My bud and former manager, Andrew Gelardi, recently hit me up on Facebook IM to tell me about some band of 11-year-olds that he saw performing in the streets of New York City. Yes, the streets! Not a club or a bar because they’re only 11 years old. Normally, I like to write about my Jersey bands, but after I got to check out some of their video footage and a couple of their songs via ReverbNation, these kids are worth letting you know about here in North Jersey Notes. I’m absolutely blown away! Granted, the songs that I heard, “Take Control” and “Breakthrough,” weren’t Grammy Award-winning material, but these kids are 11! I don’t think that they have a singer, but the songs on ReverbNation did have vocals. Disregard those vocals and listen to the chops on these kids.
Like I said, Unlocking The Truth are an extremely young hard rock band out of Brooklyn who formed in 2007 under the name Tears Of Blood by guitarist Malcolm Brickhouse and drummer Jarad Dawkins. Both members are still in sixth grade, making this story even more amazing. Brickhouse and Dawkins write everything on their own. As Unlocking The Truth, they’ve competed on Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater and made it to the Show-Off Round. The boys have been performing at festivals around New York City as well as the streets of NYC. They label bands like Motionless In White, Escape The Fate, Slipknot, Metallica, and Disturbed as a few of the influences that make Unlocking The Truth who they are.
The boys just began work on their third and fourth CDs, Physical Therapy and The 4 Lost Souls, which they hope to release sometime this summer. They boys claim that heavy metal is in their blood, and they might be right. I swear to you that these guys might not sound like all that right now, but there is so much potential here. Check them out at reverbnation.com/unlockingthetruthband or some NYC street corner.
NORTH JERSEY NOTES UPDATES:
You guys have to check out the new music video from Pheroze! I’m absolutely loving this video! It’s for their song “Today I Belong To The Dead” off of their new CD, Ennui. Not only is the song amazing, but I get to see my brother, Jeff Hardee, on drums in an elephant costume! How can you ask for anything more? This is ball-busting material for a lifetime! Check the video out now at youtu.be/jjRp5M1xUC8 and give Pheroze a listen at facebook.com/pheroze.music.
My girl Syka just emailed me some new material from her band, SYKA. Yes, the band is named after her! The name of the song she sent me was called “Miss Heroin,” and I love it! Great hook, great vibe and of course, killer vocals! Personally, I felt the song could’ve been called “Miss Steroids” because Syka reminds me of my old pal, Gwen Stefani, on steroids. This song could be the hit that SYKA was looking for. I’d give it a few thumbs up if I had that many! “Miss Heroin” is now available on iTunes. Check SYKA out at facebook.com/sykamusic.
And finally, I hate to bring this up two weeks in a row, but I’m playing with Newsted tomorrow night (5/23) at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park with my band BlackOcean. Why haven’t you bought tickets yet? I hate plugging myself two weeks in a row, but email me at the address below if you need tickets! Was that shameless enough? Also, don’t forget to read my interview with the legendary Jason Newsted somewhere in this issue.
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:
5/23—BlackOcean/Wilson/Newsted—The Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ
5/23—The 39/Empire Escorts/ Die a Hero/Bodyface—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
5/24—Devilhaus/The Accelerators/The Disconnects/Ingrid and the Defectors—10th Street Live, Kenilworth, NJ
5/24—Visions/MindMaze/Velvet Crush—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
5/25—Dark Empire/A Sound Of Thunder/Operatika Element/Exorbitance—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
5/25—One Hundred Thousand/Jolly/Devise—Architekt Music, Butler, NJ
5/26—Wednesday 13/Vampires Everywhere!/Negative Traction/Stitches/True Will/Generation Nowhere—The Brighton Bar, Long Branch, NJ
5/29—KILLCODE (acoustic performance)/The Von Frankensteins/Beyond Visible/Circus Life/No Change For Machines/Jackson James/Breakage Rising/Brand Of Julez/When Winter Fell—Tammany Hall, NYC
5/31—Sully Erna/John Kosco—The State Theatre, New Brunswick, NJ (rescheduled date)
5/31—Solfire/Casualty/The Erotics/Ten Ton Mojo/The Republik—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
6/1—Lower The Veil/BlackOcean/Audio Machine/Panzie*–Voices Rock Club, Lowell, MA
6/1—Atom Strange—The Legendary Dobbs, Philadelphia, PA
6/1—Accelerstors/6 TO 8 Mathmatics/The Royal Dumonts—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
6/2—Bobaflex/Kore Rozzik/Broken By Chance/Metal Disorder—10th Street Live, Kenilworth, NJ
6/2—The Dirty Stayouts/Trailer Park Mafia/Natural Born Losers/Bluesfield Drive/Sinners—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
6/8—Charetta—Irving Plaza, NYC
6/8—Vision/Arrogant Response/Ogre—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
6/9—Seas Of Wake/Thanatotic Desire/Beyond Dishonor/My Iron Heart/Oceans Of Illusions—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
6/14—Lower The Veil/BlackOcean/Audio Machine/Panzie*/Scarlet Carson—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
6/22—Charetta—Even Flow Bar and Grill, Bayshore, NY
6/28—Kosmic Daydream—Hat City Kitchen, Orange, NJ
