Nifty Breed

    After forming an alternative rock band in 2008, Matty was desperately trying to rid the band of the name they all seemed to hate. "I was trying to think of something that seemed both interesting and kind of silly." Nifty Breed, looking good on paper, was the band's new name.
    Long Island has many small scenes all around, mostly dominated by pop-punk and hardcore bands. "Beyond that, there are some less popular but functioning alternative/indie scenes that would be more our style, but lately it seems everyones making the big move to the city, a move we aren't able to make yet. We kind of drift between every scene and don't really have roots in any particular one and I'm okay with that." Says Matty, the band vocalist and guitar player.

    This Long Island alternative rock band is made up of two pairs of lifelong friends. Matty and the band's drummer, Jordan, have been friends since they were toddlers. Alex, the band guitarist, and Brian, the bassist, have been friends since birth. "Originally Jordan and Brian were not in the band. Alex and I were playing a show together with a brand new drummer and no bassist (due to unfortunate circumstances) and Brian had come to see us play. Since we had just lost our bass player and I recently learned he played bass, I announced at that show that he was to be our new bass player. After another drummer or two, Jordan found his way into the band and it's been this line up since 2009." recalls Matty.
    The band's influence is drawn from bands like Nirvana, At the Drive-In, 311, Incubus, The Beatles, Silverchair and a lot of other bands from several genres. "We are a very diverse bunch. Our sound is really all over the place. We try not to stick to a distinct style when we write. Musically, some songs are heavy and some songs are more lighthearted, but overall it's all about melody. A lot of the songs lyrically are kind of dark and some may tie into others by chance but each song is able to stand on it's own. All the lyrics are personal and relate to me in one way or another. Sometimes I don't realize this until long after a song is written. Hopefully people can take what they want from our songs because they aren't written with any specific people or messages or themes in mind." Says Matty.

    Talk Before You Speak, the band's debut album, will hopefully be made available in early 2012. "We spent a solid month just tracking everything, and now it is just a matter of making everything sound good and balanced. We are having fun experimenting with different ideas that we couldn't really do on the demos due to time constraints. Crazy ideas like strings, bongos, cowbell and insane noises, stuff we normally wouldn't have taken the time to try out. The public can expect an album that is basically us. Our heart and soul was put into this record and it will be very pure and very raw but still sound good, which is what I think every band strives for in an album."
    The band expects to continue playing shows and reach a wider audience. All the band truly wants out of their experiences is to be heard. Be sure to check out the band's Facebook for updates on the band and upcoming debut album, Talk Before You Speak.

Dreams From Gin

    With a unique and fitting name, Rochester alternative rock band, Dreams From Gin, has racked up quite the interesting resume. The band opened for Local H, which happened to be guitarist/vocalist Tyson Prince's childhood rock n'roll band, in Syracuse and opened for Grammy-nominated artist, Chris Trapper in fall 2010. The band was also featured in the PS3 and PC video game, Beat Hazard Ultra.
    The band's home base is Rochester, New York where they are very proud with their local music scene. "Rochester has a popular local music scene lurking beneath the surface. We have two popular radio stations, 90.5 WBER and 89.7 WITR that constantly plays local indie music. We have several clubs, including the BugJar, that constantly books national and local bands of all flavors." Although the band has a hard time fitting into the prominent genres in the area.

    "Instead of being left out, we use it as a strength. Dreams from Gin is flexible and it has allowed us to covertly play what would be considered "scene shows." We are angry enough to play with "hardcore" bands, fun enough to play with the punk bands and our pedal boards are large enough to play with the indie bands. It has allowed us to form a lot of relationships with a lot of different types of bands." Tyson Prince, guitarist/vocalist, and Travis Hafner, drummer, formed the band in October 2008 during college, but before they could start a band, they needed to find a practice space. The band found a legendary practice space, one that could go down in history as the coolest makeshift space.
    "We ended up renting a large abandoned gas station as a practice space. It was a pretty interesting time, we would have these incredible parties with dozens of musicians and spectators, passing around gear. It was a really creative place, we had art drawings on the wall and used the special of the wipe board to write lyrics. Soon enough, our bassist extrodonaire Christian came by and Dreams from Gin was born." Unfortunately, the band's space wouldn't last forever and after both landlords died, the gas station was taken by the bank and the band had to move on. Since forming, the band has replaced Travis with Nick Manka on the drums.

