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N A K E D M A G A Z I N E
PUBLISHERS Ariella Mastroianni Catherine Powell
EDITOR Nicola Pring
PHOTOGRAPHY Catherine Powell
WRITERS Katie Amey Isaac Bate Olga Khvan Stacy Magallon Nicole Mazza Christine O’Dea Catherine Powell Tanya Traner Kiki Van Son
THE SUMMER SET
DESIGNERS Ariella Mastroianni Catherine Powell
COURTESY OF » Anberlin
The Skies Revolt
Chris Wallace
Sum 41
The Hush Sound
The Summer Set
Jack Skuller
Larzz
Larzz
Tandem
Mikey Deleasa
Wakey!Wakey!
Sneak Attack Media MSO PR
Stunt Company Media Sneak Attack Media Big Picture Media Much and House PR 2
Big Picture Media
Legacy Management Group Fearless Records
Big Picture Media Mark Shami BTF Concerts
ALSO FEATURING 4-7
8-13
DELEASA
14-15
THE HUSH SOUND
22-25
16-21
THE SKIES REVOLT
42-43
26-31
WAKEY!WAKEY! 44-47
JACK SKULLER
TOM FALCONE
CHRIS WALLACE 48-49
50-55
TANDEM
ANBERLIN
56-57
SUM 41
LARZZ NKDMAG.COM 3
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deleasa WORDS: NICOLE MAZZA » PHOTOS: CATHERINE POWELL
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ikey Deleasa is the kind of stranger you feel like you’ve known your entire life. For me, this may have something to do with the fact that we’re both Jersey born and raised, though his genuine smile and warm jokes tell me anyone could find comfort in hanging out with him. He’s not your stereotypical Jersey Shore Italian — you won’t find him fist-pumping at a club down on the boardwalk. Instead he fits perfectly into the Winter Garden Atrium at the World Financial Center in downtown New York in his skinny jeans, polka-dot dress shirt and glasses. Some would call this look hipster, but he’s made it his own, much like he’s making his own name for himself. Though he’s appeared in a majority of the episodes of season one of E!’s reality series Married to Jonas as the Jonas Brother’s new brother in law — his sister Danielle married Kevin in 2009 — he’s made it clear that he is not looking to become the fifth Jonas brother. Music has
always been a huge part of his life, ever since he picked up his first guitar in sixth grade and started his first pop-punk band when he was just in middle school. “We wanted to be just like Blink-182. I thought it would be awesome,” Mikey says of his band, laughing. “I watched a lot of behind the music and it inspired me. I wanted to be just like Mötley Crüe and destroy hotel rooms.” Mikey transitioned between bands throughout school before he began working on a solo record and an EP. When a friend of his went to Los Angeles about three years ago with Mikey’s EP and showed the record to producer Super Chris, who worked on Drake’s last album, Mikey knew he had to work with him. “I was like, this is someone I’d like to work with but didn’t really think anything would come of it,” he says. But the next thing he knew, he was on the phone with Super Chris and flying out to L.A. “One week turned into two months so during my break from school, I had the summer off, I went out NKDMAG.COM
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there and just wound up kind of staying out there.” The next thing Mikey knew, he was a Jersey boy in California. “I was really happy with how things were coming out, was building good relationships out there so I just figured it made sense to make the move,” he says. “Even my family was really supportive. They were like, ‘Hey maybe you should take a break from school and really go after this’. So then I moved out to L.A. and haven’t looked back since then.” But at the end of the day, you can’t take the Jersey out of anyone, and Mikey makes it very clear that New Jersey will always be his home. “I love traveling, I love seeing new places, so having that experience of living out in L.A. for two and a half years was cool. I liked it out there,” Mikey says, though it’s the weather that certainly won him over. “Ideally what I would do is I would do Jersey during the summer and I would be in L.A. during the winter because I am awful with the cold. I shiver nonstop. Even my mom makes fun of me. I’m the first to be like, ‘Can we go inside where it’s warm?’” From cold weather to warm, to a punk band to a solo artist, Mikey is used to making adjustments and though it’s taken time to figure out the direction he’s now in, as a pop-rock solo artist, he is happy where he is at the moment and doesn’t discredit where he got his start. “There’s a lot of aspects I miss about being in a band,” he says. “It’s very lonely being a solo artist. Even the financial part of it too. When you have a band you’re splitting it four ways or five ways and now I’m just splitting things one way and it stinks. There’s no one sharing rent with me or anything like that. It all falls on me at the end of the day.” But for Mikey, one of the positives of working on his own is creative control. “I’m a little bit of a control freak,” he admits with a laugh. “I would say definitely within reason though. The guys that I take out for shows and touring, we do work together a lot like a band even when we write, we collectively do it.” But at the end of the day, no matter what artist he has been throughout the years, it all comes down to touring and meeting new people and new fans, his favorite part of it all. He’s just finished runs with Boyce Avenue and Ryan Cabrera and is looking forward to a few tour dates with Action Item this winter. “I like touring because as soon as you start getting tired of touring you get to start writing again and it’s just another breath of fresh air. You step away from that, create something new and then you get to go back out on the road.” Filming a reality show with his sister Danielle’s husband and her in-laws has definitely been a different experience for Mikey, though it’s a welcome one and has only helped his own family reconnect. “Never in a million years did I think I’d be part of a reality show,” he says. “It was nice because it kind of made designated family
time. I was away for two and a half years. I was back for holidays and stuff like that but I just missed a lot of stuff. It was nice to see Katie [his younger sister] go to her prom because I missed her junior prom and I would see photos on Instagram and I’d get a little bummed out like ‘oh wow I’m missing a lot of this important stuff’,” he says. “So in that aspect it was really amazing that everything just really worked out for me to be back in New Jersey and film for that and be a part of it. And also, we got a vacation out of it.“ At the end of the day, as much as music means to him, he’s a family guy and admittedly a bit of a homebody. “As much traveling as I get to do, I definitely like to be home. I’m very close with my family and very fortunate to have such a tight knit family. I’m so fortunate and grateful for the family I have.”
