic patterns from drummer Andrew Carroll, an advantageous and strong performance from guest bassist Charlie Conley, and with the soaring yet gritty vocals of female lead singer Mixi Demner, Stitched Up Heart offers an impressive performance.

Compared to top-charting bands Bullet for my Valentine and Evanescence, Stitched Up Heart embraces the heaviness of electrifying tones and mixes in underlying religious lyrics to formulate an undeniably demanding sound. 

Stemming from “the tearing ends of five different groups,” Demmer, Alfero, Misery, Carroll and ex-bassist Dave DiSarro joined to create Stitched Up Heart. The band was named by Demmer, who thought of the effeminate title when attending church, she said.

“I felt like something inside of me was being stitched-up and my heart was opening up to something new,” Demner said.

Referring to their band name, Misery explained the band’s dynamics.

“We’re all like a Frankenstein of sorts,” Misery said, “Everybody’s really different.  We just come together with explosions of energy and madness on stage.”

“It’s like ‘sewn-together band,’” Alfero said. “It really works when you think about it.”

The band draws inspiration from all sorts of musicians including The Perfect Victim, Denny Elfman, Tom Waits, Black Label Society and Pantera.

“As far as newer stuff goes, we like Under Oath, As I Lay Dying, and Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. They’re kind of like southern metal,” said Carroll, the drummer.

The rockers recently returned from gracing the stages of annual music and film festival, South by Southwest. 

“There are musicians and music everywhere you go,” Misery said. “We got to play our set and then we would just pack up our stuff, pull out our acoustics and go play in the streets.  Everything we did was just constant music and it was so cool being surrounded by that.”

The band lost their original bassist, DiSarro, during a tour in New Orleans. Bassist Charlie Conley substituted for their April 9 show at Bar Sinister.  After learning the set in two days, Conley carried out a well-executed performance.

Stitched-Up Heart has recorded two melodious yet accelerated songs called “We’re Alive” and “Is This The Way You Get To Hell?” They hope to have an album out in May 2011.

“We’re going to go back in the studio and try to finish an LP,” said Demner.

For more information about Stitched Up Heart click here.