    The band has many influences and they feel that it reflects in their music. The band's tastes are extensive and range from grunge, Mclusky, Nirvana, Modest Mouse, to Folk, Fleet Foxes and Two Gallants, to Instrumental, Explosions in the Sky and Russian Circles, to Pop, Hooverphonic and Red Hot Chili Peppers." The band describes their music as "cynical, sometimes angry depressed, sometimes maybe even happy but mostly tongue in cheek."
    "I think we represent the duality and hypocritical nature of the human experience.  For better or worse we don't stick to a specific formula or genre.  As far as a message, some songs have a specific meaning and others just convey an emotion or feeling, most of the time it's both.  Occasionally, a chorus to a song is completely unrelated to the verse. I think it's like a little snippet of life, it doesn't always come at you in a neat little package with a easy translated message.  Sometimes your witnessing or contemplating something and then another issue or event comes up in the blink of an eye. Sometimes you get a Non-sequitur." Says Tyson.

    Recently, the band released a "hits" compilation album titled Rabbits Run in Prides. "It is free on our website and is a great starter to anyone interested in Dreams from Gin. I think it represents our best material and the diversity of our material. Songs range from the energetic and clever "Typewriter", the thoughtful and lyrical "Stoic" to the slightly strange anthem that is "Stereo Fire!"  It also includes our take on a pop hit "Mad about you."  The album's a strange beast, a duck billed platypus, weird to experience at first. Soon though, your addicted to the strange delicacy, and you just can't get it out of your head."
    The band is currently on a short hiatus, taking time off to work on an album's worth of new material. "We have about half a dozen songs written now.  The song writing process has been a lot of fun and the chemistry is right.  We all tend to be jokesters, laid back and little cynical, so the songs come together very easily.  I intend this album to have a slightly bigger budget than in the past, which means we can finally fit in everything we want.  We will most likely start performing again in December. Also, we really want to push Dreams from Gin to be involved in more media projects, video games, online movies, etc.  I think our music is perfect for it; we have a diverse catalog of songs and generally let anyone use our music for free.  The internet has given us a chance to reach fans all over the country (and world).  I really enjoy all of the fan mail or tributes we receive.  If we managed to scrounge enough funds we'd love to do a cross-country tour.  You never know what's in the card, we've come a long way from our humble beginnings in an abandoned gas station."

Perils Rise

    Perils Rise is a metalcore band out of the small town of Dover Plains, NY. The band formed in August 2010 and took their name from a Devils Wear Prada song lyric. "We chose the name because it reflected what we were going through with the band at the time. By standard definition, peril is a danger spawned by a specific action. We've all taken risks an encountered problems by choosing to put all of ourselves into our music. It seemed fitting." Says the band.
    Unfortunately, Dover Plains is not large enough to have it's own music scene, but the community does give the band lots of support. The band drives nearby to Poughkeepsie and plays shows through Killer Cool Entertainment. "The scene in Poughkeepsie is awesome, people actually care about their local bands. We're a new band around there, but we're quickly becoming part of the family." Says the band.

    The band started in early August without a guitarist, but soon recruited Travis Tompkins after his band broke up. Travis wasn't very interested in the music the rest of the band wanted to make, but brought along his friend Kyle. For a while, it wasn't clear if Travis and Kyle were in the band or not, but soon it became apparent that they were there to stay.
    The members of the band have a diverse music taste and the band itself tries to make music that sounds good. Some influential bands include The Devil Wears Prada, August Burns Red, and Every Time I Die. The group describes their music as metalcore with surprises. "We mix it up a lot from song to song. From a lyrical standpoint, our current release has a very specific theme. It follows the struggle of life and how it is never acceptable to give up. Never give in, keep following your dreams."