“AS MUCH TRAVELING AS I GET TO DO, I DEFINITELY LIKE TO BE HOME. I’M VERY CLOSE WITH MY FAMILY AND VERY FORTUNATE TO HAVE SUCH A TIGHT KNIT FAMILY.” » DELEASA «
The exposure certainly cannot hurt, and through it all, Mikey is able to avoid any pressure that comes along with the connection to one of Disney’s biggest pop bands. After Married to Jonas’ successful first season, they are currently gearing up to start filming the second season soon to air next Spring. “With doing another season and everything maybe some of my music will come through there and it’ll just be more people to hear stuff,” he says. “I figure if I just kind of keep doing what it is I do and approach my music the way I do and all that kind of stuff I think that anyone who really takes a minute to see what it is I’m up to, they’ll just figure it out for themselves, you know? It’s crazy, it’s a whole other world cause they’re huge posters. Even just to be able to get a glimpse in to that, that’s something I can’t even fathom in a career. I’m just hoping my career will keep helping me pay the bills. I’m content with that.” At the end of the day, Mikey couldn’t imagine doing anything else. “I’m honestly so relieved that music completely took over,” he says. “It was something I always wanted to do even though still to this day I’m shocked that I’m still able to do it and be extremely happy.” NKD NKDMAG.COM
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THE HUSH SOUND WORDS: KATIE AMEY » PHOTOS: CATHERINE POWELL
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ew York City’s Highline Ballroom may be an intimate concert venue by night —proudly boasting past performers as diverse as Paul McCartney to the late Amy Winehouse — but by day, it conveniently, and surprisingly, doubles as an amateur-wrestling venue. Amid collective “Oohs” and “Aahs” and chants of “Defense, defense!” I head to the second floor nightclub-inspired concert hall to meet up with the original incarnation of blues-pop band The Hush Sound only hours before their New York reunion tour performance. Following a lengthy debate with their hard-working driver regarding the likelihood of finding a parking space within easy instrument-transportation distance of the venue, The Hush Sound — originally and once again composed of Greta Salpeter, Bob Morris, Darren Wilson and Chris Faller — were eager to play for their fans again after a several-year-long hiatus. “We have super cool fans,” bassist Chris says. “They
don’t care if [the show is] a little different this night from the last night or a lyric is forgotten. Who cares? They’re singing the lyrics themselves. It’s pretty sweet.” Originally formed in DuPage County, Ill., these Midwesterners have been playing together for almost as long as they can remember. After Bob’s previous band broke up, the time was right for him and his high school friend Greta to give playing together a shot — along with drummer Darren, and Chris whom Bob had met during his prior musical travels. Luckily for the then-teenagers, Chicago was the place to be during the resurgence of the pop-punk movement of the early 2000s. “Everybody in Chicago was getting signed, it was kind of that time,” Bob says. “So I was like, ‘Let’s just write new music and record.’” But what started as an EP quickly turned into the band’s first full-length album, So Sudden. “Instead of doing an EP, we just recorded all 13 ideas that somehow became songs at the time,” Bob continues. “We put it up on NKDMAG.COM
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“We may be a band for sexy singles, but we don’t have a sexy single.” » GRETA SALPETER «
PureVolume.com and someone heard it and then everybody got in touch with us.” That someone was Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz, arguably the godfather of the modern indie-rock scene. On the day The Hush Sound streamed that first album online, Panic! at the Disco’s (and Pete Wentz protégé) Ryan Ross discovered their PureVolume page and passed his proud find along to Pete Wentz. Soon, Wentz contacted the band, expressing interest in signing them to his newly formed Decaydance Records. “I think it was just a kind of crazy thing that happened out of blue,” Chris says. “We didn’t expect anything.” Once signed, Decaydance was eager to move their new artists forward, but were forced to wait, at least temporarily while their young lead singer Greta finished high school in Illinois. “I remember [the record label] wanted me to drop out of high school,” she says. “And my parents said, ‘No way, child.’ So we were actually secretly signed for a while.” Ryan Ross’ fateful discovery wasn’t the first time online community building had directly impacted the future of the band. Prior to their web-fueled big break, the Internet played an integral role in deciding what the band’s name would be going forward. “It was just a big misunderstanding from day one,” Bob remembers. “We were called The Hush, but we couldn’t get TheHush.com, so we made TheHushSound.com. Still, on the first band shirt, which Chris designed, it said The Hush. But because of their online presence, fans recognized them as The Hush Sound. “It’s interesting that a website, even back then, determined [so much],” Bob says. Despite the fact that their dream name was no longer 12
an option, the band decided to keep The Hush — at least in part — as their name. “[It comes from] a song that Bob had written that never got used,” Greta says. “[The lyric] was ‘the hush came abruptly,’” drummer Darren says. Bob is also quick to point to the poetic irony in the name. “[A hush] is the opposite of a band,” he remarks. The un-hush-able quartet quickly proved their unique sound was anything but a passing fad. They followed up 2005’s So Sudden with their sophomore album Like Vines and third hit record, Goodbye Blues, released in 2008. But nearly non-stop touring (even though it was with bands like Phantom Planet and The All-American Rejects) began to take its toll on the band and by October of the same year, Chris left to pursue other musical interests. After replacing Chris briefly with bassist Mike Leblanc, the band ultimately announced their hiatus on April 13, 2009. “What was I doing it for? I didn’t know,” Chris says, seemingly joking about the reasoning behind his departure. “We were just getting to the point of extreme exhaustion,” Bob says. “We were tired and bummed out. It just wasn’t conducive to living a happy life, so we had to go away for a minute.” The band members threw themselves into new projects. Greta formed indie-pop group Gold Motel, while Bob created Stamps The Band alongside The Cab guitarist Ian Crawford. Chris likewise expanded his musical horizons in the band Family Order, while Darren took time off from the industry completely to pursue a degree in political science. Still, each year, the four would reunite for a one-night-only show near
“[OUR MUSIC] IS ALL OVER THE PLACE. WE’VE KIND OF ALWAYS BEEN ALL OVER THE PLACE.” » BOB MORRIS «
their hometown. “We’ve been playing in Chicago at least once a year during this whole break,” Greta says. “Every time, we’d be like, ‘Wow, this so fun,’ but we were all working on other stuff, so [a reunion] just didn’t make sense. It had to happen naturally.” And it did happen organically in October 2012 for a seven-date tour, which they are planning to follow up with a new EP, tentatively set for an early 2013 release. When asked if there is one song that the fans are especially excited to hear the band’s original line-up perform, everyone hesitates. “They don’t just like one song, they like all the songs on all the albums,” Chris says. “We’ve never really been a single-driven band,” Bob adds. “It’s always been more about our brand of music.” After several moments, Greta articulately sums up what the two had been struggling to explain. “We may be a band for sexy singles, but we don’t have a sexy single,” she says. When it comes to the band’s self-identified sexy brand of music, many wonder whether their sound will change as a result of the time they’ve spent apart. “It’s all over the place,” Bob says of the new EP’s style. “But we’ve kind of always been all over the place,” Chris says, jumping in. “We’ve sort of decided that’s kind of what makes us what we are,” Bob agrees. “All of the writing for the past few years has just kind of led us in new and exciting directions and finding new bands that we like and new styles. “ This assertion quickly turns into a discussion of the best new, and newly re-discovered, music the band members have been listening to as of late. Names like Dr. Dog, Kurt
Vile, and Bryan Adams are discussed. So, how does this eclectic mix of inspiration ultimately come together to form the retro-pop rock that The Hush Sound has become synonymous with? “We’ll play a song like eight times and get an idea in the course of playing the song,” Chris says of their song writing process. “We’ll make that change, then play it eight more times. We make changes along the way as it flows.” Bob also points out that everyone’s creative input is welcome, and no one is ever told how one particular chord or note should be approached. “We don’t tell each other how to play the song,” he says. “We just go and by the end, everyone’s playing.” Greta likens their song writing process to walking through a carnival fun house. “It’s kind of like you take the song and put it through a house of mirrors,” she explains. “Sometimes it’s really thin, half as a big, wobbly, fat, thin, upside down, crazy…and then when it walks out, it’s just what it should be: a little disoriented but mostly still there.” Just like their attitude toward song writing — and the athletes in the ring only steps from where the band prepares for their own performance later that evening — The Hush Sound continue to come back fighting, no matter the challenges that time and circumstance have posed for the band. When asked if there was any final message they wanted to leave their fans, Bob didn’t hesitate. “The new EP should be out in the spring,” he says with a distinct gleam of determination in his eye. “And there’s a wrestling match going on. Life is tremendous and there’s a wrestling match going on.” NKD NKDMAG.COM
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the skies revolt
words: olga khvan Âť photos: catherine powell 14
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othing says band bonding quite like getting kicked out of a public place together. That’s how it works for indie/electronic band The Skies Revolt, at least. “That’s our common ground,” says guitarist and vocalist Dave Prindle. “We’ve shared some times in some Walmart parking lots together. Apparently you can’t set up camp and cook there. We got kicked out of a mall together, too.” Sitting in PR group Big Picture Media’s Manhattan office one morning in October, Dave, bassist Jarred Irby, guitarist Bobby Dowell and drummer Eli DenBesten recall the band’s formation, which took place primarily on the road. “We picked up Jarred in St. Louis and Bobby from Paducah [in Kentucky] and Eli from the same town I’m from [in Michigan],” Dave says. “It was a long process. We just pretty much found the guys willing to tour.” Whether it means playing in “gritty basements” or iconic New York City venues like the Lit Lounge or large music festivals like South by Southwest, the guys of The Skies Revolt have always been adamant about playing live shows. This constant drive to hit the road helped to get the attention of someone who has become very important in the band’s development — Josh Cain of Motion City Soundtrack. With the launch of their own record label, The Boombox Generation, last year, Cain and the rest of Motion City Soundtrack were on the lookout for fresh talent. The band turned to their fans via social networking to assist in the search, which eventually led them to The Skies Revolt. “[Cain] sent out a tweet and asked kids to send him bands that they liked and he got hundreds of them, but someone sent him us and we stuck out for some reason,” Dave says. “Then he just contacted us and that’s basically it. He found us through Twitter.” “I think the fact that we do tour a lot helped him maybe hone in on us,” Jarred adds. “Well, that’s why Josh wanted to work with us,” Dave says. “We reminded him a lot of their band in their early years.” After the two bands met, Motion City Soundtrack invited The Skies Revolt to become a part of their Making Moves project — a collaboration between their new record label and Drexel University’s label MAD Dragon Records. “Each member of Motion City Soundtrack picked a band they wanted to help out and produce and then MAD Dragon Records is kind of the engine of it, they’re backing it all up,” Dave says. The end result of the Making Moves project is a box set of seven-inch vinyl records including new material from Motion City Soundtrack, as well as the up-and-comers that its members took under their wings — The Skies Revolt, A Great Big Pile of Leaves, Goldrush, Brick + Mortar and The Company We Keep. Having just released their first full-length album, Some Kind of Cosmonaut, in February, the guys of The Skies Revolt
found themselves faced with the daunting task of quickly creating brand new material when they were contacted about the Making Moves project. “We were pretty dry on songs,” Jarred says. “We thought we’d just write a new song and redo some old ones and do them justice and then we found out later on that it had to be all new material.” The work was not easy, but the results were rewarding. The Skies Revolt’s contribution to the Making Moves project was released at the end of October, giving them more exposure than ever before.
