Going Dark

Artist Information

Biography

Going Dark is comprised of lead singer and bassist Oliver Shaw (12), guitarist LJ Militello (14) and drummer Alex Fogg (15). In May 2009, Alex met LJ while they were each playing in different bands. They quickly got together to jam after leaving their respective bands as a result of creative differences. A year later, Alex and LJ saw Oliver on a You Tube video and connected with him in May 2010. The three boys had an instant bond; Going Dark was formed. The boys continue to work together and love the process of creating new, original songs.

In June of 2010, Oliver, LJ and Alex met John Ginty. Impressed with the band’s unique, but classic, rock sound, John offered to produce the band’s songs. He engineered and produced their EP and first full-length CD, "Play Your Game," available late January of 2012. Going Dark looks at John as the 4th member of the band and feels fortunate to have John as their mentor. John Ginty has an impressive résumé including platinum records, a Grammy win and several nominations. John has toured and recorded with SANTANA, JEWEL, MATTHEW SWEET, SHERYL CROW and CITIZEN COPE among many others.

On Sunday, April 10, 2011, Going Dark played The Stone Pony in Asbury Park as part of the final round of “The Break Contest.” For only the second time in the contest’s ten year existence, the band was awarded their contract to Bamboozle ON STAGE, immediately following their performance! The panel of judges was blown away by the band’s set and compared them to the Jonas Brothers. The judges went further and said that even well-established bands could learn a lot from Going Dark. Going Dark was the youngest band to play at The Bamboozle Festival.

Going Dark’s music is straight, classic rock with a modern twist. Many of their songs’ lyrics deal with current topics. On their CD, the song “Virus” deals with the current situation of the superbugs that are affecting our world today. The track “When Will It Change?” describes the story of a boy going off to war. And, the song “Lonely Island of Never” deals with the current struggle of today’s economic climate. With complex lyrics sung by Oliver’s melodic, bluesy vocals, LJ’s dark and cutting-edge guitar riffs and Alex’s hard-hitting, driving drum beats, Going Dark has been performing at many different venues over the past year.

On September 3, 2011, Going Dark opened at Great Adventure's biggest concert event of the summer, the "Back to School Bash," featuring Big Time Rush at The Northern Star Arena to a sold-out crowd of over 9,000. On November 10, 2011, Going Dark opened for Sebastian Bach at Irving Plaza for their NYC debut. Going Dark's debut, full-length record was released on 1/27/12 at their CD release concert at Montclair's Chill to a sold out crowd of 700.

Going Dark played the Bamboozle Invitational contest at The Stone Pony on April 1, 2012 where the top 10 bands in the tri-state area were invited to compete for a spot at the Festival. Going Dark was one of the few bands selected and invited to perform at this special concert event. This year The Bamboozle Festival is celebrating it's 10-year anniversary and will take place where it began 10 years ago, Asbury Park, NJ. The Festival will span 3 days, May 18-20, and will feature headliners Blink 182, Foo Fighters and Bon Jovi. Going Dark is excited to be added to such an amazing event. This will be the second year in a row Going Dark is playing the Bamboozle Festival, and, like last year, they will be the youngest band that has ever performed at this event!

Recently Going Dark also announced that they signed with Prince Music Management. Darren Prince, owner of Prince Music Management and Prince Marketing, is well known for managing iconic athletes and sports celebrities including Magic Johnson, Hulk Hogan, Dennis Rodman, the late Joe Frazier, Evel Knievel and a multitude of others. And, Prince has represented Vince Neil and Tommy Lee of Motley Crue on several marketing deals over the past de

Instrumentation

Oliver Shaw - Vocals, Bass, keyboards
Alex Fogg - Drums
L.J. Millitello - guitars

Discography

"Play Your Game" LP released Jan 2012

Links

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Web Site

Audio

• Virus
  Listen  
• Play Your Game
  Listen  
• Forgotten
  Listen  
• I Am
  Listen  
• Devastation
  Listen  
• Stand Up
  Listen  
• Asbury Park
  Listen  
• The Fighter
  Listen  
• Alhambra
  Listen  
• Play Your Game LIVE @ STONE PONY
  Listen  

Video

Play Your Game from CD release show 1/27/12

Going Dark The Road To Bamboozle 2011

Photo Gallery

Press

• New York Nightly News with Chuck Scarborough [+ Show ]
  

  We will be on New York Nightly News with Chuck Scarborough we will be interviewed by Roseanne Collet...We will be on New York Nightly News with Chuck Scarborough we will be interviewed by Roseanne Colletti

• Going Dark on Fox 5 Good Day New York [+ Show ]
  

  Going Dark to be featured on Fox 5 Good Day New York!!! We will be the special music guest and perfo...Going Dark to be featured on Fox 5 Good Day New York!!! We will be the special music guest and perform a song live on the show! We will be on Good Day New York on Thursday May 17th at aprox 9:45am. This will be to help promote our performance at The Bamboozle Festival.