    On August 22, 2011, the band released their EP Persevere, Persevere. The EP contained 5 tracks that the band had written over the course of a year. "the sound of the EP changes from song to song. It's pretty crazy. I touched base on the lyrical meaning of the album, but to really understand you would have to read the lyrics of each song. It's a journey in every sense of the word. All in all, we couldn't be more proud with how everything came out."
    Currently, the band is working on writing their debut full-length album. "Things have been a bit busy for us with a few important shows coming up, but it's going pretty well so far. We have some rough ideas that you are certainly going to like, and you'll be hearing some things you wouldn't expect from us. At the moment, we're looking to release a single in the next few months."

    Recently, the band's single,"Let's Have A Serious Conversation" reached #1 on the Purevolume metalcore chart. "[It was] mind blowing and such an honor. We did not expect such a huge reaction from the single. And to continually get back to the top with each release was equally as mind blowing every time. Our fans are the absolute best."
    The band will continue playing several local shows while they focus on writing the album. "Expect some lineup changes around December due to Travis' unfortunate departure for the Navy. And if all goes according to plan, expect to see us touring to a city near you starting Summer 2012!"

Through The Static

    Through The Static is an all-female (almost) pop-punk band out of Long Island, NY. The band came together in October 2007 and got their name at random, through a band vote.
    After deciding on the name, the band tok time to figure out why it was a good fit for the band. "Static is pertaining to a fixed or stationary condition or showing little or no change. If you are through the static, you are vulnerable to change. The daily grind or a routine everyone goes through on a day to day basis can be described as static, if you break this cycle, you become through the static. It also is a statement against the media and technology's firm grip on society today. Don't listen to or watch the static on the TV and turn into a drone, break through the static and explore the world around you. Ask questions and discover the truth and yourself in the process.
Through the Static means you are breaking the status quo and doing the unexpected. By being an all girl band, we are breaking the status quo and doing the unexpected."

    According to the girls, Long Island has a generally good scene for lots of genres, frm hardcore to pop-punk. "long island has a generally good music scene for every genre, you just gotta know where to look. There many great bands that have came and continue to come out of long island: Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, Patent Pending, The Movielife, Soldiers, This is Hell, Bomb the Music Industry etc. etc. The one scene that I think is struggling here is Ska."
    The band plays local shows at The Wave in Patchogue where the band actually started. They even play a few hardcore shows at Sinclair's Pub. "We play all over the island, as much as possible."

(Photo: Brianna Perciallia)

    Originally, the band was more of a cover band and consisted of comopletely different members with the only common demoninator being Jess Fresh, the band's songwriter, guitarist and vocalist.
    After several member changes and a debut EP, the band is still incomplete. Although the band has a fantastic fill-in drummer, Anthony Corso, whose only fault is being male. The band hopes to find another female guitarist as well as a female drummer. The current line-up consists of Jess Fresh, Amie Bernstein (vocals/songwriter), Kashmir Manas (Bass), and fill-in Anthony Corso.
    The band very much enjoys playing all kinds of shows. "We book wherever and whenever we possibly can. We love playing shows and try to play as much as possible to get people to listen to our songs. We try to give a lot of energy at our shows. A good time should always be expected at one of our gigs. We dance, jump and f*ck around a lot. Guarantee we will make you laugh with us or at me." Says Jess.

(Photo: Brianna Perciallia)

    The conception of the band's debut EP, We Can Do It!, was far from smooth. The girls were ripped off by someone who was supposed to be their friend. The band recorded three songs and the band was charged $10/hour and was charged a ridiculous amount for mixing, which they were not present for. "We ended up paying for two songs and self-produced one of the tracks ourselves. We ended up sending him a professional letter basically explaining that he did a sh*t job and that if this is what he wants to do with his life, he shouldn't produce sub-par work and then put his name on it. Needless to say, my friend doesn't talk to me anymore, and he's still recording bands."
    The band picked the three songs, "Chestnut Ave.", "S.G.R." & "Mars", specifically because they were the first three songs they had written together as a band. "All of the tracks on the E.P. all stand out from each other. One is very upbeat, catchy & straightforward, the other is more hardcore influenced with a breakdown, and the last track is a very downbeat, slow, & alternative-stadium rock like. The overall sound probably shows our major influences all sliced up into three different songs. You throw that all together in a blender, you get Through the Static."