“WE’VE SHARED SOME TIMES IN SOME WALMART PARKING LOTS TOGETHER. APPARENTLY YOU CAN’T SET UP CAMP AND WORK THERE.” DAVE PRINDLE
“We’re getting a lot more press and we’ve gotten to play some bigger shows,” Dave says. “I think the point [of the project] is to be a stepping stone for bands and I think the next step is up to us still, but it’s just to get us out there. We’re already a band that’s toured a lot, but they’re giving us national attention.” As they pick up momentum, the guys are setting bigger goals for themselves — both short and long-term — releasing more music videos, touring with bigger bands, hanging out with Bill Murray, reaching number one on the Billboard charts. But the most important goal seems to be a more humble one. “Dirty little secret that a lot of bands won’t tell you is that they go home and work jobs,” Dave says. “Even bigger bands go home and work jobs. That’s just the nature of the beast.” For the guys of The Skies Revolt, the most important goal is to make creating and playing music their sole venture. “[I want] to have this just be my job, you know? I’m sure we can all relate to that,” Jarred says. “[Ideally,] when we’re on tour, we’d focus solely on making more music and practicing the music that we have. We wouldn’t have to work 9-to-5’s when we’re home. We’d just focus on the music and make it as good of a show as we possibly can.” NKD NKDMAG.COM
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ANBERLIN WORDS: TANYA TRANER » PHOTOS: CATHERINE POWELL
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ixteen years ago a group of Florida teens formed punk band Anberlin. Back then, they had no idea it would lead to an international music career. But that’s exactly what happened. Guitarist Joseph (Joey) Milligan greets me at Webster Hall in New York, sporting slicked back hair, a pea green t-shirt and black leather jacket and a warm smile. I sit across from him at a table and the back of the venue. He leans forward and nervously fidgets with his hands. He’s soft spoken, so I move closer to him to make sure he’ll be heard over the sound check going on behind. Joey began his musical career in 1996, when he was 15 years old. He joined a punk band called SaGoh 24/7 with current Anberlin members Stephen Christian (frontman) and Deon Rexorat (bass). “It was terrible. It was really bad,” he says of the band, laughing. “But [punk was] what we were all listening to in high school.” As the guys grew up, so did their musical tastes. They formed Anberlin as a side project to have the opportunity to write something completely different. They had no idea the band would take them where it has today. Since forming, the band has climbed each wrung of the musical ladder. They started out completely DIY, managing themselves and booking their own shows. “If you knew somebody hopefully they could set up a show somewhere, and if you string enough of those together, maybe you could call it a tour,” Joey says of their DIY phase. One of Anberlin’s first tours booked in this way didn’t quite go the way they planned. The guys set out, thinking they had six shows lined up, excited and ready to go. Right away, in
“IT’S FUNNY THE THINGS WE USED TO WORRY AND COMPLAIN ABOUT, AND NOW THE THINGS WE WORRY AND COMPLAIN ABOUT. LIKE, ‘MAN I HOPE THE TOUR BUS HAS A COFFEE MAKER.’” JOEY MILLIGAN
North Carolina they wrecked their van in a snow storm. They then discovered their booking agent, who was also housing them only had two shows actually lined up for them. Things got a little better for the band after signing with independent label Tooth and Nail Records in 2003. “Having a label behind you gives you a little more access to people who want to work with you,” Joey says. The band made connections with managers and booking agents and were able to get on bigger tours, but this time wasn’t without its hardships either. Joey remembers a show in Washington, D.C. shortly after signing. A venue Anberlin was playing told the band they would be provided with lodging. This lodging turned out to be an old abandoned warehouse with nothing but a concrete floor to sleep on. It was the middle of winter, and the guys had to huddle around an old electric stove they discovered in the building and pack on every layer of clothing they brought with them. Now, after having signed with major label Universal Republic Records in 2007, Joey says those experiences are all but distant memories. NKDMAG.COM 17
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“It’s funny the things we used to worry about and complain about,” he says, laughing. “And now the things we worry and complain about. Like, ‘Man I hope the tour bus has a coffee maker.’ It keeps things in perspective. You don’t take a second of it for granted, I mean you appreciate every little thing around you at all times.” Joey says he most appreciates Anberlin’s opportunities to travel the world. They have sold out shows in Australia, Singapore, China, Russia, England and The Phillipines among other countries. “We’re getting to go to places that most people would never actually get to go to unless they were either forced to or you know, had some bizarre reason to go,” Joey says. Joey also appreciates the charity work that he has been part of with Anberlin. Stephen has his own non-profit, Faceless International, which organizes trips to different countries to educate people on social issues in the global community. The band also did a tour where they worked with Habitat for Humanity. “We may have bitten off more than we could chew there with playing a full set and then going and working on building houses or boxing up food to be shipped to families,” Joey says. “It was awesome and it felt great, but it was a lot of work. I really envy people who get to do that on a regular basis, and have the energy and time.” Time is something a successful band is often without, and as the guys mature, Joey says quality time spent with loved ones is certainly a priority. “It’s hard to maintain a balance as we get older and life keeps moving on,” he says. “You can’t do it like you used to do it, which was like 300 shows a year, touring constantly. After a while it really starts to take a toll on your family life and your body.” The guys recently had some time off to rejuvenate and spend time with family. While they’re on tour, they use the Internet to keep in touch. “Everybody has their phones, everybody is Facetime-ing
“WE’RE GETTING TO GO TO PLACES THAT MOST PEOPLE WOULD NEVER ACTUALLY GET TO GO TO UNLESS THEY WERE EITHER FORCED TO OR, YOU KNOW, HAD SOME BIZARRE REASON TO GO.” JOEY MILLIGAN
and Skyping one another,” Joey says. They also coordinate flying family members out on tour to get a little extra time with them. For Anberlin, time is flying by. Joey says being able to maintain their sound, but grow as a band is extremely important to them. Having the same core group of writers has helped them keep their sound while making conscious decisions to try new things and experiment. Their camaraderie after 16 years also makes things easier for them in all aspects of their musical careers. “We have been friends since like 1996, so it’s more like family, and I think that’s one thing that’s kept us on an even keel all these years,” Joey says. . Anberlin released their sixth studio album, Vital, in October. They plan to do a full headlining and international tour next year to promote it. They are already thinking about a seventh album, too. Joey says they have upwards of 20 songs that didn’t make it onto Vital. For now, the guys are the happiest they have ever been. “It’s really great that something we started in a shed behind our friend’s house enabled us to do things like this,” Joey says. NKDMAG.COM 21
WAKEY!WAKEY! WORDS: CHRISTINE O’DEA » PHOTOS: CATHERINE POWELL
“FOXY, FOXY, FOXY. FANCY STUFF, DOING MORE FANCY STUFF AND THEN BAM, I’M HERE.” According to frontman Michael Grubbs of alternative pop group Wakey! Wakey!, this is his life story. I sit down with Michael in the bar lounge area on the lower level of Gramercy Theater in New York City where Wakey! Wakey! will be playing to support “Rock the Schools,” an annual concert produced by BTF concerts to promote music education in New York State schools. Michael seems excited and energetic as me greets me with a genuine handshake. Michael is excessively polite and energetic during our discussion of the importance of music programs in schools and the role that One Tree Hill has played in his career. Michael stands at 6 feet 2 inches tall but he never acts as if he’s bigger or better than anyone. Cool, calm and collected, Michael uses his sense of humor and sincerity to show who he is as a person and a musician. He discusses his lack of on-camera experience as an actor prior to appearing as a bartender on the final season of the 22
