Scott Bellina • Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
Scott Bellina was born and raised in the musical and cultural gumbo that is New Orleans, Louisiana. Every aspect of that city’s collective creativity is deeply-rooted into the fabric of his existence. From an early age an innate pre-disposition to the arts, both visual and performing, was exponentially magnified through constant, readily-accesible exposure to big, brassy jazz and the sultry sounds of rhythm n blues — the well-documented recipe that spawned rock n roll. It was, however, another seductive force that would mold his passions for years to come… cable television and the golden age of MTV. By 15, he was steadily building an accomplished resume of directing movies and music videos with kids from the block — eventually fronting a rock band with other like-minded late Gen-Xers across the suburban backyards of middle-class New Orleans.
The son of an opera singer and a self-employed physican, “lead singer” was the obvious reference point. Learning the guitar came only out of necessity for times when there was no band around, but mostly just to impress friends and family members by playing “songs they know by heart”. He acquired just enough of a covers catalog, performing for free booze at college open-mic nights, to last though graduation. He received a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts with a concentration in Graphic Design from Louisiana State University in 1998.
Days later, Scott moved to Dallas, TX, to pursue a budding graphic design career during the height of dot-com mania… only to find more like-minded individuals with musical aspirations that superseded the desire to push pixels in Photoshop and crank out javascript. It was at this time he joined his first bar band — an 8-piece outfit with a 4-part horn section known as “Idiot Box”. Idiot Box was predominantly comprised of graduate members of the SMU Mustang Marching Band — the notion of which seemed daunting from the outset. But for what Scott lacked in music-theory, he compensated in vocal performance and more significantly, in crafting his showmanship. This education would be short-stinted though as career advancements during the dot-com era sent him abroad to London, England — an event that would impact his life forever.
Everything Scott had identified with England as a youth was associated through rock music. The Beatles. The Stones. Led Zeppelin. And in-particular, it’s place in the annals of punk rock. As a college design student in the mid-90s, Scott was required to do a study on “The History of Punk Rock and It’s Influence on Graphic Design”. Already mega-dosing on Bay-area punk rock coming out of Lookout! Records at the time (Operation Ivy, Green Day, Rancid), he dove into this effort maniacally — completely consuming everything and anything related to the infancy of this infectious, yet subversive music. CBGB. The Ramones. Blondie. And above all else, the Sex Pistols. After all, he was an infant himself during their heyday.
Across the pond, the vast sprawl of London brought with it a sense of self-discovery. Scott took to the streets every weekend in search of a more in-depth understanding of punk rock only to find that the most prized collector’s items in the record shops of Portobello Road and Camden Market were the likes of The Meters, Doctor John, and anything that had to do with Allen Toussaint. The irony. Scott’s time in London not only gave him a deeper appreciation of his roots, it also provided the impetus to become a citizen of the world… Hello, New York.
Scott moved to Manhattan in the spring of 2001. His first stage performance as a New York musician came on May 28th, 2003, at the legendary CBGB as rhythm guitarist for the band Napalm Stars with fellow F-Units founder and bassist Tom Meehan. F-Units formed in January of 2004… and the rest, as they say, is rock n roll history.
Scott continues to work as a successful, self-employed Creative Director and Visual Designer for his company, Bellina Creative Design.
Max Holland • Lead Guitar
In 2007, F-Units was a power-punk trio in need of a monster of lead guitarist, and those prayers were answered by then 20-year-old virtuoso Max Holland.
Singer Scott Bellina states, “Max was only asked to learn 3 or 4 songs off of Reject on Impact at his audition. Not only did he come in knowing all 10 songs, he played them 10x’s better than we ever did… adding parts we couldn’t dream of. After awhile, everything we thought about how the band should look or sound went out the window to allow for the space of endless possibility.”
The addition of Max “Mayhem” brought F-Units new stability, and any internal insecurities about the band’s musicianship and attack began to fade. What wasn’t expected was his passionate sense of ownership in the band. His contribution to F-Units’ existing material was immediately felt through a bigger guitar sound and bigger guitar solos. His sheer size alone gave new spectacle to the band’s live show. It was obvious the band was developing into something more profound than founding members Scott Bellina and Tom Meehan had spawned four years prior.
Max brought in songs “Black California”, “Rebel Songs”, “Lipstick Traces”, “Mockstar”, and the epic ballad “When It Snows in April”, and brought his talents to the Bellina-authored tracks “Desperation Road”, “Out of the Ashes”, “You’re Just a Tease”, “So Incognito”, and the revised “Psycho Urgency Rock Addiction”. The two created “Come What Maybe” spontaneously together.
Max is also an exceptional audio-engineer and sound-editor having worked for clients such as ABC, CBS, NBC, The Discovery Channel, E!, HGTV, National Geographic, MTV, VH1, and Versus to name a few.
Tom Meehan • Bass
Born in the suburbs of the insurance mecca of the Midwest, Tom Meehan knew by the early 1980’s that he’d had enough of what his peers considered rock’n’roll the minute he listened to Never Mind The Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols cassette from his brother’s tape box. In 1983, after seeing The Ramones play the downtown Des Moines Holiday Inn, he formed his first hardcore (straight-edge) band with high school friends Andy Levy and Brad “the Rad” Harris called Children of the Corn. COTC enjoyed a three-year stint playing with hardcore legends such as Verbal Assault, The Faction, and Italy’s Raw Power to name a few.
In 1988, he and Levy formed Sham Rock Shakes, releasing a 7″ titled House of Jep on their own label, Final Jeopardy Records, and took to the road on tour to the West Coast in a Toyota Pick-up. The band later changed its name to Total Passover and went on to record Shalom Motherfucker 7″, Eat My Moneymaker CD, Shlomo Rising LP, and ...And Then You Woke Up CD. Total Passover, being one of the few punk bands in the area at the time, shared stages with The Supersuckers, L7, Screeching Weasel, Zeke, the Mono Men, and many other bands touring through the Midwest’s favorite “fly-over” state.
Upon the demise of Total Passover, Tommy joined Des Moines’ only surf band, The Delstars, and continued playing shows in Iowa, Missouri, and Minnesota. After relocating to Minneapolis, Tommy hooked up with local hot-rod rock’n’rollers, The Short Fuses. He played on their CD/LP Get The Hell Down released on Sympathy for the Record Industry records and toured through the South-West United States.
In 2000, Tommy moved to New York City and soon after joined local glam-punks, Napalm Stars. After a few years Tommy and guitarist Scotty decided it was in their best interest to make a break and start fresh with a new band… F-Units.
Davide Loop Filippini • Drums
Davide just joined us all the way from Modena, Italy… his bio is coming soon! Davide comes to us from the Italian hard rock band, Last Stroke.