    According to the band, WCDI! was a sort of sampler of what the band could do as well as a call to arms to female musicians. "'We Can Do It!' was a quote used on a Rosie the Riveter poster, and that's where the idea was inspired from." After the EP's release in early April 2011, it received decent feedback in it's first weeks. It would again resurface after being featured on the blog, Idle & The Bear during the summer.
    The girls hope to record a full-length in the near future and also hope to solidify their line-up. "There are 16 songs written. I know our fans have been dying for some new music from us and I apologize - you can expect some self-produced tracks up soon. We have been spending time redoing our studio room and have been slacking on the music. You can be sure that our full length will be out before the end of the year. I'm going to shoot for spring, if not earlier. We are also being featured on a local TV station. We hope to record a music video once the album comes out, and tour during the summer!"

The Last Autumn and The Fancy Pantaloons! EP

We got to catch up with Uncharted Music News alumni, Tristan Stafford of The Last Autumn! and he talked about his upcoming EP!

How are have you been doing since the last time we talked to you? How are things going?
:Things are going great! I'm finishing up The Fancy Pantaloons! EP, going back Sunday to finish up some vocal parts. Maybe throw in some bass. You know, the works!

Tell us about your success on Purevolume! How were you able to pull it all off? 
:Haha it was 10 days of 100+ straight plays. So it earned me about 1000 plays over all. But some how, I have about 2500 plays! And they also emailed me the other day saying I'd be a featured artist sometime this week.

What can you tell us about the new EP? How many tracks are on it?
:The new EP is going to be all just some super cute songs with alot of emotion tied in with it. It's definitely going to be a good one, for sure. and the main EP will be a 4 song EP and the special edition will be released around Halloween or Early November with one more track entitled TheUmbrellaSong!

Tell us a bit about the songs on the EP. How are they different than previous songs you've done? 
:Well for these new releases, it'll be studio quality and tracked and mastered and stuff. The new songs are going to be totally different! There's some stuff about those Summer romances, some stuff about hot cocoa and coffee, and even a song about a giant bee teaching me things haha. It's definitely a trip.

What's next for your project?
:I'm actually writing two new ukulele songs and going to re-do a few older ones on uke. I'm going to add some electronica/techno elements to see if I can get a totally new sound too! I'm super stoked.

Anything else you'd like to say or address?
:Well that I'm definitely thankful for everything that everyones done for me. Whether it be promoting, or just listening. It's all extremely helpful.

Oh! And that TheFancyPantaloons Drops early October on iTunes for 4.95$ and that comes with 4 songs, and if you pre-order it comes with one other song, and possibly a physical copy. Just message me on here for pre-orders and I'll be stoked to hit people up with it!

The Tattoo Rebellion

      Alternative rock band, The Tattoo Rebellion's familiar 90's rock sound will remind many listeners of bands like The Foo Fighters and Janes Addiction.
      The band formed after the break-up of the band Tragic Orange. "I decided to move back home to Montreal, Canada." Says band guitarist, Viko. "Phil and I had written a handful of songs and we had this great musical connection that we felt we didn’t want to lose. I reconnected with Taza (drums) and Roach (bass) from my old band and presented them with the idea to form a band. We decided to give ourselves the time to write and really dig deep down and just go back to our roots as musicians, and what had shaped us as musicians growing up. What really made us want to play music, and the rest is history."
      The band describes their sound as "90's rock on steroids" and site genres like grunge, metal and punk as sources of influence.

      The band is currently working on an album which they say is "for a generation of revolution, love, rock n roll." The band has been working on the album for several months now and has enlisted the help from Kevin Jardine of Uplift Productions and the band, Slaves on Dope. "It really took shape when our producer (Kevin Jardine) got his hands on it. It has a great rocking sound with an original edge." Says Viko.
      The band also says that through the album, they hope to send a message to listeners, telling them who they are, where they come from and what they expect from " this entire fucked generation." Also that band would like to say that "You'll have to listen to the album to hear the subliminal messages."
      The band is currently adding their finishing touches to the album and are getting things organized to start filming their videos, selecting singles, and most importanly, hitting the road to promote the upcoming album.

