18-25 PUBLISHERS Ariella Mastroianni Catherine Powell
EDITORS Ariella Mastroianni Nicola Pring
PHOTOGRAPHY Catherine Powell
WRITERS Olga Khvan Stacy Magallon Christine O’Dea Catherine Powell Nicola Pring Tanya Traner
DESIGNER Ariella Mastroianni
NEON HITCH
DEAD SARA
BRENDAN RIVERA
THE FRONT BOTTOMS
ALISHA ZALKIN
RACHEL BROWN
L2
NEON HITCH
THE RED JUMPSUIT APPARATUS
COURTESY OF BIG PICTURE MEDIA
COURTESY OF REYBEE PRODUCTIONS
COURTESY OF BIG PICTURE MEDIA
COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. RECORDS 2
COURTESY OF EARSHOT MEDIA
COURTESY OF SHOREFIRE MEDIA
COURTESY OF MLC PR
COURTESY OF THE RED JUMPSUIT APPARATUS
ALSO FEATURING 4-9
10-13
DEAD SARA
THE FRONT BOTTOMS
14-17
26-29
RACHEL BROWN 30-33
BRENDAN RIVERA 40-45
34-39
ALISHA ZALKIN
L2
THE RED JUMPSUIT APPARATUS 3
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dead sara The show is over, but adrenaline is still rushing. In the midst of the afterglow of their show, the performers bemoan the lack of adequate onstage space to stir the crowd with their tricks and stunts. But this is no circus arena or racetrack or stadium. This is Irving Plaza in New York City and the performance is a musical one. Nevertheless, for these performers — the hard rock band Dead Sara — it’s important to engage the crowd with more than just the music.
WORDS: OLGA KHVAN PHOTOS: CATHERINE POWELL
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“We always want it to be more out of control, more full-flexed,” bassist Chris Null says. “For me, especially, as the frontperson, I want to be able to jump around and around,” singer Emily Armstrong says. Despite not being able to show off as many of their crazy stage antics as they hoped, the band are happy with how this show, in which they opened for The Used, turned out. “I think you caught it on a good night,” Emily tells me. “Definitely,” Chris adds with a smile. “This was a good crowd.” Having been born and raised in Los Angeles and now embarking on their first major tour, the band are enthusiastic about the warm welcome they received in New York City. “The [concert-goers] stand there a little bit more, on the West Coast. Even if you have a big show, there are a lot of people there just standing,” Chris says. “It’s different,” guitarist Siouxsie Medley says. “We’re from L.A., so we have a pretty good fan base there and it’s definitely our home. It’s been interesting, though, touring and being in different places.” Our search for a quiet spot to talk after the show leads us to a stairwell on the second floor of Irving. Holding on to the railing, Chris peeks through the bars of the stairs going down. Emily and Siouxsie sit on the stairs going up and Sean sits on the floor of the landing. The bright yellow smiley face on Emily’s t-shirt makes her stand out a bit from the rest of the band, who are all wearing gray and black. She sips on a cup of tea to nurse a cold — this takes me by surprise, as I had
just watched her writhing on the stage floor and climbing the amps during the show. Music from The Used’s set floods in from the ballroom and the band occasionally sing along as they unwind and recall their early days. “Three?” drummer Sean Friday says, turning to his bandmates for confirmation when asked how long they’ve been together. “Three,” he repeats, this time with assurance. “Three weeks. 21 days,” Chris says jokingly, spurring laughter from the entire group. Although the band only formed recently, Emily, Siouxsie and Sean had known each other since long before. “We’d always see each other as little kids in L.A.,” Emily says. “We went to daycares next to each other and schools next to each other. We had the same friends, the same groups as teenagers,” Siouxsie says. When they started making music together, the girls paved the way. “It was just Siouxsie and me for a long time. We were just teenagers,” Emily says. “We were all friends and we needed a drummer every now and again and a bass player.” The girls found their drummer in Sean, but finding a bassist proved a little more tricky. Then along came Chris.
“We went to daycares next to each other and schools next to each other. We had the same friends, the same groups as teenagers.”
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Unlike the rest of the band, Chris was new to L.A., but quickly found himself within the same circle of bands and friends as Emily, Siouxsie and Sean. “Sean and I played in four or five bands, toured and did stuff and then he started jamming with [Emily and Siouxsie] and so I started jamming with them,” Chris says. “I had seen them play before and met them both and thought the band was awesome.” There was only one problem — Chris was no bassist. Eager to get involved, though, he had committed himself to learning. “Chris was a guitar player, so we didn’t really think of him as playing for the band, but then he mentioned, ‘I’ll help out as a bass player,’ even though he’s never really played bass beforehand and we were like, ‘Well, at least someone’s willing to take the time,’” Emily says. “They started as just fill-ins, but it quickly turned into the band.” In addition to drums and bass, Sean and Chris brought in new perspectives to the band’s songwriting process. “It was like bringing the legs in and the...” Emily says, pausing to search for the word. “And the kidneys,” Chris says, laughing.
