After seeing SGT perform at a Battle of the Bands at my college a few months ago, I knew they were different. Effortlessly emanating talent and ambition, all while maintaining a down-to-earth appeal, they pleasantly surprised me and stood out of the line-up for actually playing good music and avoiding gimmicks or aesthetic traps. They truly couldve looked around that night and known with confidence that they were easily the best band there. But these four working class guys from Long Island are too modest to brag, and almost too modest to offer up details on their band.
Bassist Paulie DeVincenzo, along with drummer Mike Romeo, guitarist Brian Zaharatos, and vocalist/guitarist Chris Gabriel, have been playing together since their senior year at Patchogue Medford high school. Their intense passion for music compelled them to form this band. As Chris himself put it, SGT's music sounds like "the soundtrack to a dream set in the future in which you are being chased on rollerblades". You can judge for yourself, starting by checking out the tracks available here or at www.purevolume.com/sgt. The guys just released a new E.P, self-titled, including the songs "Burning Bridges", "Goodnight, Goodnight", "Get Up", "Keep You Here", and "Free". SGT produced this new bouncing bundle of joy, with help from their good friends Jason McMenemy, Rob Guariglia, Ken Harter, who conquered the mixing, and Steve Mangonaro who created the art work for the album. The E.P is available on their various websites and at their performances.
Aiming to take their band to the top of the world, you can catch SGT playing gigs frequently. Show listings, as well as anything else you could ever want to know about the band, aside from their favorite colors or personal neuroses, are available on their website www.sgtmusic.com, as well as on www.purevolume.com/sgt.SGT gives me hope for the idea of the struggling young band. These days when so many acts subscribe to a uniform and strain themselves to attain success by trying to be something theyre not, its nice to know theres a group out there that understands what it means to be young and in a band.
By Sara Nowak