• Play Your Game Review [+ Show ]
  

  You have to love when you get a CD from a bunch of kids because you want to see how they measure up ...You have to love when you get a CD from a bunch of kids because you want to see how they measure up in talent as you did when you were their age. Well, Going Dark out of Livingston, NJ, really pushed my measurement to its limits.

• Going Dark at WDHA 105.5fm with Lindsay Klein [+ Show ]
  

  These guys are absolutely not like any other younger band out there, they stand alone with their tal...These guys are absolutely not like any other younger band out there, they stand alone with their talent and sound!
  
  

• “Proving it's a young man's game are Going Dark” [+ Show ]
  

  Sunday, April 10, at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park for the final round of "The Break Contest." For o...Sunday, April 10, at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park for the final round of "The Break Contest." For only the second time in the contest's ten year existence, the band was awarded its invitation to perform at the Bamboozle Festival while they were still on stage and immediately following their performance.
  
  

• Spotlight Shining on Local Band "Going Dark" [+ Show ]
  

  Inside of six months, Livingston-based rock band Going Dark has gone from playing the famed Bamboozl...Inside of six months, Livingston-based rock band Going Dark has gone from playing the famed Bamboozle Festival and playing before 9,000 while opening for Big Time Rush this past summer to two upcoming dream projects drummer and Livingston High School sophomore Alex Fogg continually called "crazy" and "surreal."
  
  Later today, Going Dark -- which features Fogg, 14; Livingston-based guitarist L.J. Militello, 13; and vocalist/bassist Oliver Shaw, 11, of Essex Fells -- will enter Dover's Showplace Recording Studios to begin work on their first full-length album, "Play Your Game" which is set to be released this coming January. They will record in the same studio where guitar legends Eric Clapton and Keith Richards, popular singer Sheryl Crow and seminal Seattle grunge band Nirvana have laid down tracks through the years.
  
  And as if that were not heady enough, Going Dark will play their first-ever New York City gig opening for rock superstar Sebastian Bach, the former front band for former New Jersey-based MTV staples Skid Row, on Nov. 10 at Irving Plaza. (Tickets are available through the band's web store.)
  
  “It's been an awesome year,” Fogg said. “I had no idea we were going to get where we were so fast. We really worked really hard for this.”
  
  “You wonder how you do it in a year,” Militello said. “Some of these things takes bands maybe two years to do.”
  
  Before opening for Bach, Going Dark will spend 15 days recording and mixing their first CD, which the members anticipate containing 11 songs that take listeners on a sonic journey across the rock-and-roll map. Their upcoming title track, “Play Your Game”, contains Militello's crunchy guitar and a sturdy backbeat from Fogg paired with powerful lyrics and vocals from Shaw that belie his age.
  
  Another song available on the Going Dark website, “Stand Up”, features an agile guitar solo from Militello around lyrics that encourage self-belief.
  
  “Lots of our songs are very different types,” Shaw explained. “There'll be a song that's sort of slower, some have jamming, some reggae. They're all mainly based around rock.”
  
  Going Dark will take a quick breather after recording before heading across the Hudson River to open for Bach – a gig they learned about while doing a photo shoot for “Play Your Game.” None of the band members have been to Irving Plaza yet, but they are buzzing about taking the stage Nov. 10 as the opening act at the official record-release show for his upcoming CD “Kicking and Screaming.”
  
  “I'm very excited that my first show at Irving Plaza, I'll be playing,” Shaw said.
  
  It will be the latest highlight of a six-month ride that started with playing Bamboozle.
  
  “No words can describe it,” Fogg said. “It's insane.”

• For Going Dark, A Big Time Rush [+ Show ]
  

  Three months after playing in front of hundreds at the popular Bamboozle Festival in East Rutherford...Three months after playing in front of hundreds at the popular Bamboozle Festival in East Rutherford, Going Dark has announced their next big concert. On Sept. 3, the young rock trio consisting of Oliver Shaw and Livingston's own LJ Militello and Alex Fogg will be opening for Nickelodeon’s power-pop group, “Big Time Rush.”
  