The Raygun Girls

      Geoff Saavedra is the man behind the music for the Hard Rock project, The Raygun Girls. The name was inspired by a song on The Clay People's self titled album. "I liked what Trent Reznor was doing with Downward Spiral, but the Clay People was much rougher, much more guitar oriented.  Also, the lead singer (Dan Neet), was singing how I did - with a rough growl.  Even through the anger, they had melody.  So, we picked that name as sort of an homage to them."
      Geoff works with artists all over the world to create Raygun's heavy, guitar driven sound. "There's a Punk attitude along with the heavy Sabbath grooves.  It's a little too Industrial to be called Heavy Metal, and a little too Heavy Metal to be called Rock, so I've been calling it Hard Rock.  Gothic Rock sometimes works, but we're also a little too Metal to be just Gothic Rock." Says Geoff.

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      The Raygun Girls haven't always been a one-man show. Geoff and Jamie Lendino collaborated in a heavy metal band with Geoff on guitar and Jamie on the drums. After getting a bit bored, the band began playing with guitar loops with Geoff singing. What started as a side project quickly came to the forefront when the heavy metal band threw in the towel. "Jamie and I started to seriously record an album under The Raygun Girls name.  We got backing vocal help from a female friend who was in a folk band- I thought that we needed a contrast to my gruff sounding vocals."
      "When we started, the music was much more electronic, and it was only going to be a studio band.  Also, it was just me and Jamie writing all of the music.  We got such a good reaction to the first album, "Mars Eclipsing", that we put together a live band.  In 2004, Jamie left, and the core of the band became me and George Tsolekas (bass and backing vocals)." Their next album, The Ones I Denied, featured female vocalist, Maya, to the front of the band. "There has always been an underlying darkness to the music.  I once described it as looking at life from the opposite angle- expressing anger, sadness.  There's a lot of themes of loneliness in the lyrics."
   

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      The band was signed to an Indie Label, replaced Maya with Cila, and originally recorded their album, Dirt Collector, for the label. Unfortunately, the label went belly-up. After releasing Dirt Collector on their own, Geoff underwent emergency heart surgery. Without label support and due to Geoff's health issues, the band took a break. Geoff continues to work on music under the name, releasing the album, The Taker on July 25th.
      "After trying to, unsuccessfully, find other band members, I decided to stop waiting and just began to record, enlisting help, through the internet, from female vocalists around the world.  I'm very happy with what turned out, and I truly believe that it is the next step for The Raygun Girls. George still helps out a lot with opinions and lyrics (he wrote "Designated Killer" on the new album), and Cila might return at some point." Says Geoff.

The Last Autumn

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      NeverShoutNever and The Ready Set fans, meet Tristen Stafford, the mind behind acoustic-pop project, The Last Autumn. This young musician hails from Ithaca, New York and was inspired by sad love songs to create something completely different. He hopes to make people happy and even excited when they listen to his music.
      Tristen was influenced to start creating music by bands like Two Door Cinema Club and Jack Johnson less than a year ago. Like most young musicians, Tristen's attempts to stand out from other acts takes his sound to different places. Using his past experiences, he writes music that he hopes will be different than what people are used to by using techno beats as a backdrop for his instrumentals. His music is reminiscent of early NeverShoutNever.

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      Working with David Conway (Manager of Plug In Stereo, NeverShoutNever and Hellogoodbye) is in the talks after Tristan contacted him via email. David enjoyed the song "dearwhoever" and encouraged Tristan to send him the entire demo.
      Tristan will be touring in August and is considering having a guitarist accompany him on stage. He hopes to continue sharing his music with people and eventually get into a studio to record an official EP.

