My bass brother Jorge Avila from BoundAlive hit me up on Facebook recently to see what was going on and he happened to mention a new up-and-coming band that he’s friends with. He warned me that they were still fairly new but he liked their sound. Needless to say, I was curious. So, thanks for the tip, Jorge! Anyway, the name of the band was Apostrophes and I thought that they were pretty damn good for a new band. They reminded me a little bit of Tool. Singer and guitarist Francisco J. Paz had this dark Maynard James Keenan type of vocal style that was almost spine tingling. The songs “Brothers” and “Apostrophes” were pretty well written and showcased some amazing musicianship. I was pretty impressed with this trio from Bloomfield.
After playing in several failed musical projects, Paz grew tired of playing in bands that seemed to quit on themselves for one reason or another, according to their bio. He would always find himself with no songs and no band to help him chase his musical dreams. This is when he realized that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself! Francisco went into hibernation for about a year or so to write some songs of his own and search for musicians that he was more compatible with. He recruited an old friend in drummer Robbie Mendoza, who himself had stopped playing for a few years because he too was sick of the drama that went with playing in bands, but when Francisco came knocking, Robbie was quick to jump aboard. Another old friend named Clauzenei Santos, Jr. came back into the picture as the band’s bassist. Towards the end of 2012, Francisco completed this trio known as Apostrophes.
Apostrophes are currently writing more material with hopes to play out soon so that people can hear their music. I’m sure an EP or a full-length is also in their future. If these guys keep writing the way that they are writing, they may have to change their name from Apostrophes to Exclamation Points. That’s how much I really enjoyed their music! Keep an eye out for these guys in 2013! Check them out online at reverbnation.com/ap0str0phes.
NORTH JERSEY NOTES UPDATES:
The boys from Seas Of Wake are trying to produce their first music video, but they are asking for their fans to help them out. They want to shoot a music video for the song “Dying Of Humanity” from their CD, Virology. In order to do so, they need to raise $3,000 by the first week of March. They’re asking fans to donate whatever they can to help out their cause at kck.st/U2yoFg until Feb. 19. So, go there now to help out a local unsigned band. For more info on Seas Of Wake, log onto reverbnation.com/seasofwake.
My bros from Dead Fish Handshake have a couple of very cool shows coming up! They’ll be performing an acoustic set opening for Live singer Ed Kowalczyk on Jan. 18 at Bergen PAC in Englewood and on Jan. 30, they’ll be opening for the boys of Eye Empire on their return to Jersey at Architekt Music in Butler. For more info on Dead Fish Handshake, log onto reverbnation.com/deadfishhandshake.
And finally, my bros Mikey Meselsohn from Black Water Rising and guitar hero Chris Caffery recently made a cameo appearance in a tv commercial for High River Sauces, an award-winning hot sauce company. It recently premiered during an episode of VH1 Classic’s That Metal Show. The “Oh That’s Hot” commercial can now be seen on YouTube. You better also keep those ears peeled for some new Black Water Rising coming at you really soon! For more on Black Water Rising, log onto reverbnation.com/rising.
That’s all for now! If your band is from North Jersey, and you want some exposure, send your press kits to Arts Weekly, c/o Tim Louie P.O. Box 1140, Little Falls, NJ 07424, or you can email me at tim@theaquarian.com, where you can also let me know where you’re performing next!
Just remember….We’re all in the same boat, so every little bit of exposure counts!
Tim Louie is the Author of S**t Happens.
NJN Concert Calendar:
1/10—Answer Infinity—Mexicali Live, Teaneck, NJ
1/11—Alekhine’s Gun/Seas Of Wake/Leech/Valor/Thanatotic Desire—The Studio at Webster Hall, NYC
1/11—Blue Food/The Great Apes/Mr. Breakdown—Mexicali Live, Teaneck, NJ
1/12— Scars Of Envy/Negative Sky/Beyond Visible/Shadows Of Dawn/The Optimist/Iratetion/A Need For Reason/Ixion Lux/Useless/Cover Her Face/Sydbarret/Ominous/Dead Fish Handshake/Ripface Invasion—Roxy And Dukes Roadhouse, Dunellen, NJ
1/12—The Dirty Stayouts—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
1/13—Ionia/Saint Diablo/ Melrose Ending/The Dirty Stayouts/Brake Brothers Band/Garden State Line/Sunday Brave/One/Danny Blu/Pyramada/Sinners—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
1/17—Aurin/Sylex/Pool Of Thorns—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
1/18—Lords Of Mercy—The Saint, Asbury Park, NJ
1/18—Borgo Pass/.49 Grain—Revolution Bar and Music Hall, Amityville, NY
1/18—Dead Fish Handshake/ Ed Kowalczyk—Bergen PAC, Englewood, NJ
1/18—PT Grimm/Reese Van Riper/The Racer—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
1/19—Audio Machine—Brighton Bar, Long Branch, NJ
1/19—Attacker/Arctic Flame/Present Darkness/Operatika—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
1/24—BlackOcean/Panzie*–The Rebel Rock Bar, Philadelphia, PA
1/25—Robot Slaves/Spiritual Sickness/Spiral Out—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
1/26—Knucklebone—The Stanhope House, Stanhope, NJ
1/26—VOD/Carbomb/Slam One Down/ Suffer Your Fate (formerly Spoonfed)/Givethemrope —Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
1/26—Atom Strange—Rock ‘N’ Ink Tattoo Festival, Stroudsburg, PA
1/30—Dead Fish Handshake/Eye Empire/3 Years Hollow/One Hundred Thousand—Architekt Music, Butler, NJ
