Hey everyone, I’m working on bringing in some more news on NJ bands, but first, some concert news.
Remember Synaesthesia? If not, check out my earlier posts. They’ve been wrapping up some recording, and now they’re wrapping up their winter tour. Come and check them ou live for their last show this Friday, February 25, 2011.
Here are the details as listed on their Facebook page:
7:30pm
Amazing Grace
33 S. Main Street
Mullica Hill, NJ 08062
(856)-478-9800
Now onto some bands I haven’t mentioned yet – and there are quite a few. Maybe you’ve heard of Aclipsia? Or possibly Station to Station? And maybe you’d like to see them live with Desert Snowstorm, Descending Remington, Bombs On Demand, Inside Ones, Aliens Ate My Homework, and SurvivetheNight! If so, don’t plan anything on the 25th, because they’ll all be together at Hangar 84 at 6pm.
Wondering where Hangar 84 is? Check out a previous post where I’ve listed quite a few local hotspots for concerts.
And if you noticed, you’ve got some time to see a little of both shows… just saying. I’ll try to make it to both if I can, but I know I won’t be missing Synaesthesia that night.
On a final note before the weekend’s music fest, here’s a taste of what you may get to hear:
Hey everyone, last fall/winter I set this up for an online journalism class (as I’ve mentioned before) for my first semester of my Junior year at Rowan University. I wasn’t sure about the fate of this blog once the semester ended, but recent contact from another band in Jersey has pushed me in the direction of expanding this blog to all of New Jersey, instead of just the south side.
If you know of any local bands or are in a local band, please send me an e-mail at sj_intune@yahoo.com with info about the/your band, and any photos/songs/show dates, or with a time and place to meet if you’d like a more formal (or informal) interview.
This blog is all about getting everyone in NJ more in touch with the local music scene, so all help is welcome.
-Kevin G
(BTW: redesign for the blog will be under way to reflect the expansion from SJ to all of NJ.)
We’ve reached the end of the Fall 2010 semester, and (possibly) the end of this blog. I’ve had a lot of fun discovering and talking with many bands from South Jersey, and hopefully these posts have brought them even more recognition. It’s great that this part of Jersey has such talent and love for art.
This blog was set up for an Online Journalism class at Rowan University. The class had weekly assignments and a number of projects which were posted here on South Jersey InTune, and now that the class is over, I may retire the blog – unless anyone out there objects. As it turned out, I really did have fun with this, and as of the moment I’m writing this, SJIT got 460 hits! Not amazing for a blog, but not bad for just starting out.
If there are other bands in South Jersey who want their name on this site, you can send me an e-mail at sj_intune@yahoo.com. Also, now that the blog is no longer for a class, I may extend it to all of New Jersey, or anywhere in the U.S., depending on feedback/requests. I would gladly make this an blog for local bands from anywhere, and I may create new pages for new locations.
Be sure to read up on the bands that everyone’s checking out the most, including Cut The Act, Synaesthesia, The Sons Of Linus, Elevator Art, and River City Extension, as well as my last post where I let readers into a day in the life of my band, 18-Over.
Thanks for reading, and hopefully you’ll come across more of my work – reporting, music, or both – sometime in the future.
-Kevin Gross
You see the bands play live, and you hear their music on CDs or on the radio… but what are they like when they’re just hanging out?
Bobby Gregg (vocals/guitar) and I decided to answer that question for you, from the perspective of our band 18-Over. Yesterday (December 7, 2010), I went over Bobby’s house for the first time in awhile, and we did what we do basically every time we hang out. It started out with a quick run to Radio Shack to get a new microphone, and then we drove up to the Moorestown Mall for a bit to grab some Taco Bell and look around in F.Y.E.
Eventually, we came back to his house, where I suggested we write a brand new song. I pulled out my laptop and showed him the chorus of a song I had written that morning, and within a couple minutes he finished the rest of the song and began to play it. The song, which is featured in this video, is called But If I’m Wrong. When we record a complete version of it, including bass and drums, we will include it to the tracklist of our upcoming debut album, Unicorns In Uniforms.
We sat around talking for awhile and going over most of our songs, and as you can hear, we don’t much seriously. We can be serious people, but we prefer to just have fun and write upbeat punk songs and do what we love. Music is a huge part of our lives, and it’s nice to listen to a great song on the radio or our iPods, but it’s even more fun to actually look back at the process of how the songs were made and how they came to be.
18-Over has been around for a year and a half to two years, but I’m switching from drums to learning guitar so I can play bass, and eventually we’ll get a new drummer. For now, we’re very focused on work and school, but in our spare time we try to write and record as much as possible, and just have a good time in general.
You can check us out at MySpace and Facebook, and be sure to check back every once in awhile on YouTube for any new videos or demos.
Here are six places to find your favorite bands playing in New Jersey – both local bands and otherwise.
1. Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ, has hosted shows for very well-known bands, including Senses Fail, The Offspring, Alkaline Trio, and more. It is a fairly small venue with no assigned seating – the crowd stands literally feet away from the band performing.
2. Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, as mentioned on their site, “also known as the Mercer County Arena, is an 8000 to 10,000 seat arena…and home to the Trenton Titans.” Besides sports, of course, the arena is also used for concerts. Tool, Bruce Springsteen, and Elton John, and others have played here.
3. Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden is closer in size to the Sovereign Bank Arena than the Starland Balroom. It is has a large semicircle of seating facing a stage where bands such as Blink-182, Green Day, Weezer, and other well-known artists have played. There is also a lawn area behind the the seating area, and tickets for the lawn are often around $20.