CW’s One Tree Hill, and how the cast helped him to get comfortable. “It’s a weird thing to have a camera floating in your face while you try to act,” he says. “The cast was really sweet and kind, and being part of the show has opened [Wakey! Wakey!] to a worldwide audience that we never had before.” Fans have certainly been very receptive to the music. Wakey! Wakey! is comprised of Michael, Annie Lieberwirth (bass), Tayna Buziak (backing vocals) and Patrick Doane (violin). Their piano-based beats and poetic tunes are addictive, to say the least. Raised in Richmond, Va. by musical parents, Michael was bound to be a musician one himself. “I was lucky to be involved with playing music and I had great teachers growing up,” he says. He points out the impact growing up in a household and community that encouraged his talents had on him throughout the years. Michael is the perfect candidate to support the Rock the Schools campaign. As a child, he was extremely active in his
school’s music programs, and now he shows his support for them. “It was really cool when Rock the Schools reached out to me to do this event,” he says. “They basically called me up and were like ‘Yo, we’re looking for some handsome men. We want them to be of a certain height and bearded,’” he says, feigning sincerity. I was like, ‘Oh my god, that sounds just like my taller older brother but I will do it instead.’” While Michael doesn’t actually have an older brother, he does have a strong belief in the positive influences of music education. “It’s something I really believe in,” he says. “I’m a huge advocate. Socializing is very important for kids, and learning to socialize when sports is the only way to do it is kind of hard. I was never good at sports, but I was good at music. There’s nothing wrong with sports. I do enjoy sports as an adult but as a kid I wasn’t that coordinated. Music gave me an outlet and a way to find myself and my friends.” According to BTF Concerts, in the last few years, New York State schools have suffered budget cuts and financial deficits that have resulted in cutbacks for many art programs, particularly music programs. Michael supports the fundraising efforts of Rock the Schools to keep music programs running successfully in schools. He knows what it’s like to be a kid that doesn’t hold interest in sports — after all, he’s over 6 feet tall and prefers to hold a guitar over a basketball. To let young kids know that this is OK is part of what drives him in his support for funding music education. “Music was a great way to fit in for me, and I’d hate to think that kids today and in the future would be robbed of that,” he says. Growing up, Michael’s mother was the choir teacher at his elementary school and he explains that in order to avoid the embarrassment of being in her class, he chose to join band instead of choir. He took up the French horn, went on to state competitions and continued to high school marching band. He attended the School for the Arts, the Governor’s School for Performing Arts in high school and Shenandoah University for a degree in musical theater. Now a professional musician, Michael is doing what he can to encourage young people to follow in his path through Rock the Schools, which has often been associated with One Tree Hill. A new album is in the works for Wakey!Wakey! “I’ve written and recorded 55 songs, and I’m still writing every day,” Michael says. The best 10 songs will be chosen and shaped into an album. The band’s goal is to create their best music yet. “Releasing an album is very particular, and you don’t get many chances to do it,” Michael says. “We’re trying to be really careful as to who we partner and work with and how we move forward. This is just to make sure that the art is served as well as possible, and so that the fans have a really positive reaction.” Michael cares as much about Wakey! Wakey!’s fans as the fans do about the band. He’s all about respect and politeness. “At concerts I tend to stay in the baced him for that because for someone who stands at 5 feet 2 inches and is a frequent concert-goer, I often have trouble seeing at the show. “You have no idea,” he says. “I am so sweet. That’s just the beginning of my politeness. I open doors for ladies, I refer to women as ‘ma’am’, and I’m just generally nice.” NKD 24
PERFORMING WITH BETHANY JOY LENZ AT ROCK THE SCHOOLS NKDMAG.COM 25
CHRIS WALLACE WORDS: KIKI VAN SON » PHOTOS: CATHERINE POWELL
“‘The White Tie Affair’ was part of a scene, of the bands that it sounded derivative of,” says solo artist Chris Wallace of his former band. He’s referring to bands like Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco, or the Warped Tour scene in general. Chris is not pushing rewind on his career since the break up of The White Tie Affair – he’s steamrolling ahead of the scene with a new solo album. Chris wasn’t always a musician. “I became obsessed with sports at a young age,” Chris says, “obsessed” being a word he uses without reservation. But after a soccer injury took him off the field as a kid, he begged his parents for a guitar and never looked back. “I wanted to be a shredder, so I became super obsessed with that,” he says, and it seems that he strives on unprecedented and all-consuming emotions. “I’m the type of person where if I want something, I try as hard as I can every day and won’t sleep until I can do whatever that goal was,” he says. Playing instruments and becoming obsessed with music is how Chris accounts for where he is now.
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He was always able to sing and strum simultaneously, but it was in high school when he formed his first band that he discovered, among a group of pop rock guitarist friends unfit for vocals, his unusually high-ranging pipes. Throughout high school he played cover songs at college shows and frat parties at venues in Chicago. At age 16 he was already rocking out in bars. “I wasn’t supposed to be in there at all,” he says. It was during that time he recognized his potential to do music professionally. He became obsessed with writing his own music once he got bored of playing other people’s songs, though his plans were interrupted when he decided to attend Purdue University. Toward the end of high school he had some trouble getting gigs, so he allowed music to take a backseat while he went to college. He continued writing and collaborated leisurely with another group while he was there, and eventually dropped the guitar and assumed the sole role of lyricist and singer. That’s when he got the idea to start a pop band.
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Born in Gary Ind., home to the King of Pop himself, Chris Wallace fancied the popular genre from the beginning. He grew up listening to the pop music of his parent’s day and the first album he ever owned also belonged to Michael Jackson. But his pop idea failed to stick with the group at first. “Guitars always end up sounding rock, and all the guys were into rock music,” he says. So Chris took it upon himself to make it happen. He wrote an experimental pop song called “Mr. Right,” made demo on his computer. He had a friend produce it, and put it up on MySpace without any form of identification other than the band name he posted it under, “The White Tie Affair.” It was considered “the worst song” by his family and friends, so Chris was offered little motivation to push himself beyond the crowd of his hometown. But his can-do attitude is without exception, and within two weeks of posting the song on the Internet, Chris went from a member of a local 28
scene to an Internet presence. “Based on this one song, I didn’t even have pictures up,” he says of his sudden success. “Major record labels were calling wanting to sign me.” He was focused on getting an almost perfect GPA in his third year at Purdue when he wrote “Mr. Right.” But after it blew up on the Internet, none of that mattered. “I did another 180-degree turn and placed all my focus on writing music and being in a band again,” he says. This time, the band that became The White Tie Affair, including singer Chris Wallace, guitarist Sean Patwell, keyboardist Ryan McLain and drummer Tim McLaughlin, agreed to the pop idea. “Everybody changes when money and opportunity comes around,” Chris says. “You have to start somewhere, and it’s cool when anybody takes a chance period. The band signed with Epic Records and released one album, Walk This Way, during their active years, between 2006 and 2011.
