Broken Records Magazine
Unsigned Spotlight by Gerard Ucelli
The music scene of Staten Island, N.Y. is getting m o r e diversified. There are plenty of sub genres of young bands to classify and choose from. If there is one band that pulls it off with consistency and delivery, City Side Up are your guys. The band members are Steven Olsen (Lead Vocals/Guitar), Andrew Orlandi (Bass), and Andrew Messina (Drums). With catchy melodies, diligence and out of the ordinary teamwork, this poppunk band can definitely turn some heads. City Side Up released their debut EP, Don’t Say A Word (2009). In terms of creativity, there is this urge of curiosity for any fan to wonder what the songs for any band are about. The topics of songs and the history about
it have so much variety that examples for backing it up wouldn’t be necessary. “The four-track EP titled Don’t Say a Word was mainly a “short-and-sweet EP” written about our emotions and events that were going on in our lives at the time. It was our first venture writing as a band lyrically and musically. We believe we accomplished what we set out to do with that EP and that was to create a little bit of a buzz and spark an interest in those who listen to us,” said City Side Up Something that goes hand and hand for the music industry is a plan. Even though planning out the future too much can lead to disappointment, it’s never good to go in the music industry unprepared at any point. According to City Side Up, they are in between both. “As a band we don’t like to get too ahead of ourselves, although we do plan for the long-term. As with any kind of plans for the future, those plans are subject to change. Ultimately, one of our main goals is to have played at Madison Square Garden within a span of five years,” said City Side Up.
Riot Control, an alternative- metal band from Staten Island, N.Y, formed around the summer of 2009. None of them would realize how serious they were going to be in the mere 6-7 months of playing together. All of the band members are currently in high school. “It’s a passion just going on stage and having fun. How many people can say that they could get on stage in front of people that aren’t their close friends? We finally have people coming out to the shows that aren’t just our friends instead of the same 30 people. When we played at Hot Topic, there were just other people walking by. Its music we wrote and put our hearts into and it’s just a lot of fun with great experience,” said Gene, drummer. For Riot Control the ideas of youth and relativity will eventually be featured on their upcoming EP. The direction that they are heading in promises nothing, but being “authentic” and that the “sky is only the limit.” “The actual title of our EP which is due to come out this summer will hopefully be in the beginning of July. It is entitled The World Around Us. It deals with us growing up as LJ, singer, has said and it’s like our emotions to how we feel without faking people out with fake lyrics to the song that don’t mean anything,” said Gene. When idea for a song is structured, there seems to be
this definitive strategy that Riot Control has the ability of achieving. “For creative control, most ideas of the actual music come from Gene and Matt. They write the music and then I just write the lyrics over it or Gene will help me write the lyrics,” said LJ. There are countless bands that have done acoustic sets in various sub genres of rock. This list can range from Korn, Nirvana, All Time Low, Emery, and the list goes on. It would always be interesting if a metal band ever did an acoustic set because of how creative they bring their capacity by rewriting their style to make sure it fits with the concept of an acoustic performance. “I honestly don’t think we would for a couple of reasons. One is that we really don’t want to sell out. We want to stay true to the kind of music were writing. We don’t want to change our sound. Doing an acoustic set would be a very mainstream kind of thing,” said LJ.
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