4. TD Bank Arts Center in Sewell is a smaller theatre-style venue where you may find comedy shows, dancing, and orchestral concerts, but is also available for booking through their site.
5. Clare Rostan Appel Theatre in Elmer is a center for all kinds of different arts events with indoor and outdoor areas.
6. Hangar 84 in Vineland is one of the top venues in NJ to check out for local bands. Previously mentioned bands such as Cut The Act have played along with more well-known bands like Hawthorne Heights and Rufio.
Be sure to look around and check out these and other venues for some great upcoming concerts.
Four guys, referred to only as Barf (vocals/rhythm guitar), Marino (guitar), Fleshbone (bass) and Carlos (drums), came together to form the South Jersey horror punk band Whiskey Spider.
Whiskey Spider sounds a lot like The Misfits, and that’s no surprise – not only are The Misfits one of the bands of the genre, but they’ve also played shows together. They also like Zombie Ghost Train, Rancid, Dream Theater, Senses Fail, and Koffin Kats.
(photo from Whiskey Spider’s Facebook photos)
After a complicated story of rearranged band lineups and a hiatus, the band as it is today surfaced in 2009. Their songs sound as if they’ve come straight off the soundtrack of a Halloween flick, and they have a very classic feel to them.
On October 27, 2010, the band announced, “We will be slowing down shows so we can work on our upcoming full-length album. But don’t worry, we still have plenty of things lined up, including a tour.”
For more information, check out their MySpace page.
In 2007, a trio in Tabernacle came together to form the alternative band GiV. Steve Cantwell (guitar/lead vocals), Joe Campbell (bass/back-up vocals), and Mark Begley (drums) met up with Josh Simpkins (keyboard/back-up vocals/aux percussion) in 2009, and the four guys became The Sons Of Linus.
As Campbell explained, “The drummer, Mark Begley and I have been playing together since we we’re 13…I knew that he was jammin’ with Steve Cantwell for awhile, and I got a chance to hear some of the stuff they were doing. I really enjoyed Steve’s song writing, the modal scapes of what he was going for, and I felt that there was a lot in my music that was akin to what he was hearing in his music… Josh Simpkins played with us at a Halloween show one year to fill in for a couple songs, and he’s been with us ever since.”
TSOL mixed up rock, pop, soul and funk while taking some influence from some of their favorite bands, like Minus the Bear, Sean Hayes, Bonobo, and Kings of Leon. Later they began recording music with Dan Pilla at Bad Lab Studios in Tabernacle, and on September 17, 2010, they released their 7-track debut “This Just To Say” at the Country Lakes Pub and Grill. The CD is now available at any of their shows, or you can e-mail them at thesonsoflinus@gmail.com for a copy.
“The bulk of the material,” Campbell said, “both musically and lyrically, is written by Stephen Cantwell, but I have helped out here and there… A lot of the music is created through intense collaboration between all of us. I think it’s no secret that a good band is good because of the way they can feed off each other.”
On Facebook, the band has been talking about some upcoming music, including a post at one point announcing: “…keep checking back to the site, we are finishing up some new originals currently, that will debut at the Grape Room in Manayunk (Philadelphia) on December ninth by the latest,” and there has been mention of a new 4-track CD. Campbell has confirmed some upcoming music, saying, “We’ve been hard at work on new stuff. I personally am really excited about it, it’s way different from the last record.”
Most rock bands from South Jersey tend to be hard rock, punk rock, or pop-rock, but Joe Leesville sticks to the Rock & Roll genre that many of us grew up with. It’s the kind of music you might hear on WYSP in PA. His influences – such as AC/DC, Audioslave, Led Zeppelin and ZZ Top – are recognizable in his style, and the opening riffs of any of the five tracks of his CD “Big Energy” will instantly take you back to the rock you remember from the 80’s and 90’s.
The album, four songs of which can be streamed on MySpace, starts off with “Big Energy”, the three-and-a-half-minute instrumental title track is so fun and catchy, it doesn’t need lyrics to sing along to. That leads into “Winding Way”, an even more upbeat song that will keep you drumming along on your steering wheel. Big Energy keeps up the beat through “Panda” and then slows down to a Doors-like tempo with “Deception,” and finally drags its feet through the end with “Bright New Day”.
For any fan of rock music who wants to support local bands and singers, this album is definitely worth the money – and be sure to keep an eye on Leesville for any new music he may release in the future.
Originally named “The Simple Man“, St. Anthony’s Fire is a very laid-back-sounding band that plays primarily acoustic songs.
Sean Galligan (guitar/vocals), Rich Wetherby (guitar/harmonica/vocals), Tom Kobal (bass/vocals) and Christopher Roman (bongos) form this group from Brick and Toms River, NJ – a band with fun and easy-going music with catchy yet simple lyrics. Their relaxed pace is comparable to Things They Carried and Gone From My Sight – and if you don’t know these bands yet, they can also be compared to some of their influences, which include Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Led Zeppelin, and Good Old War.
Near or far,
We know exactly who we are
Far or near,
We’ve got nothing to fear
Wherever I may travel to
I’ll find my way back home to you
If I move, no matter how fast
You will never be part of my past
-“The Life” by St. Anthony’s Fire
On November 8, 2010, they mentioned on Facebook that they were recording, so fans and new listeners may expect to find additional tracks added to the six or so songs they’ve posted online.
Their songs definitely bring a welcome change to music with content, carefree-sounding lyrics and melodies as opposed to the tunes that frequent the airwaves these days, and St. Anthony’s Fire is sure to be a hit if and when they get their name out there on the radio stations.
Listen to their song “Dee” here:
South Jersey InTune 