“It was the legs and the torso and the funny bone,” Siouxsie says. “You know the movie ‘Hugo’ where [the main character is] finding the pieces?” Emily asks. “It was kind of like that.” Having found each other, the band embarked on a journey full of hit songs like “Weatherman,” the first song the four wrote together, shows with bands like Bush and Chevelle and even occasional injuries — not to worry, though, it’s all part of the fun. “I get bloody fingers every once in a while. My legs are always covered in bruises,” Emily says nonchalantly, leaving one to wonder what could have happened onstage had tonight’s venue been as big enough as the band desired. The band are not ones to dwell on what could have been, however. They’ve already got their sights set on the future — the upcoming Vans Warped Tour will take them all over the U.S. and even into the U.K. And beyond that? “Half time during the Superbowl, Madison Square Garden, Staples Center,” Sean says, dreaming out loud. “What’s that place overseas called? Wembley Stadium,” Chris says, adding to the to-do list. The future is up in the air, but one thing is clear — wherever they end up, Emily, Siouxsie, Chris and Sean are sure to keep things casual. Yes, they’re head banging and jumping their way through sold out shows throughout the country, but simply put, in their own words, they’re four friends “just hanging out.”
“We’re from L.A., so we have a pretty good fan base there and it’s definitely our home. It’s been interesting, though, touring and being in different places.”
NKD
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THE FRONT BOTTOMS It’s 9 p.m. The Front Bottoms proudly take the stage at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City. It’s one of final dates on their tour with Motion City Soundtrack and The Henry Clay People, and the excitement in the room is palpable. The crowd cheers and sings along as guitarist and lead singer Brian Sella, clad in basketball shorts and long socks, and drummer Matt Uychich play to a group of screaming, crowd surfing fans. Hours earlier, the guys brave the sweltering late-June sun to stand outside the venue and talk about how they got started.
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WORDS: NICOLA PRING PHOTOS: CATHERINE POWELL 11
HOW DID THE BAND FORM? were just bored and we had instruments to play MATT: We and we were friends so we just started playing music
together. We were just trying to have fun with that instead of playing sports or video games. I was best friends with Matt’s older brother, Brian. BRIAN: Brian used to be in the band with us, but he just kind of fell out of it. He wasn’t really into like we were, but it worked out. Matt takes care of me.
How did you get from playing music because you were bored to playing music as a career? It was just slowly but surely. We’ve been doing it for so long, but we never thought, ‘This will take up 90 percent of our time.’ It was just like, ‘So and so’s having a party, let’s go play that party, or let’s go on this little tour up to New England or let’s go down to Florida if someone offers for us to do that.’ It just very, very, very slowly and gradually got to where it is today. think if you plan to have music as a career, it’s not a MATT: Igood thing. It’s all luck.
BRIAN:
At what point did music really start taking up 90 percent of your time? It was always something that took up a lot of time because [Matt and I] were both really into it, so if we weren’t playing shows we were trying to make shirts for the band or we were like trying to get contacts on the West Coast, so it always took up a lot of time but last August it really took off. we signed to [our record label] Bar/None, we MATT: When were just like, ‘Let’s let this take over.’
BRIAN:
When did you go on your first full tour? two years ago. We just did a DIY tour down to MATT: About Florida. We set up a few tours and made some really
good connections. was pretty punk rock, we had nowhere to stay, but it BRIAN: Itwas a fun time.
When did you start writing music? I wrote some off the material in high school. There’s like two albums worth of stuff from high school and freshman year of college, but the rest is more recent.
BRIAN:
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Have you always been DIY? and we still are. We had to give up some control MATT: Yeah, in order to make it, because nobody’s going to let two
[dumb] kids be like, ‘We’re going to just [play] tonight.’ But we still design all the shirts and shit like that. still pretty punk rock, which is the whole point. The BRIAN: It’s point isn’t to let somebody else do it. We let Bar/None sign us, but our friend helps manMATT: age us now, so it’s not like we’re giving control to other people.
What has your experience on tour with Motion City Soundtrack been like? Motion City’s been so, so nice to us. They’ve been incredible. The Henry Clay People, who are on this tour too, are also really great guys. The shows have been fantastic, so that’s great.