City At Dawn

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      In the fall of 2010, the garage band This Hero, A Legend decided to change their name to City At Dawn. "Overtime, as members changed, the direction and overall sound of the band changed. The group came together and started to develop what we all thought of as 'our sound'.  When Jamie joined the band, (our) sound and identity changed. We decided it was time for a change in name." says the band.
      The pop-punk outfit from Yorktown Heights, NY formed in early 2009. They released a four song demo in August of that year. One of their two singers decided to depart from the band to pursue schooling in Florida and in July of 2010, their second vocalist also left. Through Craigslist, the band came across Jamie Stoffa, who would turn out to be a "perfect fit" as the band's new vocalist. That fall and winter, the band put all of it's efforts into writing new material and perfecting their new sound.

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      About 5 days before the band was to play alongside Just Surrender in April 2011, their bassist informed the rest of the group that he would be unable to play due to a very important job interview. Jamie turned to his friend, Rafael Miranda, for help. Rafael learned all of the band's song just in time to play the show. "It was probably one of our best shows as a band.  We were tight, the crowd was awesome, and it was just an overall amazing experience for all of us"
      The current line-up consists of Alex Richardson (lead guitar), Christian Ference-Gray (rhythm guitar), Bobby Brace (drums), Jamie Stoffa (vocals) and Rafael Miranda (bass).

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      The best way to describe the band's interesting style of pop/punk is to say that the band sounds like A Day to Remember with less screaming vocals plus 90's influences like Blink 182. Imagine a collision between late 90's alternative rock and moden post-hardcore. Their sound includes aggressive guitar riffs, powerful drum beats, and catchy lyrics. "While we tend to have a heavy edge to our sound, it's a style that's a sound that virtually anyone can get into."
      Every performance deserves 110%, that's the bands mindset. "We go into every show  trying to make friends and have as much fun as we possibly can each and every time we step onto the stage.  It's hard to say what to really expect from our performance, because we're constantly working to improve and enhance it in any way we can.  Just like our sound, our performance has gone through a lot of changes over the years, so the best way to describe it I suppose would be to say when you come out to expect to have a good time and be ready enjoy what we're doing almost as much as we enjoy doing it."

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      The band plays shows in Poughkeepsie, NY and Danbury, CT due to the lack of local venues. "We're surrounded by plenty of music scenes we seem to go over well in and we're always looking to expand into new areas and be heard by as many people as possible.  With that in mind we are about to leave on our first tour ever on August 4th, going down the entire east coast down to Florida then back home via the parallel states.  Fifteen days on the road with the band Shake That Bear from NJ, and we could not be more excited.  Hopefully this is the start of many more tours to come in the future."
      As far as bragging rights go, the band has already accumulated a few impressive feats. The band was interviewed and guest hosted "The Local Lockdown" radio show on WRRV 92.7/96.9 FM. "Probably the best part of the whole experience was that it was a prerecorded show, so we got to actually listen to ourselves on the radio when it aired.  From beginning to end we extremely excited and proud of what we had accomplished." 

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      The band also had a live interview on WSPC's Indie Rebellion Radio Show on July 14. "On that show we guest dj-ed and the host Garvey asked us a ton of questions that we had to answer on the spot as best we could.  We also debuted our newest single, The Message, live on the air plus we got to play an entire acoustic version of our song 'The More You Know' which was a lot of fun as well.  To help rally some attention, we brought a pair of tickets to the New Jersey show of our August tour and offered them to listeners and we actually had a few people call in which just topped off the night.  The biggest part of the show for us was the pure fact that were live on the air on a station in a different state. All of these things have made us the most motivated than ever and cannot wait to see whatever lies ahead of us."
      The band hopes to release their full-length album in December 2011. "Our upcoming album is going to be nothing like our first demo. Our sound is a lot catchier with a fuller, well-produced sound.  Our first demo had 2 singers, lots of screaming and what someone once called 'constant build-ups to nothing'.  Since then we have found the kind of sound we're going for. So far, four of the songs on the album have been finished and recorded and we all think that the album is sounding amazing thus far!  The rest of the album is written and just needs to be fine tuned and when we get back home from tour we plan on getting the rest of the songs finished off and recorded."