On August 5th, the punk world mourned the loss of Tony Costanza, the original drummer for Machine Head, who also cut his teeth playing with acts like Crisis and Crowbar. Who passed away aged 52.
Costanza’s death was confirmed by former Crisis bandmate, Afzaal Nasiruddeen, who shared a lengthy tribute to the late drummer.
“It is with a very heavy heart that I have to accept and inform everyone concerned that I lost my brother, band mate, home boy and family today,” Nasiruddeen wrote.
“Tony Costanza was one of a kind. A man with a huge heart, love and loyalty for the ones close to him. I cannot relate to this reality of loss yet. I know he had a lot of admirers, and I was one of his biggest. He would have literally taken a bullet for me. That’s the kind of gangster brother he was.”
Costanza joined Machine Head back in 1991, and played for them during their first-ever shows. The musician contributed drum parts for several cuts that ended up on the band’s 1994 debut, Burn My Eyes.
Before his time in Machine Head, Costanza fronted the band Papsmear. Later, he joined acts like Crisis, Debris Inc and Crowbar. Performing drums on Crowbar’s 2001 record, Sonic Excess in Its Purest Form.
Nasiruddeen has launched a GoFundMe page, to help raise funds for his family to cover the musician’s funeral expenses.
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“This GoFundMe page is to cover Tony Costanza’s funeral expenses,” a description for the fundraiser reads. “All proceeds will go directly to Tony’s mother, Denise Costanza and this page is being started by me with her full blessing. Please donate as much or as little as you can afford for a legendary underground musician who lived and breathed heavy music. Anyone who knew Tony knows that he was the real deal OG and Tony stood by his strong beliefs.”
You can donate here.