After the release of their debut album, The White Tie Affair toured extensively. They traveled 11 months out of the year for three years doing Van’s Warped Tours across the country and serving as opening act for Lady GaGa. The band eventually slowed down when Chris’ band mates grew tired of touring and soon fell apart. Chris too admits that he needed to get away and restart. “I probably would have kept going with White Tie Affair until it was lifeless,” he says. Chris moved to San Diego where he spent a year figuring out what he wanted to do next. After years of traveling from one major city to the next, without ever having experienced any of it, Chris welcomed the time off to reinvent himself. “In the process, I found what I had to offer and what I wanted to give,” he says. “It used to be about a different thing, trying to be famous or have this odd dream,” he says of The White Tie Affair. “Now it’s about this gift of writing music that I want to spread to the world.”
When the band broke up, Chris’ first reaction was, “What did I do wrong?” Now he recognizes that the band breaking up was the blessing that kept him going, directing him away from where he previously felt pigeonholed. He continued writing pop music and with the help of a new manager he set off on his solo career. “Sometimes you just need new energy from someone,” he says. “You hang out with someone new and they inspire you in a whole new way.” His debut solo album, Push, Rewind, dropped this past September. “Push, Rewind” is first line he came up with for his debut single, “Remember When (Push, Rewind) — the melody and chorus are “push, push, push, rewind.” The song thumps with positive energy despite being a based on the time he was dating the girl he thought he was going to marry — a dream almost fully realized, except that she wasn’t ready for change nor was she willing to follow him. “As my future got bright, we starting losing light,” the song NKDMAG.COM 29
“Life isn’t bad at all. there are a lot of BAD THINGS THAT HAPPEN, BUT AT THE end of the day it’s amazing.” » CHRIS WALLACE « goes. “Literally, that’s what happened,” Chris says. Still, the song doesn’t dwell on what came to end, but rather celebrates what had been. “It sucks it had to end,” Chris says in response, but references the song, adding “But I’d remember when we did this, and it was awesome.” The same underlying positivity is felt in another breakup track, “Keep Me Crazy.” The heartache described in this song too attached, at a time when Chris’ life was too hectic to handle it. Yet in his struggle to find the balance, Chris wrote a hit song describing the stimulant, rather than the burden, that was his girlfriend’s craziness. “She was a mess, but it was great,” he says. Chris confirms that Push, Rewind is in fact autobiographical, with the songs deriving from either personal experience, what he wishes to experience, like “Don’t Mind If I Do,” — a “fantasy love song,” according to Chris, or what people close to him are experiencing, like “Ready to Fall,” which he wrote as a ballad for his sister’s wedding. Chris doesn’t let the daily grind get to him. He remains aware and appreciative of what he has when he’s confronted with the obstacles of day to day living. Every word on Push, Rewind is so deeply saturated in optimism – all of 30
his songs confirm the conviction with which he lives his life, and listeners can’t help but hear it and groove to his personal philosophy. “Life is awesome,” Chris says. “Life isn’t bad at all. There are a lot of bad things that happen, but at the end of the day it’s amazing.” Chris mentions a post on his Facebook fan page from a woman who tried to fix her marriage after Chris’ music reminded her of what it was like when she and her husband fell in love. “A song can be something totally different to someone else than it is to me,” Chris says. “I think that’s really special.” He speaks with similar reverence about his new management, comprised of people who have turned nothing into something, as he describes them. Chris is no longer with Epic Records — he went solo under an indie label called Think Say Records, and he declares this partnership to be the best move he’s ever made. To him they serve as proof that a small group of people with the right idea can move the meter more than a big conglomerate label can. Together in preparing for his national tour this coming year, Chris is inspired to push, push, push, forward with his career. NKD
THE
SUMMER SET WORDS & PHOTOS » CATHERINE POWELL
JOSH MONTGOMERY
STEPHEN GOMEZ
BRIAN DALES
JESS BOWEN
JOHN GOMEZ
THE SUMMER SET
“OH MY GOD THEY’RE PLAYING STEAMBOAT WILLY ON THE SCREEN FOR MICKEY’S BIRTHDAY!” BRIAN DALES, LEAD SINGER OF THE SUMMER SET SQUEALS AS HE PEERS OVER THE BALCONY RAILING AT NEW YORK CITY’S IRVING PLAZA TO GET A BETTER VIEW.
laugh as he grins, and then catch sight of his Mickey Mouse iPhone case and laugh again. Below us is a sea of fans waiting for the show to start, but that doesn’t matter at all to Brian right now – Mickey is on the screen. Despite his child-like interests, Brian and the rest of his band have done a lot of growing up since the band formed back in high school. Now just six hours shy of his 23rd birthday, Brian and I sit on the upper level of Irving Plaza as he recaps the band’s recent eight-month gap between U.S. tours — the longest break the band has taken in years. Following their early 2012 headlining tour, the band played shows in the Philippines, Australia and the U.K. before settling back home in
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Arizona for the summer after almost 14 straight months of touring. Once home, the band, comprised of Brian, Stephen Gomez (Bass), John Gomez (Guitar), Jess Bowen (Drums) and Josh Montgomery (Guitar), moved into a house together to begin working on their third full-length record. “We probably should have gotten more songs than we did,” Brian admits with a laugh. “But at the end of the day it was absolutely worth it.” Being confined to the same living space enabled the band to learn more about each other than they ever thought possible, as well as figure out exactly what they wanted their next record to sound like. After weeks of day drinking, midnight skinny-dipping and mastering the art of pool, Brian and John headed to Los Angeles to write.
“I call [this record] the ‘Ode to Being Awesome’ record,” Brian says with a straight face, “It’s kind of a ‘fuck it’ record.” After getting out of a relationship early this year, Brian began writing as a form of therapy and one thing led to another. The band wanted to write songs about living in the moment and bring back the energy of their debut full-length, Love Like This (2009). “The second record [Everything’s Fine (2011)] was a lot more toned down, and while I’m still proud of it, we want to combine the first two records with this new one,” Brian explains, adding that the band will spend some more time writing in December. The hope to have a full record to release by spring. Prior to their break from playing shows, the band got used to switching
THE SUMMER SET
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THE SUMMER SET back and forth between touring and recording, but when it came time to join Mayday Parade in the U.K. in September, prior to their U.S. stint with All Time Low which started a few weeks later, the transition was much harder than expected. “I was in a different studio every day for four months, and when I got back on tour all I wanted to do was be back in there recording music,” Brian says. It didn’t take long for him and the rest of the band to get back into the swing of things, but he admits he still hasn’t fully figured out how to successfully write while on tour. He hopes that eventually the band will invest in more recording gear and set it up in the back lounge of their tour bus, but right now the band’s on-tour commitments make the idea of recording demos seem nearly impossible.
