Category Archives: cast members

artists, cast members, music, youth media

Orange Avenue band Q&A with Melanie

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Ubiquitous artists All American Rejects, Rhianna, Smash Mouth, Hellogoodbye all have one thing in common, they have shared the stage with Daytona Beach, Florida’s Pop/Rock sensation Orange Avenue.

Sounding unique is one of the most onerous thing a musician has to do. For Derek Anderson (vocals), Glenn Sedita (Keyboards/Piano/Percussion), Chris Yetter (Guitar), Sean Sedita (Drums), and Jamie Pohl (Bass), adding their own individual touch is clearly heard through the keyboard and percussion.

Since the release of their first self-titled record (also affectionately called “The Orange Album” by fans) in 2007, the Central Florida based quintet has been pounding the pavement to promote their music on the streets and playing gigs. Following the recent release of their second record, aptly named “Reset,” the band has seen as tremendous amount of success so far by earning recognition by many Central Floridian media publications, selling over an estimated 10,000 copies on their first album, a few singles playing of local Orlando/Daytona radio stations, and were the featured artist of the week on the cable network program MLB Tonight.

Q & A with Orange Avenue


Q: What’s the name of your band? Who came up with name? Have you changed the band’s name before?
A: Orange Avenue (Derek Anderson (Vocals), Glenn Sedita (Keyboard/Percussion), Chris Yetter (Guitar), Sean Sedita (Drums), and Jamie Pohl (Bass)– We came up with the name because we used to practice on a street called Orange Avenue in Daytona Beach.  The location of the street was not in the best of neighborhoods.  The name gave us inspiration to get out, but it also reminds us where our band started.

Q: Who are your major influences?
A: Our major influences are Radiohead, Coldplay, The Kinks, The Beatles and The Hello People (Our (Sean and Glen), father Bobby Sedita was in The Hello People).

Q: How long have you guys known each other? How did you all meet?
A: We have known each other for about 10 years.  However it wasn’t until 6 years of us knowing each other that we formed Orange Avenue (2006). Other than Glen and Sean being brothers we all knew of each other through different bands in the area.

Q: What inspired you to make music together?
A: Everyone had the same goal and we all respected each other’s musicianship.

Q: All musicians have their “go to” instrument. What can you tell me about your instruments? (i.e., Are you subject to brand loyalty? What attracted            you to the instruments you have now?
A: Derek – I like Shure mics.  I have been singing all my life.
Glenn – For keyboards/percussion I don’t really have brand loyalty its whatever sounds best.
Chris – I like to feel out which guitar sounds best for the specific song.
Sean – I like playing DW drums because of the quality.
Jamie – Like Glen and Chris I like to just feel out whatever sounds best.

Q: Where have you performed? What are your favorite and least favorite venues? Any major touring coming soon?
A: We have performed all up and down the East Coast.  Our favorite venue is any venue that we have a possibility of gaining a fan.  As far as major touring we just signed a new deal with the indie label Lovelamp Records and Michele & Group, Inc. Talent Agency.  Be on the lookout for a big push of our new “RESET” (EP) and the single “Just Refrain” that we just finished shooting a video for.  You can check out the video and info at “http://www.orangeavenuemusic.com” www.orangeavenuemusic.com

Q: Do you ever play any cover songs?
A: We like to put some covers in the set list but rearrange the cover songs to our own style.

Q: What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs? Do you think these topics will change over time?
A: We would say the most common theme in our songs is relationship driven.  For instance, our single “Just Refrain” is about a relationship between a girl and a guy and what the guy feels when his girlfriend goes out with her friends.  She isn’t picking up her phone so the guy starts to go crazy.  The message that is conveyed in the chorus though is to “Just Refrain” from saying what you want to her because in time she will come around just like she did before.  It boils down to not letting your emotions and imagination get the best of you.

We write what we are feeling or what we are going through at that point in time in our life, so yes the topics will change over time.

