Being Tarantino

The name Being Tarantino has deep family roots. The surname Tarantino—his father’s mother’s maiden name—became the nickname for songwriter Joey “Tarantino,” and eventually inspired the project’s name. Joey cut his teeth in the late ’90s as the guitarist for the industrial rock band Black Metal Box. Based in the metro NYC scene, they were a fixture at legendary venues like the Batcave and the Limelight, sharing stages with heavyweights such as Marilyn Manson, Nitzer Ebb, and the Genitorturers. Around the same time, he also took on bass duties for 16Volt during their LetDownCrush tour. In the late ’90s and early 2000s, Joey teamed up with his longtime friend John Seput to launch the raw industrial rock project Murder Dance Klick. After years in the vault, Sun Serpent Records finally released their full-length album Burn My World in 2016. The record is still streaming today on Apple Music and Spotify. Fresh off that release, Joey dove into solo recording. Out of those sessions, Being Tarantino was born. In 2024, he unveiled the project’s debut: a sharp, four-song EP simply titled One.