fans who came aboard during the Everything’s Fine era, but Brian says it’s too early to tell. In terms of song-writing quality, he says there’s no comparison. “We went into this record taking the best of everything we’ve done before and approaching it like it’s the first time we’ve ever been in the studio,” Brian says. “That’s the mentality I want to keep.” With the band’s writing consistently improving, it’s no surprise that 23-year-old Brian is a little embarrassed of songs 18-year-old Brian wrote. “I was stoked on ‘Girls Freak Me Out’ (off of Love Like This) when I wrote it,” he says. “But now I’m really embarrassed that it exists.” Despite Brian’s personal feelings, songs like “Girls Freak Me Out” still sneak their way into acoustic sets for fans who really love them. “I
“I CALL [THIS RECORD] THE ‘ODE TO BEING AWESOME’ RECORD. IT’S KIND OF A ‘FUCK IT’ RECORD.” BRIAN DALES In addition to their regular live shows every night, The Summer Set have been performing acoustic shows to benefit Invisible Children, an organization that raises awareness of child soldiers in Africa. During the intimate acoustic sets, Brian and John have been performing a new song titled “Legendary,” which has eventually made its way into their full-band show. “I wanted to play it in New York City on my birthday just to humor myself, really,” Brian jokes. “We’ve played it three times so far and I think it’s finally ready to be played here.” The fan response to “Legendary” and their newly-released single, “Fuck U Over,” have been overwhelming, according to Brian. With the majority of the 30 demos written for the third record leaning more toward the high energy level of Love Like This, it wouldn’t be unusual for a bit of backlash to surface from
think that’s important,” he explains, “Because those songs got us to this point.” When it comes to putting set lists together, it’s a lot of give and take. “We’re not Nirvana,” Brian jokes, “We’re not going to cut ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit.’” He adds that he’ll never mind playing “Chelsea,” the band’s first single, live for the “seven millionth time” because fans love it and know all the words. “It makes the show more enjoyable for me when the fans are enjoying it,” Brian says. With their new record, The Summer Set are able to do exactly what they want as a band thanks to the support from their new record label, Fearless Records. The transition from Razor and Tie, their first label, over to Fearless was easy. They switched because of internal changes within Razor and Tie — the label was developing a model for a rock band and The Summer Set didn’t fit into. Fearless approached the NKDMAG.COM
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THE SUMMER SET
“WE’RE NOT NIVANA. WE’RE NOT GOING TO CUT ‘SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT.’” BRIAN DALES
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THE SUMMER SET
band with a lot of interest and ideas, and a negotiation was formed. Following this tour the band will finish writing and then record their Fearless Records debut before hopping back on tour for the rest of the year. “If you don’t see us live next year that is no one’s fault but your own,” Brian jokes. “We’re playing all over the country and foreign countries as well.” The Summer Set are no strangers to the world outside the United States. They’ve played in several countries in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. More recently they traveled to Brazil and the Philippines, where their fan base is so large and passionate that they needed security escorts to walk around. “I like being able to
wander around by myself but I just couldn’t,” Brian says. Though their North American fan base doesn’t require the band to walk around with security guards, fans are still plentiful and just as passionate. When the band performed “Legendary” that night the crowd was already singing along after learning the words from live videos on YouTube. They then proceeded to sing “Happy Birthday” to Brian. The band is doing well, and they’re only going to get better. A few days later I meet up with the band in Baltimore. When I walk onto their tour bus outside of Rams Head Live, the venue they’ll be playing tonight, the five of them are discussing possibilities for their spring tour. Brian
is half listening and half watching a rerun of Boy Meets World on the TV in their front lounge. It’s ironic, really. The television series spent eight years telling the coming of age story of a group of friends, and as I look around the bus I realized that’s exactly what The Summer Set have been doing. Their music tells a consistent story of a boy just trying to figure it all out while having fun along the way, and as their songs have grown, so have the band members as people. With their upcoming record they’re still trying to figure it out, and they’ll probably keep trying with the next one, and the one after that. But they’ve already made an impression on the world, and they’ll end up legendary to somebody. NKD
CONNECT TWITTER FACEBOOK YOUTUBE WITH THE SUMMER SET 38
@THE_SUMMER_SET
FACEBOOK.COM/THESUMMERSET
YOUTUBE.COM/THESUMMERSET
THE SUMMER SET
BACKSTAGE WITH THE SUMMER SET
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NAKED INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT »
TOM FALCONE PHOTOGRAPHY NAME »
TOM FALCONE SHOOTING SINCE »
2007 CONNECT WITH TOM TWITTER
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@THOMASFALCONE
INSTAGRAM @THOMASFALCONE TUMBLR
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WEBSITE
TOMFALCONEPHOTO.COM
HOW DID YOUR INTEREST IN BOTH MUSIC AND PHOTOGRAPHY BEGIN?
WHEN AND HOW DID YOU INITIALLY GET INTO MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHY? Being interested in both music and photography and figuring out how to combine the both at the same time. I was around 16. My first few shows were at the Hamilton Cafe in New Jersey. Shooting local bands such as Moraine [and] The Showcase.
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Music is a given, [for] a 14 [or] 15 year old. I was always listening to local or underground bands because you rarely hear alternative music…besides Nickelback and Foo Fighters…on the radio. Being a big nerd, to this day, I was a young computer geek and came across a lot of awesome [live] band photography that made me interested how to do it. Long story short, I picked up my Mom’s Kodak EasyShare camera, went to a few local shots, worked all summer of 2006 and purchased my first Canon Rebel DSLR because my parents refused to get me a camera.
CAN YOU TAKE US THROUGH YOUR TOURING HISTORY? WHEN AND HOW DID THAT START? It’s weird how it all started, but I’ll never forget the conversation I first had about touring. It was never a thought in my mind until I met Mike Kitlas (guitarist) of Anarbor. I had been taking photos for Stereo Bear Clothing for Fight Fair and Anarbor was playing a show or two with them and it was in South Hackensack, N.J. Can’t remember who introduced Mike and I but we hit it off pretty well, being that he was around 18 and he definitely thought I was the same age. He mentioned that their manager Dave lives in New York and they will be there for a few days and would love if I came to his rooftop to do new promos for them. It ended up never working out, but we stayed it touch. A couple weeks after meeting Mike, the band signed to Hopeless [Records] and scored their first huge tour on the Take Action tour. I hit up their management and we were going to do a shoot or two, and I kind of mentioned me going out with them for a week and he loved the idea. It was my spring break, and I went on tour [at] 16 years old with a band that I can call family, to this day. I did a shoot with There For Tomorrow in 2008 for Glamour Kills, stayed in touch with them, did Warped 2009 for a couple weeks with them. Hopeless hit me up regarding a new band they signed that lived 30 minutes away from me in Poughkeepsie called The In Crowd, did a couple shoots with them, became very close with the band being that they live so close to me where I grew up and did my first entire Warped (2010) as their merch and photographer guy. Ever since Warped 2010, I have not toured with any other band than Mayday Parade. I am hitting the road with them on their fall run with The Maine. I am currently not in college anymore, but did three runs with Mayday Parde in 2011 [and] 2012. Long story short, I met their tour manager in Boston, where I attended school, we became really close friends and he gave me a shot and hired me, not knowing the band at all as well. Weird how it worked out, but they keep asking me back on the road with them.
WHAT MAKES A “TOM FALCONE” PHOTOGRAPH? A lot of people say my photography is a weird twist of styled portraiture, documentary and editorial in one photo. I agree. A lot of it is posed, documentary or editorial, saying something about the subject…if it is ‘they are a hard worker’ or ‘they seem exhausted.’ I just go with what I see to be honest.