  

• Going Dark Wins Slot at Bamboozle [+ Show ]
  

  Going Dark, a rock band from Livingston and Essex Fells, performed on Sunday, April 10, at the Stone...Going Dark, a rock band from Livingston and Essex Fells, performed on Sunday, April 10, at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park for the final round of "The Break Contest." For only the second time in the contest's ten year existence, the band was awarded its invitation to perform at the Bamboozle Festival while they were still on stage and immediately following their performance.
  
  Going Dark is a three piece rock band. The youngest group in the contest, the trio consists of 11 year old Oliver Shaw, who plays bass and is the group's lead vocalist; L.J. Militello, 13, who plays guitar; and drummer Alex Fogg, who is 14 years old.
  
  The Break Contest ran from January through April with more than 500 bands entering and about 30 of them getting to play the Bamboozle
  Festival. In the preliminary round, attended by several hundred people, the group played their own compositions. About double the number of people attended the semifinal round with close to 1,000 in the audience for the finals. In the semifinal and final rounds, the band was required to play a cover song for the third song in their set.
  
  The panel of judges reported being "blown away" by the band's set. They compared Going Dark to the Jonas Brothers, saying that even well-established acts could learn a lot from these young rockers.
  
  The three young musicians write their own songs collaboratively and perform live with the energy and expertise of a much older band. Their debut EP, "I Am," was released in December 2010 and was produced by John Ginty, a Grammy Award-winning organist who has toured and recorded with Santana, Jewel, Sheryl Crow, and many others.
  
  The boys noted that recording the EP was a long and tiring day that was fun and exciting at the same time. Oliver noted, "Waking up early was annoying but when we left, I didn't want it to end." He added that his uncle has a studio in Woodstock, New York, where the group will record its next album.
  
  The trio has only been playing together for about eight months. Oliver and Alex met through their parents, who frequent the same gym and found out that their sons were both musicians. Alex and L.J. met at a gig, when each was playing with another band. When they each left their respective bands, Alex called L.J. The two of them invited Oliver to play after hearing him on YouTube.
  
  Asked how they decided on the group's name, Alex quipped, "Isn't everything around us Going Dark?" Oliver explained that they liked the name because they thought it could mean many different things. "Our music is about lots of things," he added.
  
  The three boys agreed unanimously that their favorite gig so far was Sunday's final round at the Stone Pony, where they were the second band ever to be handed a contract on stage. They cited the energy of the crowd as contributing to the excitement of the show. "It was a crazy crowd – people were trying to get on stage and the place was packed," Alex said.
  
  Asked where they see themselves in a year, Oliver simply replied, "I will be 12;" Alex said, "15 and hopefully, Going Dark will be more well known;" and L.J. answered, "14 and touring." They added that it's tough to focus on school work when they have this thriving sideline "career."
  
  Going Dark will perform at this year's Bamboozle Festival at the Meadowlands on May 1, along with Lil' Wayne and Motley Crue.
  
  A video of the judges' comments and the band members accepting their award, can be seen on the band's website at www.goingdarkband.com and facebook/goingdark.

• GOING DARK CD RELEASE CONCERT AND FEATURED ON 95.9FM WRAT” [+ Show ]
  

  Going Dark will be featured on 95.9 FM WRAT, Jersey Rock-Maria MAR Radio Show for 3 nights- Jan 10, ...Going Dark will be featured on 95.9 FM WRAT, Jersey Rock-Maria MAR Radio Show for 3 nights- Jan 10, 11 & 12 at 11:30pm- as the featured band of the week. A new Going Dark song will be played each night. WRAT 95.9FM is the biggest rock FM station in the Jersey Shore area of Ocean and Monmouth counties. You can listen to 95.9 FM WRAT live at www.wrat.com. ”
  

• Stars and Fireworks Light Up Livingston The hometown's Going Dark, warm up the fireworks crowd. ” [+ Show ]
  

  Hundreds of Livingston families watched a beautiful sunset over Livingston High School and enjoyed a...Hundreds of Livingston families watched a beautiful sunset over Livingston High School and enjoyed a perfect summer evening at the Livingston Oval for the Fourth of July.
  

Setlist

Forgotten
Play Your game
Stand Up
Synchronicity
Asbury Park
I Am
Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'
The Fighter
Somebody to Love
Devastation

Basic Requirements

Calendar