Q: How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?
A: When you form a band it’s like starting a new family.  Even though we knew each other we had never performed together.  In the beginning stages it was definitely awkward and things felt a little off, but over time things have really gelled together and now we feel the “RESET” (EP) is some of the best stuff that we have written.

Q: What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
A: Our biggest challenge is not letting outside influences effect us internally.  It is also a struggle being on the road financially wise.  What we try to do as a band is to just focus on the music.  Since signing the deal with Lovelamp Records and Michele & Group, Inc. Talent Agency we feel that we have a good team around us that will take care of all other aspects and if we do our job musically everything will fall into place.

Q: What’s your ultimate goal as a band?
A: That’s simple we want a Grammy Award and for our fans to enjoy our music.

Q: How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Itunes, Demo or CD available at shows?
A: For all our “little oranges” out there.  No we are joking.  We just saw how Lady Gaga calls her fans “little monsters”.  Anyway you can access our music at  HYPERLINK “http://www.orangeavenuemusic.com” www.orangeavenuemusic.com where you will find our new video for “Just Refrain”, links to our myspace, facebook, twitter, reverbnation and youtube accounts.  We also have links on the website for street team, booking, merch, iTunes, and up-coming tour dates.  Keep checking in on the website though because a new one is in the works.

Q: What are some websites future fans can access more information about you?
A: We pretty much summed this question up on our last answer.  Saying it twice can’t hurt.   HYPERLINK “http://www.orangeavenuemusic.com” www.orangeavenuemusic.com.  Come check us out!!! New CD “RESET” (EP) and video for our single “Just Refrain”.  Thank you Swept Away Tv and Rock Star Stories for your time.

artists, cast members, music, youth media

Motion City Soundtrack is Back!

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by Alex Rivera

Four words: MOTION. CITY. IS. BACK. Their first single off of the new album “My Dinosaur Life” is “Disappear,” and upbeat and catchy song that’s fast-paced and will get you ready to dance. The chorus is completely sing-along worthy, the transitions are smooth and clear, and the song will undoubtedly be stuck in your head for days.

The video tells the story of a curious and explorative young boy that lives in the woods and who has an imaginary friend, as shown by a panda mask that he has and wears. One night, as he’s talking to his “friend,” he hears a noise outside, and when he looks out the window, he sees a disfigured faceless man that starts jerking around. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty creepy, and throughout the video he pops up EVERYWHERE. The boy and his family then leave their home and run through the woods trying to escape the horror of this freakishly disturbing, yet random, guy. During their escape, the boy loses his family, thus “disappearing” from their sight.

The director of the video made good use of panning back and forth from the action of the story to the band and its members, also efficiently using effects to highlight the use of guitar and especially the drum cymbals. The effects add to the intensity of the song and the overall feeling of the video.

“Disappear” is an amazing song and Motion City Soundtrack did an amazing job with it. I can’t wait to hear the rest of “My Dinosaur Life,” which is already gaining rave reviews as a whole. If you like “Disappear” then definitely check out the rest of “My Dinosaur Life,” which is in stores now. According to what everyone else is saying, you won’t be disappointed.

artists, cast members, music, youth media

Vampire Weekend “Contra” Review

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Vampire Weekend- “Contra”


Alex Rivera

Vampire Weekend returns with their sophomore album, the highly-anticipated “Contra.” When the first single “Horchata” hit the Internet, people couldn’t stop talking about it, and when their second single “Cousins” was released a month ago, people still couldn’t stop talking about it. After listening to “Contra,” I agree that the album lived up to all of the hype.

The album starts with the band’s first single off of the record, “Horchata,” a catchy song that will leave you asking what exactly Horchata is while humming the chorus as you’re walking to your class. The second track, “White Sky,” is equally as catchy with the band’s great use of drumbeats throughout the entire song. “Holiday,” the third song, instantly reminded me of “A-Punk,” the first single off of the band’s first album. The intros of both songs sounded exactly the same, and while that’s usually a bad thing, the remainder of the song makes up for the redundancy in the beginning.