DO YOU FEEL ANY PRESSURE IN MAINTAINING A VISUAL STYLE? WHAT AREAS OF PHOTOGRAPHY ARE YOU INTERESTED IN THAT YOU DON’T GET TO SHOOT OFTEN? Yeah, actually. A lot of people that follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, and add me on Facebook only add me because of the band world that I am in. Yes, that is the way I market myself as of now, but it sucks when I post a photo of a model and get around 100 hits on it, but put up a photo of Derek from Mayday and it gets 1,000 in the same exact time. I’ve had a month and a half off since Warped and I’ve been dabbling in a lot of model agencies in New York City, male and female. I want my followers to appreciate both subjects for art, not for who they are. But I can’t force anything on them, you know? In the long run, a lot of model editorial work will be produced once this band photography stuff dies out.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE LOOKING TO DO WHAT YOU DO? Networking is key. Being at the right place, at the right time as well. Don’t treat someone else different because ‘You know who they are.’ Be yourself and don’t immediately meet someone, and feel the need to give them a business card. If you are unique they will remember who you are and most likely see your work and hire you. NKD
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JACK SKULLER Words: Stacy Magallon Âť Photos: Catherine Powell
SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD SINGER/SONGWRITER JACK SKULLER HAS BEEN PASSIONATE ABOUT MUSIC FOR HIS ENTIRE YOUNG LIFE. From his birth in 1996 to present day, music has been everything. “I’ve been around music my entire life,” Jack says. “My dad was a musician for over 30 years, so I was always exposed to it and music became such a natural part of me. I’ve been going to shows since I was in a stroller.” The Hoboken, N.J. native grew up only a few minutes away from New York City — Manhattan and its music scene have always been in his backyard. From age 13, Jack began building a stable relationship with music venues in the city. “New York has always been where it’s all centered,” he says. With early exposure to the world of music, Jack is been a veteran of balancing music and school at the same time. For him, it was never a challenge. “When I learned how to play the piano when I was younger, my parents told me that it somehow helped me to do better in math,” Jack says, laughing. “I don’t know if that’s true, though.” Jack, a high school junior, says keeping his grades up is a priority. College is definitely a possible picture in the young musician’s book, but he’ll have to see if everything goes as planned. “Music comes first,” Jack says. “If I’m not able to support myself, I’d have to go to college right away. It’s definitely something I want to pursue, but music will always be my number one.” For the most part, Jack credits Radio Disney for his recent musical success and growth. The musician was recently featured on season five of Radio Disney’s “Next Big Thing,” a segment that features emerging musicians. Jack refers to recent his eight-city “Next Big Thing” tour as a “luxury tour”. Other than learning the basics of life on the road, Jack says it was an experience he was waiting for for a long time. “From Seattle to Chicago to Orlando, it was a great decision to go through with this tour,” he says. And with the help of the tour, Jack can only move forward from here. With major priorities come sacrifices, and Jack’s social 46
life has been hit hard. “They’re really great,” Jack says of his understanding friends. Though Jack isn’t always physically around, the support of his family and friends is. “With all that’s going on in my life, I’ve had to put so much more focus on my work,” he says. After a typical school day, Jack comes home, does his homework, writes music and prepares himself for upcoming shows. Before he knows it, it’s time to head to bed, which leaves him little time for hanging out. “It’s exhausting and a lot of work,” he says. “But I love it.” Jack makes up for it by happily taking part in his high school adventure, just like his friends. “I haven’t lost anybody,” he says, promising that even though his musical career has evidently distanced him from his friends and social life, it hasn’t gone anywhere. Outside of the classroom, Jack is working on bettering himself as a musician. Jack writes his music with a particular audience in mind: everybody. For someone who is only 16 years old, his biggest musical influences date back to the ’50s and ’60s. Jack cites Elvis Presley, George Harrison and Keith Richards as his main inspirations. “Parents and adults have come up to me and told me they’ve heard the influences in my music, meanwhile younger kids have really related to the lyrics and the melodies,” Jack says. “Those influences are emanating most in my new work. They’re cutting through more than ever before.” Jack’s next goal is to produce music that shows his character, and how much he’s matured and grown over time. He is poised on the edge of major success, and with the support of Radio Disney and his fans, family and friends, he’s preparing to leave his childhood behind in favor of the next step in his career. “A lot of my songs …[are old to me],” Jack says. “I’m trying to build up a new batch of songs that show who I am now. It’s my way of saying that I’m moving on.” NKD
“MUSIC COMES FIRST. IF I’M NOT ABLE TO SUPPORT MYSELF, I’D HAVE TO GO TO COLLEGE RIGHT AWAY.” JACK SKULLER
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Words: Catherine Powell
Who: New Jersey twins Mark and Kelly Shami What: A new clothing line, Tandem When: Dec. 18 Where: TandemLabel.com Why: Because they can
Twins Mark and Kelly Shami, 21, grew up just outside New York City in New Jersey and became obsessed with NYC culture as teenagers. Their father has been working in Hell’s Kitchen for 33 years and Mark and Kelly always found themselves in the city growing up. Over the last few years Mark has had major success with his band Action Item, while Kelly has been working at various fashion magazines while being a full-time student at the School of Visual Arts and running her online store, The Skinny Dip Shop. But none of those projects have anything to do with Tandem. Tandem is a clothing line derived from New York City culture and fashion that started about four months ago. The preview line, which features four crewneck sweatshirts, two graphic tees, beanies, snapbacks and other items, will be officially released on Dec. 18 after weeks of teasing via social media. The project is something Mark and Kelly have been dreaming up for awhile. “It’s amazing seeing the vision come to life,” Mark sayss. The designs, as well as the mentality behind the line, are very minimalist. Each item is limited to no more than 40 pieces each and will not be reprinted. Prior to the creation of Tandem, Kelly ran Skinny Dip out of her NYC apartment. However, the line was mostly geared towards girls aged 16 to 25 and has recently been shut down so all her attention could go to Tandem. Tandem’s designs are
more unisex and diverse. Though Mark has had a lot of success with his musical projects, he does not want that to be a part of Tandem or Tandem’s success. To get the name out there, the company is using guerrilla style marketing and using their friends to spread the word. To premiere the designs, Tandem will be hosting a launch party at Anchor in SoHo on Dec. 15. Guests will be given free pieces to take home. An important part of the brand will be the packaging. Mark wants every package to be unique and shipped on time, so he’ll be stocking his tour bus with Tandem gear to ship out at every stop on Action Item’s headlining tour this January and February. “If you get something in the mail and it’s packaged nicely, from the buttons to the tags, you appreciate it more,” Mark says. “I want people to feel cool when they wear our designs.” The name Tandem derived from a tandem bike — a twoperson bike — playing off the fact that Mark and Kelly are twins. The logo, which has two snakeheads to represent Mark and Kelly, is in the shape of an infinity sign, which also looks like the number eight. The number has a lot of significance in the twins’ lives. Kelly lives on the 8th floor in her apartment building and their house number growing up was 88. All in all, Tandem is for people, and Mark’s main goal with the company is “to make people feel like the shit.” NKD NKDMAG.COM 49
SUM 41
WORDS: ISAAC BATE » PHOTOS: CATHERINE POWELL
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THERE ARE PROBABLY FEWER THAN 10 SONGS THAT WHEN PLAYED LOUD ENOUGH WILL GUARANTEE A WORD PERFECT SHOUT-ALONG FROM ANY GIVEN CROWDED ROOM, AND SUM 41 WROTE AT LEAST TWO OF THEM.
I for one am yet to see the opening riffs of “Fat Lip” or “The Hell Song” met with anything other than total enthusiasm. Tonight, Irving Plaza in New York City is the ninth stop on the band’s “Does This Look Infected” 10th anniversary tour, and, three hours before the show is due to start, there is already a group of faithful fans waiting at the entrance. Some of them are wearing shorts and even vests, and they are all shivering in temperatures that are hovering around freezing — the tragedy of punk is that it doesn’t allow much room for dressing warmly. Inside the venue, another outfit is conducting video interviews and three of the band members are bathed in the warmth of portable studio lighting. Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley is nowhere to be seen, though. By the time the video interviews are over, guitarist Tom Thacker has wandered off as well. Fortunately, drummer Steve Jocz and bassist Cone McCaslin are willing to talk music, politics and touring. For a band that is so firmly rooted in punk, Sum 41 apparently has a traditionalist streak when it comes to production — though Steve acknowledges that the majority of people no longer listen to albums in the same way they did when Sum 41 first began producing them, he’s defiant about it. “On this most recent album [Screaming Bloody Murder (2011)] we completely ignore that fact, because we wanted to make an album that was like a traditional album, a journey that if you listened to it from beginning to end it comes across as one single thing. We know that people don’t do that, but some do. I’m kind of guilty of both.”