BRIAN:
What’s your songwriting process like? Do you write music together? Usually. I’ll write the skeleton of a song and then I’ll bring it to Matt and we’ll try to work it out, and then it comes together as a full song. We work well together, there’s very good communication, so it’s comes out very naturally. I wrote the first album basically by myself and then the next album was me and Matt together. I write all the lyrics, then the melody and then I’ll go to Matt. He’s more of a structure guy. If it was just me, at this point, it would be kind of hard to write complete songs. It’s nice to have him writing with me.
BRIAN:
When you were younger was there anything else you wanted to do besides music? I can’t really think like, past tomorrow. When I was a kid I just liked to grind on my skateboard and jump on [Matt’s] trampoline. I didn’t really think about the future. I always felt a little out of place in high school because I didn’t really know what I wanted to do.
BRIAN:
What are you guys working on right now? BRIAN:
[Writing a] full-length, with 11 or 12 new songs. Then we’ll go back on tour. It just never ends. We’ve got some big things planned. NKD
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rachel brown Words & Photos by Catherine Powell
t’s 93 degrees in New York City, but it feels much hotter. The usually busy High Line park is closer to the empty side, but the small shaded area is packed with people hiding from the sun. The flowers that surround the park look somewhat sad, begging for water from the cloud-free sky. “My dress is sticking to me,” singer/songwriter Rachel Brown says about her short, gray halter dress, which is proving to still be too heavy for this weather. Slightly tired from her show at The Darby last night, where she has a residency for the month of July, Rachel tells me how she got here. Music wasn’t always an important part of Rachel’s life. She spent most of her high school years doing various art projects, which would “take a few weeks and then just end.” When it came time to learn guitar she saw it as another project, but one that hasn’t ended yet. Following high school, Rachel took a gap year, bought a guitar and “Learning Guitar For Dummies” and “sat secretly” learning to play and writing songs. Because she was so used to working
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alone on different art projects, keeping music a secret at first was a natural decision. Rachel was so passionate about her music she was too shy to share it. For the first few years she kept her musical experiments secret, only going as far as playing with a few friends in her dorm room during her freshman year at Harvard University. “I didn’t want to be told it was terrible,” she jokes. Toward the end of her sophomore year she began playing small shows in her dorm building, and spent the following summer participating in open mic nights. When senior year came around, Rachel spent the majority of her time working on her thesis — a documentary video. “It was so much fun, but so much work,” Rachel says. “So once I turned that in I kind of jumped straight into music.” After graduation she started looking for musicians to play with and form a band to support her. Though her filmmaking degree has been pushed to the side for the moment, she has recently been thinking about music videos and hopes to put some use to her major in the near future. 15
For a while, Rachel was still very nervous about playing in front of groups of people. “Thankfully I’ve moved past being nervous all day for a show,” she says, laughing. Once she began playing regularly she was able to transform her nerves into excitement. Between graduation and now Rachel did a college tour, where she experienced playing to large crowds and empty hallways. It was playing to various types of people that helped Rachel become comfortable with playing in general. Safe to say the nerves have worn off. “It’s not as big an ordeal as it was before,” she says, laughing. Writing is Rachel’s favorite part of being a musician. When writing she has a unique formula when it comes to putting together a song. She sits down with an instrument by herself and “mumbles, hums and speaks gibberish” until it becomes something. She finds it hard to write with others because her writing process is “embarrassing.” Her songs come to her all at once, and she compares songwriting to a lump of clay. “I have all this stuff and slowly it turns into something that can actually be shared,” she says. Rachel’s writing has changed dramatically since she first learned to write and she says her music has grown because of it. She’s learning to communicate her ideas and thoughts through her music, as well as learning to work with other musicians. She’s currently gearing up to release a new EP later this summer, which has been a goal of hers for a long time now. Above all, Rachel wants to be able to keep music as a career for as long as possible because “this is the work [she] loves to do.” Once the record is out she’ll continue building her fan base and getting her music out to a wider audience. One thing’s for sure, Rachel Brown is a name to know. NKD
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NEON HITCH AFTER AN ENERGETIC, POWERFUL PERFORMANCE, BRITISH SINGER/ SONGWRITER NEON HITCH SLOWS DOWN TO TALK ABOUT HER LIFE ON THE MOVE.
