Total absence of sincerity...
I ( along with many others ) am sick of MTV's foul - ups, and VH1's blunders... I can't understand exactly why major labels have turned their backs on REAL MUSIC, in exchange for a couple extra dollars, and a nice ass!! If this keeps up, we will NEVER see another band like The Beatles, or Led Zeppelin, and that is UNACCEPTABLE!!
I am here for the purpose of networking. I am hoping to meet ANYONE interested in hearing, or signing a REAL musician. This includes like-minded bands/musicians, record companies, independent labels, producers, and regular-old-people, like myself.
I've had enough of the talentless garbage that makes it's way to the radio!
The time is now. Real music lies in the underground...
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-Staten Island Advance -
BLANKTAPE
The only band with members old enough to have a beer on stage at Mystic Lounge, BlankTape is apparently just getting started on its own sound after about a year of playing together.
"I don't know how the other guys feel, but in my mind there's one song to record called 'Time Has Come,'" says drummer Richard Ponzi, a demolition construction worker who lives in Bulls Head. "That to me is our first step away from our first year of growth. It's the first move toward sounding original, not just bits and pieces of everything else, you know?"
Ponzi and the band's other members -- Jay Sedita (guitars/vocals), James Bergren (bass) and Adam Derosa (guitar/vocals), all from the Island -- draw influences from the classics. The drummer's got John Bonham's interlocked circles tattooed on his arm, and he describes the band as a mix of The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, but turned up loud.
"Those are the bands I grew up with. It's not really the emo stuff or the screamo stuff," he says. "We're more geared to people our own age. We try to be a powerhouse."
According to Ponzi, a stranger once approached the band after a particularly ferocious performance and said they should change their name to "Tough Act To Follow." But he says that even if the band comes in last, he'll be happy for the chance to play to a crowd instead of the band's usual draw of 15 or so.
"I actually can't wait. I love this kind of thing, I really do."
**Contact AWE music writer Ben Johnson at [email protected].