Cone doesn’t feel that the two ways of writing necessarily conflict. “On that album it works both ways,” he says. “Pick a song or listen to it front to back.” Perhaps bothering to produce an album that rewards the serious listener, in a musical era in which the majority of artists have a singular focus on creating hit singles that will prop up their albums, is not traditionalist so much as it is stubborn — and stubbornness was always a crucial attribute of punk rock. The most important emotion in punk is anger. If it weren’t for that raw, potent feeling, the music would be robbed of its power. A throw away line I overhear Steve say during the video interview prior to our own caught my attention. He said, casually, that he doesn’t get mad anymore. I ask him if that’s true, if the band finds it harder now they are a little older to find things that really stir up that anger. Cone quickly jumps in and tells me, “That was a complete lie.” Steve feigns anger, briefly, shooting a loud “Fuck you” at either Cone or myself, before laughing cheerfully. On this last album,” Cone explains, “Deryck had gone through such a rough time in his life that he found something to write about. I think on every album you can find something that’s either going right in your life or wrong in your life, or something in the world that’s bugging you. There’s still stuff to write about. We haven’t gone dry yet.” There is no shortage of things in the world that bug the band. Although their earliest hits were mostly fueled by a generalized adolescent frustration, Underclass Hero (2007), was at times much more explicitly political. Perhaps that’s NKDMAG.COM
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‘I’M NOT GOING TO SUCK SOMEBODY’S DICK JUST BECAUSE THEY’RE THE YOUNGER GENERATION.” STEVE JOCZ 52
“I REMEMBER BEING IN STEVE’S BASEMENT HOURS ON END TRYING TO COME UP WITH THE GREATEST LIVE SHOW WE COULD EVER COME UP WITH. WE USED TO HAVE TRAMPOLINES.” CONE MCCASLIN NKDMAG.COM
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where the band will find inspiration in the future, as it doesn’t most recent one, no. We all really like the way this new album take long for Steve to get more than a little worked up about came, and the process of how it worked where we just sort of the current political situation. “I’m glad Romney didn’t get took our time and didn’t rush things, and sort of let the songs elected… I mean he’s a fucking nightmare,” Steve says. “He happen naturally. I think we’ve discovered that if you over doesn’t give a fuck about regular people, he’s just some think it, bad things happen. It’s better when you just sort of rich guy.” That sounds more like the drummer of one of the do it.” greatest punk bands ever, but before long, he’s talking about Judging by the line outside the venue, there is still healthcare in a knowledgeable, frustrated tone. “Obama appetite for punk rock, and yet older bands like Sum 41 should have gone all the way and made it a single-payer continue to dominate the scene, without much apparent system like we have in Canada or England, because that fresh input. Cone still sees a thriving punk scene, though. “I makes sense. The Canadian system is not perfect, but people think it’s just a bit of a different time,” he says. “A punk band don’t lose their houses in Canada for having a heart attack, now doesn’t necessarily need to be on the radio or TV, and so he went as far as they let him go but not far enough in my they can still play places like this. Not everyone knows them opinion.” It might not be what you expect from the band that in the mainstream, because they’re not on the radio but… I wrote Asshole, but it’s reassuring to know that there are still would call some of the newer punk bands big still because things that get the band worked up, even 16 years after they they’re playing places like Irving Plaza.” Steve agrees that the first formed. genre has not disappeared so much as it has been hidden Sixteen years is a long time, period, and even longer in the by the vast popularity of pop music. “Pop is huge now,” he music business. And yet Sum 41 are not only still together, says. “That’s the main thing. Rock music will always be there, but extraordinarily active. They have a well-deserved repubut it’s not going to sell like that shit does. People don’t buy tation as a phenomenal albums anymore, it’s live band who tour nearly a completely different non-stop. game.” Neither Cone nor “It’s actually something Steve has any time for that even before we were what Steve colorfully signed we put a lot of describes as “Screamy effort into,” Cone says. math rock shit that’s like “I remember being in Norwegian death metal Steve’s basement hours mixed with math punk on end trying to come rock shit. With synthesizup with the greatest live ers.” It’s the synthesizers show we could ever come crossed with punk that up with. We used to have seems to be particularly » CONE MCCASLIN « trampolines and…” Steve upsetting to them. Cone cuts in at the mention of tells a story about a band trampolines. “We used to he refuses to name. “We’re go a bit overboard with putting this tour together the gimmicks,” he says. for the West Coast next Cone nods, remembering. year, and our manager “We put fireworks on the sent us this band that’s end of our headstocks and set them off,” he says. “Whatever it kind of like a punk band but they have synths and a DJ. Are took, because nobody knew who we were.” you fucking kidding me? There’s a synthesizer going behind “At the time,” Steve adds, “we didn’t have a lot of songs, this pop punk music. I’m sure there’s a plethora of these kinds so we’d go and play these shows with these ghetto pyros. of bands but the thing was they could draw like 500 to 800 Remember when that nightclub [The Station] burned down? people. It doesn’t even matter, I’m not going to subject our It was before all that. Obviously after that it was not an fans to this crap every night.” acceptable thing to do. Now obviously it’s more song and I distinctly remember my school principal dismissing Sum performance based because we actually have a catalogue of 41 as garbage, and I tell the band that it’s funny to hear them music we can go to, we don’t have to rely on gimmicks, but talking that way about a younger generation’s music. “Not it’s something that we’ve always worked on.” all of it,” Steve says. “But I’m just being honest. I’m not going The band does not shy away at all from playing older hits to suck somebody’s dick just because they’re the younger from their back catalogue. “This tour’s been fun because we generation. Some stuff is just like, I don’t get it.” Cone is also haven’t played some of these songs in 10 years,” Cone says. quick to note that he doesn’t feel that way about a lot of “We’ve been playing “Does This Look Infected” pretty much new music. “There are also new bands that are awesome. front to back and kids seem to be loving it. They go mental Like Sharks, they’re like 21 and they play good music, they for every song.” Playing their earlier music does not inspire write good music,” he says. Steve is more nonplussed by nostalgia in the band, however, who feel that trying to the proliferation of such music than anything approaching recreate or force a sound is a mistake. “I think we might have annoyance. “I’m also just an old fart,” he says, amicably. “I’m done that a bit on Underclass Hero,” Steve says. “But on this like a 60 year old man in a 30 year old’s body.” NKD
“WE’VE BEEN PLAYING ‘DOES THIS LOOK INFECTED’ PRETTY MUCH FRONT TO BACK AND KIDS SEEM TO BE LOVING IT. THEY GO MENTAL FOR EVERY SONG.”
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FLASHBACK: DERYCK WHIBLEY, WARPED TOUR 2010
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LARZZ Larzz Principato, once the face behind pop-punk act Show Me the Skyline, is stepping into a new spotlight in the music industry. The New York City local, now a signed artist in Japan, discusses his beginnings, his musical process and his experiences overseas.
WORDS: Stacy magallon PHOTOS: CATHERINE POWELL
HOW DID YOU GET STARTED? HOW DID YOU GET TO WHERE YOU ARE NOW? When I was in high school, I started a band called Show Me the Skyline. It was back when this website called MySpace existed. It started getting a lot of action on the website, a lot of song plays and a little fan base. Since it was a solo project, I decided to change my direction and make it more clear. I changed my name to just Larzz and started to experiment with more pop and electronic stuff. I soon got a record deal in Japan and I released an album over there. I went and did a sold out tour and definitely got a big fan base from that.
LARZZ
HOW ARE YOU WORKING TO EXPAND YOUR FAN BASE HERE? I just released this EP and music video, which will hopefully gain some attraction. Also through social networking and meeting people.
LARZZ
HOW IS YOUR NEW EP DIFFERENT FROM YOUR PREVIOUS RELEASES? I feel like this time around, I was more thoughtful about putting a certain message — positivity, having a good time, not having any worries and just living life to the fullest. I know a little bit more now.
LARZZ
WHAT’S YOUR WRITING PROCESS LIKE? Recently I’ve been producing my own stuff. Every day, I’ll produce a new track, and the ones I like, I’ll write to. I start out with the vibe of the instrumental track and I’ll figure out the lyrical content and what the entire song can be again. After that, I try drawing ideas and inspiration from different things going on in my life.
LARZZ
DO YOU PREFER WORKING IN THE STUDIO WITH A PRODUCER OR WORKING BY YOURSELF? I like both. By myself, I have more creative control. But in a studio setting, there’s added pressure to get things done. I like both for different reasons, but I wouldn’t say that I like one better than the other.
LARZZ
WHAT ELSE DO YOU HAVE GOING ON FOR THE REST OF 2012 AND EARLY 2013?
HOW DO PEOPLE REACT TO YOU IN JAPAN COMPARED TO THE U.S.?
LARZZ
They’re super respectful over there. We were playing and they were really into the show, we’d stop, and they’d be intently staring at us, waiting for us to speak or say something. Definitely a little awkward in comparison to America. They’re there to watch the artist and hear what they have to say.
CONNECT WITH
Writing all the time. I like writing for different artists and writing for myself. NKD
LARZZ
AFTER A SOLD OUT SHOW IN JAPAN, IS IT WEIRD PLAYING SHOWS IN THE U.S.? LARZZ It’d be cool if there were as many people here, but we’re working on it.
LARZZ
FACEBOOK » FACEBOOK.COM/LARZZ
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GET NAKED