The boss, Chris Farinas, forwarded me an artist for North Jersey Notes recently, and I’m glad that he did—Erik LeCar, to me, could be one of North Jersey’s best kept secrets. What a talent this kid is! He’s currently heading up a project called Yellow Light out of Hoboken, NJ. I only received one song in my email to listen to called “Amen,” and I have to say that it was an eclectic combination of unbelievable sounds and grooves. Erik used some distortion on his vocals that gave him the Ministry ambience, but he had the soul of Lenny Kravitz. The music is just simply fun to listen to and is being categorized as art rock, which I also found interesting—a new genre in music!
Erik LeCar, a North Bergen native, began playing the piano at the young age of nine. He began writing his songs soon after, which led to many television appearances, newspaper reviews, songwriting competitions, and recitals. As a teenager, Erik gave up on the classical stuff and turned to the dark side joining many rock bands as a keyboardist, bassist, singer, rhythm guitarist, and he even played drums. He gained his studio experience by doing many studio sessions, which gave him a strong feel and sense of different styles and instruments. In 2006, Erik began traveling and scouring the U.S. to find musicians that really got where he was going with his personal project, Yellow Light. In 2008, Yellow Light released their debut CD, Hello, which Erik wrote, performed, and produced on his check-to-check budget working at a retail day job, proving that music can be distributed independently and freely.
Now, I’m not sure when Yellow Light is playing next because there are no live dates listed on their site, but I do know that Erik is hard at work on pre-production on his next CD, Lonely Planet. He is shooting to record the CD in the dead of winter later this year. For more info on Erik and his project Yellow Light, log onto myspace.com/yellowlight. This stuff is very cool and you won’t regret giving it a listen!
NORTH JERSEY NOTES UPDATES:
My bud Matty Z seems to be pretty busy these days. He’s been juggling double duty between his own band, Matty Z And The Brawlers, and his other project, the Road Zombies. Matty spent a whole week recording for both bands. For the Road Zombies, they will be releasing a three-song demo, while Matty Z And The Brawlers will be releasing a brand new EP. No word on a release date for either of these recordings yet, but you can log onto each band’s MySpace page for more info. They are myspace.com/theroadzombies and myspace.com/mattyz.
I’ve been getting hints dropped to me about this band Incognito Theory. Well, hints only from singer Dave Incognito, himself, and guitarist Ronnie Blakkfoxx that is. In fact, I was even on tap to maybe play bass for the band. Only problem is the band has been in seclusion. Does this band really even exist? Well, you can find out tonight, July 22, on 89.5 WSOU, as there will be an interview with singer Dave Incognito along with a few tracks from Incognito Theory played on the air. If you want to find out more about Incognito Theory, log onto myspace.com/incognitotheory.
And finally, my brothers from the band Rahway did something really cool recently. They performed in front of thousands of people in Times Square in NYC for a Republican Rally, which is now being called a Tea Party named after the infamously historical Boston Tea Party. Republicans around the country are throwing these to protest our recent socialist government. Sorry, I don’t mean to get political on you, I just wanted to mention that what Rahway did was pretty cool. They got to perform a song called “Citizen Again,” which was written by one of the Tea Party promoters, and they will be recording the song for a future release. You can see the video of Rahway performing at the Tea Party by logging onto myspace.com/rahway or teaparty365.org.
That’s all for now! And remember, if your band is from North Jersey, and you want some exposure, send your demos and press kits to Arts Weekly, c/o Tim Louie P.O. Box 1140 Little Falls, NJ 07424. No cover bands, please!
Just remember….We’re all in the same boat, so every little bit of exposure counts!
NJN Concert Calendar:
7/23—Steve Brown—Firehouse, Rahway, NJ
7/23—DJ Cloak Dagger/Marc Rizzo—Fat Baby, NYC
7/24—Downshallow—The Cup Complex, Linden, NJ
7/25—Steve Brown and the Fallout—Shannon Rose, Clifton, NJ
7/25—Diablo Royale—Dublin Pub, New Hyde Park, NY
7/25—A True Story—Grasshopper Off the Green, Morristown, NJ
7/27—Diablo Royale—Arlene’s Grocery, NYC
7/29—Steve Brown—The Copper Bottom, Florida, NY
7/30—DJ Cloak Dagger/Marc Rizzo—Fat Baby, NYC
7/30—Steve Brown—The Forge, Ringwood, NJ
7/31—Rahway—The Cup Complex, Linden, NJ
8/1—Echofission—Crash Mansion, NYC
8/1—Charetta—Six Flags Geat Adventure, Jackson, NJ
8/1—With Daggers Drawn—Fontana’s, NYC
8/1—Joey Belladonna/Infernophonic—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
8/1—Anaka—Ace of Clubs, NYC
8/1—Will Killmore—North Brunswick American Legion, North Brunswick, NJ
8/2—Diablo Royale—Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson, NJ
8/2—Mean Venus/Ratt/Extreme—Crocodile Rock, Allentown, PA
8/3—Diablo Royale—Arlene’s Grocery, NYC
8/6—Twice—The 76 House, Tappan, NY
8/8—With Daggers Drawn—Don Hill’s, NYC
8/8—Charetta—The Point, Bronx, NY
8/8—Diablo Royale—Crash Mansion, NYC
8/8—Atom Strange—Dewey’s Pub, Seymour, CT
8/8—Downshallow—Nyack Village Theater, Nyack, NY
8/10—Diablo Royale—Arlene’s Grocery, NYC