“California English” reminded me of some fast-paced tropical song, especially through the drumbeats yet again, which is one of the things that I love about this band. “Taxi Cab” is more of a slow-paced song with the infusion of piano and violin and the use of witty lyrics that perfectly downplay how upbeat the majority of the album is. “Run” picks up with the fast pace right where it left off and has an extremely percussion-heavy and catchy chorus.

“Cousins,” the second single, opens with guitar and extremely fast drums, but it makes the song that much better! The chorus is awesome, the “hidden” bass lines that are thrown in complement the overall sound, and it’s just a happy song. “Giving Up the Gun” keeps the fast pace going, especially with the faster guitar strumming, which makes your head nod with the beat a little bit. “Diplomat’s Son” still keeps things a little upbeat but not as much as the rest of the album. As always, the use of drums is evident and the lyrics are witty.  The final track “I Think UR A Contra” is the slowest on the whole album, but what better way to end a record that’s been 99.9 percent fast with snare and bass drums beating away every single song? This song has the beautiful use of the piano in it, which softens it up and lightens the mood.

Overall, “Contra” is an amazing CD. I loved every single song, and I can finally see what everyone was talking about. Vampire Weekend did an amazing job on this, and there’s no doubt in the world that “Contra” will revolutionize the indie scene as well as win the hearts of Vampire Weekend’s fans new and old

artists, cast members, music, youth media

Diana’s Guide:How to be (Heavy Metal) Hardcore

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Santa seems to be messing with me. I got some S-S-Stuff this Christmas. No, that’s not a stutter. It just so happens that some elf was looking through the music dictionary and decided to send me a stack of s-starting bands. He also attached a note with the words, “Santa Says Sorry”…And for good reason. Since we’re on the subject of studying the structure of the band names, we might as well also focus on the titles of their songs – all of them scream angst and non-conformity: Scar Symmetry’s Noumenon and Phenomnon off of their album Dark Matter Dimensions (2009), Samael’s Black Hole off of Above (2009), Suffocation’s Cataclysmic Purification off of their album Blood Oath (2009), Sonic Syndicate’s Burn This City from their forthcoming album in 2010, and finally, Sonata Arctica with Flag in the Ground off of Days of Grays. (2009).
But, to better understand the great weight of all of this metal, I’ve decided to make a guide to help myself and you in the meantime.

How to be (Heavy Metal) Hardcore

They’re more scared of you than you are of them. They loathe society. They are commonly known as punks, outcasts, rebels… but don’t be so quick to judge what is commonly known as HEAVY METAL.

Step 1: Appearance.
Hello! Dreads, much? A valley girl accent sounds worse to them then their grating voices may ever sound to us. Nevertheless, to be truly metal, your hair has to be either too long, too short (in all the wrong places, not there at all, or too dirty (example: Suffocation). The main singer in the follow A bit more difficult to bear and transform than the mass of whatever growing on your head is the coloring of your skin. Yep, tattoos. Prepare to get tatted up usually with an anarchist symbol or dragons. Maybe you will see some designs you like in the following videos, especially on the guitarists’ forearms. Last, but sometimes least, is the clothing. Keep it dark, dreary, and different. Surprisingly, tight black shirts are not as metro-sexual as one might believe (see Scar Symmetry’s lead singer as an example).