WORDS & PHOTOS BY CATHERINE POWELL
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NEON HITCH IS AN ANIMAL. Quite literally, actually. The pop-diva’s scandalous ensemble is topped off with black feathers attached to her back that rise upwards like a peacock’s tail. Her bright orange hair stands out and the sun is bouncing off of it in all directions. Her first song kicks in and she wastes no time making the stage her own. After her fifteen minute set, which is filled with wild dance moves and beach balls, Neon smiles, thanks the crowd and heads back to her bus to prepare for her guest appearance during Gym Class Heroes’ set. It’s a few hours before the show. I’m sitting with Neon in her bus in the Dutchess Stadium parking lot where she’s getting ready for her performance at K104.7’s annual K-Fest. Outside, the crowd in the packed baseball field is dancing around to pop-sensation, Outasight. Neon leans back in the booth in her makeshift bus kitchen. “It’s funny,” she remarks, “because we’re in a bus right now and that’s exactly where I started.” The self-proclaimed “gypsy” traveled the world as a different sort of performer. She perfected skills like trapeze art, fire blowing and stilt walking after watching her mom do it for many years. 20
After years of trying to find herself, Neon literally “found her voice” and became a singer. “I’ve spent my whole life traveling. I’m dizzy,” she jokes. The last year has been quite a roller coaster for Neon — after Gym Class Heroes released their single “Ass Back Home,” which features Neon on guest vocals, her career jolted forward. Her first solo single, “Fuck U Betta,” went to #1 on the dance charts in its sixth week. When Neon realized that singing was her true calling, it was sort of an accident, which is exactly why she feels she should be doing this. Things started to take off without her really trying and she realized it was something she needed to continue. “When I realized I really wanted it, I just decided to dream big,” she explains. “And when I dream big, shit happens. Always.” Staying true to her performer roots, Neon’s favorite thing about being a musician is, well, the performing aspect because she gets to reach her fans. Her live show is exotic and powerful, and her true potential is evident when she’s onstage. Having big songs are important to her, but touring and getting to interact with her fans is what Neon finds the most fun and rewarding.
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Prior to her collaboration with Gym Class Heroes, Neon played small clubs and tried to get her music out. She landed a guest vocalist spot on a band’s record, which, much like her career, was also an accident. Her friend and producer, Benny Blanco, who was working on Gym Class’ album, “The Papercut Chronicles II,” asked Neon to come in and try out the part. She did, and GCH’s front man, Travie McCoy, immediately loved it. Once the single blew up this past fall, charting as high #12 on the Billboard Hot 100, Neon was quickly thrown into the deep end. “I got a call and they were like ‘P.S. You’re performing at Madison Square Garden,’ and I was like ‘Alright,’” she says, laughing. “I wasn’t even nervous.” To the British singer, Madison Square Garden was not as big of a deal as London’s infamous Wembley Arena would be, but she is “grateful to be living the American Dream.” Though born and raised in the United Kingdom, Neon’s career is primarily focused in America. Before she began writing pop music in the United States, she was an underground hip-hop artist overseas. “Since I’ve become this new artist and really found myself, it’s all sprouted in America. I’m going strong here and then I’ll spread out to the rest of the world,” she says. She made her move to the United States four years ago on a whim after being homeless in England for some time. “I saw a good opportunity and I took it,” she says. Spontaneity is a trait Neon has carried with her forever. When she was 15 and living with her father in England, she attended a party and left in a van with a group of people headed to Portugal. She called her father from a beach 1,400 miles away to say she was not coming back. “He wasn’t too happy,” she says, laughing. When Neon was growing up, her parents were pretty much polar opposites. Her mom was, and still is, “a wild woman,” who still lives on the bus as a free spirit. “It’d be really hard to rebel against her,” Neon jokes. Her father, on the other hand, was much more strict but has never tried to control his daughter, whose spirit mimics her mother’s.
