Rockstantinople: Dawn of an Empire

***Rockstantinople: Dawn of an Empire*** is the nineteenth studio album by American rock band All Business, released on August 7, 2020, by All Business LLC and Euphoriaelite Records.

Following the on stage murder of keyboardist Manchester Seuss at the hands of the New York mafia, who the group had become involved with, the remaining fifteen members of All Business promptly left the U.S. for fear of their safety in April, 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite the fact that Covid-19 guidelines restricted travel outside the country at the time, the band illegally fled to Istanbul, where they would set up residence. Only upon arrival did they learn that the FBI had been building up a case against the entire band and were likely to make arrests soon. Thus, the members became accidental fugitives from justice, though Turkey agreed not to extradite them due to their economic hopes in the band. Seven newly recruited Turkish musicians were swiftly added to their roster, with lead guitarist Ted Bundy hoping the "new meat" would help flesh out "that mediterranean sound they love down here". Two of the new members would replace the deceased Seuss and "Dirty" Bo Jones on keyboard and saxophone, respectively, while the female members would replace Lady Simone Augusto on vocal duties as she was busy scouting out locations to construct another opera house.

*Rockstantinople* was All Business's first album to not be released through Epic Records since 1996's Man's Best Friend, as the label had been forced to dropped them by the United States government. It was instead released through the local Euphoriaelite Records, who heavily promoted the release. Critics bashed the album, with them believing its hasty recording had kept the end product from sounding nearly as grand as they intended. Though it saw limited success in the band's home country, *Rockstantinople* was wildly successful in most Eastern European markets. The group would embark on the All Business Empire Eastern European & Asian Tour to promote the album, which lasted from 2021 to 2023. Bassist and federal informant Johnny Law would regularly egg on his bandmates to carry out illegal practices while on tour to help strengthen the FBI's case against the band. This would lead band leader Vernon O'Shaughnessy to start making inflammatory political speeches. One particuarly controversial speech would incite the 2022 Istanbul Riots, which lead to the death of pianist Cleveland Vickers. This would inspire the group to flee Turkey, drop the seven new Turkish members they had added and begin to sale the high seas.

## Personnel

### All Business

* Vernon O’Shaughnessy - lead vocals
* Rolly Rockefeller II - lead vocals
* Lady Simone Augusto - background vocals
* Ted Bundy - lead and rhythm guitars
* Mo Silk - rhythm guitar
* Ernesto - rhythm guitar
* Johnny Law - bass
* The Reverend Archibald - organ
* Cleveland Vickers - piano
* Michael Slammer - drums
* Danny Ingram\* - drums

\* Denotes a returning member

### N/A

* Larry Silk
* Lonnie Joe Parker
* Erman Holt
* Enzo Dodd

## Notes

Larry refuses to leave the country, stating the "Larry fears no man". His house was broken into shortly thereafter.

Enzo nearly goes into witness protection following the shooting of Manchester.

Erman wants to flee the country, but Vernon convinces him to stay in America, saying that he has to be strong. Erman is later jumped in an alley