As many students would agree, finding a way to balance time between academics and playing music is no easy task. Members of indie-funk band Avenue Eight are no different. The group is comprised of ten college students from five different universities in the Northeastern United States.
“Scheduling is probably the toughest thing we face on a regular basis just because we all come from different places and different schools,” bassist and lead singer Franco Giacomarra said. “It’s very hard to get the [schedules] to align. It just requires a lot of communication.”
Despite having such difficulty finding time for rehearsal, the band released their debut record Get Up On The Get Down last November. The eight song EP was recorded at the Drexel University Studios, where Keyboardist Matt Coakley goes to school.
From slapping bass solos to catchy rock choruses, Get Up On The Get Down is filled with a variety of musical styles that have become a cornerstone of the band. “We all draw from a few different places in terms of music,” Giacomarra said.
Throughout the EP Giacomarra’s clean vocals are complemented by a strong horn section and complex polyrhythms from the percussion section. Although it features a variety of musical styles, the EP flows quite nicely.
Watch Avenue Eight perform “At Your Door” below:
Finding time to practice isn’t the only obstacle that Avenue Eight faces. Sometimes even getting to concerts can prove to be quite the challenge. Last year, the band ran into severe weather conditions when they traveled to New York City.
“The night before it snowed and since most of us are from the Philly area, we had to go drive an hour or two down to Franco’s school,” said auxiliary percussionist Felipe Ranjo. “Then we had to stay overnight then get up early to drive back and drop everything off. It was pretty much just a hectic trip.”
They still made it to the city in time to open for indie-pop artist BØRNS at Fordham University’s Winterfest music festival.
Although getting to venues can sometimes prove to be a difficult task, Giacomarra believes their live performances have become a staple of their band.
“You’ll see us on stage smiling and dancing because that’s the kind of show we like to put on,” Giacomarra said. “We like a lot of good vibes and good times.”
While they are always excited to play in front of a live audience, the band prefers to play at college-style basement parties over the local bars and smaller scale music venues that they often frequent.
According to Ranjo, the atmosphere of a college party fits the band’s performance style better than any other venue. “The house shows have a really intimate atmosphere and an opportunity to connect ourselves to the audience and make the music much more lively.”
“People are just there to enjoy each other and have fun… I think we excel in that environment and our music is good for that,” adds Coakley.
As they celebrate the release of their debut record, the members of the band are also gearing up for what should make to be a busy summer.
Over the next ten weeks the band is set to record a three song EP and play shows across New York and Pennsylvania, all while they continue to stay fully enrolled in five different universities spread out across the Northeast. Giacomarra suggested that the EP sticks to the variety of the last release, but has, “more of a sharper focus on the grooves and the dancey, infectious beats.”
Following the release, the band hopes to do a small tour on the East Coast, possibly even making down to North Carolina and out to Ohio. While they don’t currently have the means to make it out to the Northwest to perform, they hope to do so one day.
The band hopes to continue to play in front of new audiences in order to widen the reach of the band. Giacomarra adds that, “A personal goal of mine is to get out there as much as possible in terms of playing in different locations… Once we get an actual captive audience in front of us we really kind of capture that and make fans that way.”
The band will announce the official release date of their EP along with their summer tour dates in early spring.
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