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One thing that has stayed consistent in Neon’s life is a lack of sleep — especially now. “This is grind time,” she says, referring to the hectic schedule she has planned for the rest of 2012. Her itinerary is filled with tour dates, the release of a second single and hopefully the release of her new full-length album. “My suitcase is home at the moment,” Neon jokes. She’s currently living on busses and in airports as she makes her way around the country. When she actually does have downtime — and it doesn’t come often — she lives in an apartment in SoHo, in Manhattan. When she has a few days in the New York, she spends as much time as possible in Central Park. “I love grass, I’m a total hippie,” she says. “Grass is healing. If you touch the earth, it just heals you, brings you back.” When she’s not at Central Park, she can be found in her bathtub listening to Billie Holiday. “That is pure happiness to me,” she says, grinning. The whereabouts of her apartment don’t seem to be too secret anymore. “I’ll step out of my house and kids will come running up to me,” she says, still grasping the idea that she’s being recognized. Though being stopped in public may seem like a burden to some, Neon finds it rewarding. “It’s what you do it for,” she explains. “To reach people.” Though her songs are catchy and upbeat, somewhat blending in with a lot of other Top 40 females, it’s Neon’s desire to reach people that make her music stand out. All her songs are inspired by situations rather than made-up stories. Her favorite topic is heartbreak. “I’ve definitely had my heart broken a few times,” she says. “ I don’t know why. I just can’t win in relationships. Which is good for my music, but bad for my mental health.” If there’s one goal Neon has for her music it’s to inspire people to believe in themselves. “As I was growing up I had people tell me I couldn’t do this, I would never do this and I am doing this,” she says. She grew up on a bus with no money and turned her big dreams into a reality. I ask her if there’s anything else she would like to say to her fans. She smiles. “Know what you want to do, and just go for it.” NKD
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BRENDAN RIVERA WORDS: CHRISTINE o’dea // photos: catherine powell
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usic lovers from all walks of life, say hello to Brendan Rivera — a New York native, musician, songwriter, teacher and all around nice guy. Brendan was born in New York and lived in Westchester County until just three years ago when he moved to Brooklyn to further pursue his music career. “I have a couple of jobs,” Brendan explains. “I teach kids music — singing, theory, etc. I do it on my own, sort of like freelance work. I started when I was 16 or 17.” Most weekends, Brendan plays shows at a venue called Brooklyn Stable, located just a mile and a half away from his house in Williamsburg. The sincerity in his voice when talking about this gig is evident, and he seems to truly appreciate that his job is also his passion. He even mentions the camaraderie between the Brooklyn Stable staff and himself, an aspect of his work that he likes. 26
In addition to playing live shows and teaching music, Brendan writes songs for a living. “I write songs for little projects if I get hired for it,” he says. “Certain agencies will look for a specific type of song and if my style comes up, it’s perfect — also sort of freelancing.” “Now some of my own songs that I’m writing, people will just buy them. So it is pretty cool,” Brendan says proudly. “Before that I was just in post hardcore bands like every other kid who was 19 or 20 at the time,” he says, laughing, as he recalls his teenage years. “My dad likes the Beatles and I like Metallica,” he says. “And I like Metallica, but I don’t want to be like them. It’s still cool live. I like to listen to their stuff working out, but watching them live is still awesome. There’s no B.S. They’re still playing the same heavy riffs with dirty extortion and they’re still running and jumping around in their 30s, which I wish I could do.” Brendan continues to explain that he simply grew out of
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that phase, but that he still enjoys the music and respects the people who play it. Perhaps Brendan’s love for rock and roll comes out strongest while he’s on the treadmill or working out at the gym. “I’m always just playing acoustic guitars,” he explains. “I’m not a very aggressive person so it’s suitable for me.” Brendan’s new album, “No Ocean In Ireland,” released June 12, has been a long time coming. “We just did a big marketing push and PR campaign for this album,” he says. “There was a lot of buzz beforehand because it took me a while to get out and it was finished for a year and a half now, but it took so long to get out because of budget.” Despite the wait, Brendan is pleased with the final product. “It’s a relief when you get the master tracks back,” he says. As for the record itself and its long awaited release, Brendan says, “I just like the fact that people can hear it. Rather than recreating it, I’d rather create something else.” Brendan shares a frightening story about the recording process for “No Ocean in Ireland.” “Greg Dunn produced it in his basement and one day, we were just sitting there and at the corners of our eyes we saw the door just open and close with no sound,” he begins. “We both stopped talking, looked,
and said, ‘There’s no way’.” Thinking they were tired or had a little too much coffee, Brendan and Dunn laughed it off but concluded that the door definitely moved. “He told me that the next day, all the power went off except for one light and he ran upstairs and wouldn’t go back down until I came by.” Brendan ends the story with a laugh and recalls another from his childhood. “I used to have this boom box,” he says. “And I would record songs on the tape. And for some reason, as a kid, I always thought that I could change the songs. I would sing my own thing during the choruses of the songs and think it was so cool. I used to think it was so much better than the original chorus. So I was trying to write hooks all the time in the shower with my boom box.” The evolution-like change that Brendan went through in the last decade is something he is certainly proud of. “I wrote songs when I was young that I thought were the best songs ever written and I listen to them now and think this is the stupidest song I’ve ever heard.” Now, however, he is at the point where his musical creation is something that he is satisfied with. Brendan says that it comes fairly easy in terms of expressing himself through his music, and for that, all listeners should be thankful. NKD
“I wrote songs when I was young that I thought were the best songs ever written and I listen to them now and think this is the stupidest song I’ve ever heard.”