Step Two: Video Magic
We’ve covered the general basics, so let’s move on to the videos – appearance in action. Thankfully, unlike pop videos, the bands do not attempt to recreate the scene they are singing about. This occurs because of two reasons: 1. if this were in fact the case, most Heavy Metal music videos wouldn’t look that different (more on that later) and, 2. the video usually tries to capture the band in action, playing, since this is their most pure environment.
Effects:
Black and white
although really cheap, this effect worked well to show contrast in Scar Symmetry’s Noumenon and Phenomenon
A better documentation of this effect is evident in Samael’s Black Hole
In this video, they attempt to provoke nostalgia in a very 70s concert setting. They also used an old-video border (lame!) to enhance this effect. A for effort, but C for artistic creativity.
Cartoons
I know, right? You’re probably thinking that cartoons are such a childish idea. But, of all these heavy metal concepts, this is the best integrated one. Cartoons aid in depicting the utter havoc expressed through the song lyrics. Also, like in Black Hole, these cartoons/drawing repeatedly strike the same concept to ingrain an idea into your memory.
Quick Camera Angles
Although this may have the consequence of making your audience nauseous, this effect is apparently hardcore. All of the videos included this to a greater or lesser degree.
Setting
If it’s not in someone’s garage or an abandoned dirty factory, then some might say that you’re taking this “Heavy Metal thing too far, man.”
Nevertheless, an example of a more progressive Heavy Metal Video is Sonic Syndicate’s Burn This City which features some classy FX, like a helicopter scene along with a artistic background (of wrecked city rummage)
Fire
See Samael’s Black Hole,
and Sonic Syndicate’s Burn This City
Rammstein, Anvil, and Kiss all mastered the use of fire in live concerts. However, fire in live videos (albeit ‘hardcore’) doesn’t have the same desire effect. Scar Symmetry featured the most pathetic recreation of fire using a green screen which made them look more penniless than ruthless.
Along with fire comes burning and blood.
RED
a symbol for anger, hate, pain, and suffering. Widely used to emphasize a certain point and goes well in contrast to the widely used and abused black and white effect.
See Suffocation’s Cataclysmic Purification
Head-banging
Obvious, but true. You cannot achieve any level of hardcore-d-ness if you are incapable of producing an intense headbang. Just like machine guns, the guitarists (most often) attack the camera with their head banging flair/hair.
The more you move your head, the better you are at being hardcore.
In Suffocation’s video, the band members move so much that one would assume that they are absolutely faceless.

Step Three: Music
ahh, yes, we finally arrive to the musical aspect of this sub-culture. Heavy metal music has 3 distinct melodic components: Percussion, Guitar, and voice. Also, it has the ever recurring theme of isolation, death, depression which they use to attract a distinct audience.
Percussion
Continuous percussion results in a hardcore headache. Sonic Syndicate, for instance, alternated the drum pounding with vocals and light to moderate guitar.
Nonetheless, the drums need to be banged extremely hard. The more action the better. If you can actually break your drums (or your arms) during a show, mad props to you.
Guitar
Guitar riffs can be frequently over-used, such as in Scar Symmetry’s song. Again, in moderation, this effect will work well especially a bit after the halfway point of the song. Led Zeppelin was famous for their guitar solos. Sonic Syndicate and Sonata Arctica managed to skillfully demonstrate enough guitar to sound hardcore, but not too much to end up sounding like some punks.
Vocals
RAAAAAAAAAAWR
No, really. Gimme a throaty scream, growl, anything. It’s not just to create noise (although I would disagree), but it’s purpose is to reflect emotion.
In moderation, this effect can equate to a nice balance of actual singing and strong growls.
The growls also create an interesting rythmn by balancing out the percussion (as in Suffocation’s song).
Light vocals can create too much of a similarity to love ballads (which is soft/pillow/plushy metal). Sonata Arctica almost crossed the line with their (over)incorporation of soft vocals and extended ballads along with the desperate, “”Hope to hear from you soon,” lyrics. They also featured a Rush-like voice along with a keyboard-guitar (Key-tar!). This resulted in an eerie Hair-Metal mix of Pirates of The Carribean.

Need more help on being Hardcore? Just go to a show! For that, you’re going to need some protection (helmet, mouthguard, kneepads, life insurance). I’ll be sure to give you a How-to Article on that later. Don’t forget to keep listening and observing. Some good guides are Vh1’s heavy Metal Documentaries, the Anvil Docudrama, and my personal favorite THIS IS SPINAL TAP.