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Alisha Zalkin WORDS: OLGA KHVAN PHOTOS: CATHERINE POWELL
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lisha Zalkin has quite an ambition — to change the world. As a singer/songwriter, she plans to do it through music. “I’m all about creating music that has the power to inspire other people to be courageous and to find inner peace and to self-express in order to really, in the big picture, create peace in the world,” Alisha says. My conversation with the singer happens over the phone. With me in New Jersey and Alisha in California, we’re separated by thousands of miles, but her voice travels with a bright clarity and even though I can’t see her, I can picture her smiling as she recalls her musical upbringing. The San Diego native comes from a multicultural family — Eastern European Jewish on her father’s side and Mexican on her mother’s side. Naturally, she was exposed to a variety of musical genres while growing up. “My [maternal] grandmother would always play mariachi music and every time ‘Ave Maria’ came on, everyone in the house would stop what they were doing,” she says. It was her father’s mother, however, who seems to have had the most impact on Alisha’s decision to pursue music. “She’s a Holocaust survivor. She was an opera singer and she was actually the youngest person ever to be admitted into the Vienna Conservatory of Music, but she was unable to go because of the rise of Hitler,” Alisha says, her voice growing softer as she fondly recalls memories of her grandmother constantly singing around the house. “I learned at a young age about the power of music,” she says. “I love the big voices — really anyone who can make me feel what they’re singing about, anyone who makes me feel something.” While listening to Alisha’s new EP, “March to a Different Beat,” released on June 30, it’s easy to recognize the influences of the “big voices” who inspire her — Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin and Etta James. Like theirs, her vocals are powerful, soulful and sincere. Although the final product appears effortless, it’s actually the result of a long process of self-discovery that for Alisha, like for many others, began during college. After attending the University of California, Los Angeles for musical theater,
Alisha decided to leave her home state and move across the country to New York. “I spent my whole life in Southern California and I wanted a change,” she says. While in New York, Alisha pursued another passion. She completed 500 hours of training to become a certified yoga instructor. The singer says she practices “religiously.” “I went on a little bit of a spiritual journey,” she says. “I had always wanted to [pursue music], but I think going to New York after college and discovering who I really am really sparked the urgency to do what I’ve always wanted to do. I just told myself that I would give it a shot no matter what.” Although she had independently released an EP while in college, it was not until her move to New York that Alisha realized her true calling was music, not acting. “I didn’t pursue [music] as much [in college]. I was evolving and learning and changing and growing and I sort of came out to be a different artist,” she says of the transition from her first EP to the second. For Alisha, songwriting, much like yoga, is a natural and spiritual process. “I really like to get to the truth of a situation that I feel really strongly about,” she says. “I know I’ll get there once I start to hear a melody and then I just start playing. The melody forms the lyrics for me, so I like to just start writing down everything that I think, everything that’s on my mind. Then I edit and choose the strongest words and what works with the melody and then I marry the two.” The new EP is clearly the work of a confident artist with high hopes for its impact on people — the songs are loaded with messages and their power has not gone unrecognized. An exclusive preview of the track “Beautiful You” was recently featured on GRAMMY.com and the track “Say It to My Face” was featured on “Choose to Change,” a radio show hosted by the Hey U.G.L.Y. (Unique Gifted Lovable You) Foundation. “They’re an anti-bullying organization and they provide services and educational programs to help end bullying,” Alisha says. “I played in a benefit show for them in New York in March, which was a really big success.” Alisha is also heavily involved with the Playing for Change Foundation, which provides music education to children in Nepal and several countries of Africa. Inspired by their work, she decided to donate part of the proceeds from “March to a Different Beat” to the organization. “I’ve been a part of it for a while now and so I wanted to do my part in donating and doing as much as I can do for them,” she says. In the end, it all comes down to Alisha’s hopes to change the world, inspired by her Holocaust survivor grandmother’s story. “My grandmother lost the opportunity to pursue music and I’ve had plenty of opportunities, so I just want to be part of that movement of providing music education to children who might never have had the opportunity otherwise,” she says. “I want to do as much as I can to help people.” NKD
“I’m all about creating music that has the power to inspire other people to be courageous and to find inner peace and to self-express in order to really, in the big picture, create peace in the world.”
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WORDS: STACY MAGALLON PHOTOS: CATHERINE POWELL 34
L2 I’m stumped. What could the “L” in L2 possibly stand for? Love? Lyrics? Llamas? I’m about to pull out a dictionary and ponder the long list of possibilities until I hear the band members’ names: Melissa and Jessica Labbadia. Makes sense now. While growing up in Connecticut, the Labbadia sisters were always certain about one thing — music was their future. At a young age, they were exposed to everything the industry had to offer — musical theater, acting and their specialty, singing. Now, Melissa, 22, and Jessica, 19, are finding that their puzzle pieces to stardom are finally coming together.
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How did L2 come about? How did you get to where you are now? started in musical theater. We’ve been doing it JESSICA: We since second grade. We sang together in cabaret
shows, and we just loved doing it together. When I was 12 and Melissa was 15, we decided to form our group, “Labaddia Sisters” at the time. As our music evolved, we decided to switch the name to L2 because it’s easier to pronounce and it suited our music better. It’s about eight years that we’ve been doing this together.
did you grow up in new york? grew up in Connecticut, but we were only 45 MELISSA: We minutes away from the city. When I started college
here five years ago at Marymount Manhattan, I moved into the city, and when Jessica started high school, she moved in with me. I ended up leaving school to pursue music, and Jessica decided not to go.
When did you realize your music was taking off and becoming a career instead of a hobby? has always been what we wanted to do since MELISSA: This we were really little. It was never really a question
whether or not we wanted to pursue this full force. When we realized this was really going somewhere, it was probably when our single, “Boys Or Girls,” went number #10 on the Dance/ Club charts in October of 2010. It was kind of crazy to us that as independent as we are, we were on the charts with Selena Gomez and other huge artists at that time.
After “Boys or girls” hit the charts, how did you keep that momentum going? decided to do our first music video with that MELISSA: We song. It exposed us to putting in creative image
with our music. We also went into the studio a lot, kept hitting it hard, and met with whoever we could — different labels and producers, trying to get ourselves out there as much as we could.
Do you think you’re still finding yourselves as artists, or do you think you’ve reached that point with your recent music? we’ve found a good place for where we are JESSICA: Iinthink our lives right now, but of course, there’s always
room for change.
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How did your sound evolve from pop rock to the pop feel it has now? the radio, the sound was changing, and we were JESSICA: On growing up. Our earlier music was kind of a Jonas
Brothers kind of sound. Now, it’s evolved to a Katy Perry meets Kelly Clarkson meets Rihanna sound. a pop-dance kind of feel, and it definitely suits MELISSA: It’s our voices better.
As your music has changed, how has your songwriting process changed? started when I was 12 and Melissa was 15. EveryJESSICA: We thing would start raw on a piano or acoustic guitar.
Now, we start with the concept. We used to never really know what the song was MELISSA: going to sound like when we were writing it. Now we’re pretty much there from the beginning, starting with when the producer is creating the track. A lot of artists don’t do that, but we really like to be there so we know what kind of sounds we want. That way, it’s not only the producer’s idea, but our ideas as well.
How did you build your initial fanbase? How do you continue to expand it with social networking? We definitely built a lot of our fanbase on Myspace. MELISSA: When we first started, that was the huge thing. Now we’re just trying to put up all of our music. Because we’re independent, we have the freedom to just put it out there for people and see what the response is, and what people connect with. constantly on Twitter and Facebook talking to JESSICA: We’re our fans, keeping up with them. We do it ourselves too. It’s not someone else answering.
When did you start performing live? did our first show after we recorded our first MELISSA: We CD. Jessica was 13 and I was 16. We did our first live
show in our hometown in Connecticut and it was a sort of record release performance. We really put a whole show together at such young age.
Who are some artists You’d like to work with? Our dream collaboration is Justin Timberlake. We’d
JESSICA: love to do something with Katy Perry and Kelly
Clarkson just because they’re our inspiration.
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what do you have planned for the rest of 2012? just going to keep making new music. We’re JESSICA: We’re going back into the studio next month, and we’ve
been waiting on some new songs we worked on while we were in L.A. We should be doing some New York City shows this summer; we’re in the midst of planning that.
Is there a difference between working with people in L.A. and people in New York? Is there something about the cities that influence your music? We love both places, but the vibes are so different.
JESSICA: L.A. is so relaxed and chill, and we get a very happy
vibe there. We get a happy vibe in New York too, but it’s a lot more fast-paced. Everybody’s kind of struggling and you feel like MELISSA: you have to push yourself to work a little bit harder. Overall, I think we like recording better in L.A. I think people there are a lot more open, as far as producers and songwriters go. For pop, I think there are more opportunities in L.A. at this point.
Were your parents supportive from the very beginning, or did they have to warm up to the idea of you pursuing music? very fortunate because they’ve always supJESSICA: We’re ported us from the very beginning until now, and we
know that they’ll continue to support us.
What’s one big goal that you have for your career? a Grammy and playing at Madison Square JESSICA: Winning Garden. When we’re on stage at Madison Square Garden,
MELISSA: we’ll know, “We made it.” This is New York City. This is JESSICA:
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where we grew up. It would be surreal. But every day, our goal is to touch people with our music. It’s an amazing feeling to wake up and do what you love. NKD
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THE
RED JUMPSUIT APPARATUS WORDS: TANYA TRANER // PHOTOS: CATHERINE POWELL
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The world of music and touring in particular is pretty GO GO GO. This lifestyle can be extremely difficult to manage both on the road and at home. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, however, have managed to balance this crazy lifestyle and even prefer it by bringing their friends and family on the road. And they have a pretty incredible time.
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I
sat down with singer Ronnie Winter and bassist Joey Westwood on their most recent tour. When I say GO GO GO, I’m not kidding. This is the beginning of the East Coast leg of the tour but they already performed in California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Missouri and more. But the guys say they like it this way. “We don’t really stop for too long, everyone gets bored and just loses focus,” Josh says, noting that that in 2007 they toured for 10 months straight. The guys are booking another tour in August, working on an acoustic compilation and tour on top of recording artists in their own studio.
For them, this is the life they desire. “Adjusting back to normal life is a little weird. Anything more than two months and I’m ready to work again,” Ronnie says. For a band that tours so often, bus life has to be kept pretty interesting, and the guys have found a lot of ways to keep themselves occupied. “There have been a few naked moments on this bus, but it’s usually always completely for no reason,” Ronnie says. “It’s never like a party.” The guys also try to keep things interesting by pranking each other — the most infamous prank of all being the Pink Panty Prank. Ronnie says that someone threw a pair of pink panties on stage during one of their tours. “It’s funny when it happens, but it’s actually really awkward,” he says. “I think someone brought them specifically for us…which is weirder almost,” Josh says, interjecting. But the prank is pretty simple; someone will place these pink panties in someone’s frozen food or their toiletries, etc. Once that person has been pranked, they will do it to the next guy, so it’s funny to see where they will turn up next. “It’s always funny because our drummer Jim doesn’t like it,” Josh says. “So we’re gonna get him more than anybody because he doesn’t like it.” This isn’t just any prank for these guys, they take it seriously. Ronnie says that he once waited for three hours just to see Jim find these panties, and the guys go so far as to show me a video of the prank when Jim gets his revenge. That’s what tour life is about, staying close with your friends and making memories, something else The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus take seriously.
Almost everyone on this tour is from the same small town near Jacksonville, Florida. These guys go back. There are brothers, wives, high school friends, elementary friends and friends of friends all on this tour, in the band or helping elsewhere. “We just bring our family with us,” Ronnie says, and I dare say this is why The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus can enjoy such strenuous touring schedules and come out of it happier than before. They both make it seem like this is the preferred life compared to what they were doing before music became their career. When the band started, Ronnie says that he was working construction and Josh had been working at a CD store since he was 16. Once they formed, the band gained some local exposure, but not much more. Then they got their lucky break — their manager at the time happened to get a job at Virgin Records. “I was like what does this mean for us,” Ronnie says. “Does this mean we are getting a record deal? And he was like — ‘Yes.’ And I was just like — ‘Weird.’” And that’s how it started, the guys packed their bags and headed of to New York City in 2005. The band is now independent of a label, but they don’t think of this as a negative thing. “We don’t have to ask permission to do anything,” Ronnie says. “There’s a lot of different options for bands now, you don’t have to just sign a record deal.” Working independently has not slowed them down one bit. At the time of our interview they were playing a nearly sold out show in New York City and Ronnie says they have received a surge of positive feedback from their latest record, “Am I the Enemy.” “The independent thing is working out for us right now,” Ronnie says. “And we’re gonna keep doing it.” That’s not to say that they are not open to a record deal in the future, he notes. He says they made one big mistake in the beginning — trusting everyone. They didn’t know what a manager or record label was supposed to do. “We’ve learned a lot, that’s for damn sure,” Josh says. “It would just take the right, honest person approaching me and the band in the right way,” Ronnie says. “Either way we are going to make records and whether or not we have a label, nobody cares.” I’m left feeling one way after this interview, refreshed. It’s amazing to hear a band speak so positively about their lifestyle. This hasn’t jaded them like so many others. Love of music is still alive and well, and for The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, that’s just fine. NKD
“We don’t have to ask permission to do anything,” Ronnie says. “There’s a lot of different options for bands now, you don’t have to just sign a record deal.”
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