philistinemanagement

Black in the Mind at the Virgin Megastore Location: Downtown Disney West Side at 1494 Buena Vista Drive in Lake Buena Vista Date/time: 7 p.m. Saturday Overview: The band will perform several of their songs for a CD release party. Cost: Free Details: Call 407-828-0222 Jeff Young believes that in the entertainment business, presentation is everything.

"A magician can tell you about his trick on a CD, and you can know what's happening," said Young, 26. "But, it's not the same as actually seeing what's happening live. Music is the same way. You can listen to music, but people like to see it performed."

Young incorporates his theory into Black in the Mind, an East Polk County-based rock band for which Young is a guitarist and the business manager.

"When people come to one of our shows, they are coming to a performance, not just to listen to music," said Young, while sitting in the Haines City house where he and his three fellow bandmates practice. "You don't always get that with other bands. We're something new."

The members of Black in the Mind are hoping their "something new" will act as a catalyst in their quest to reach the top of the competitive mainstream music industry.

The group is on its way, often playing more than eight shows each month in venues across Florida. In fact, Black in the Mind will play one of its largest venues Saturday when it performs at the Virgin Megastore at Downtown Disney's West Side in Lake Buena Vista.

"The Virgin Megastore show just really worked out well," said Young, a Lake Region High School graduate. "We're playing for a CD release event, and there will be so much opportunity for exposure."

They were chosen to perform at the store after general manager Jeff Adams heard their music and invited the band by e-mail to play at the store.

"I think they were impressed because we were willing to bring all our equipment and set up on our own," Young said shrugging. "We're excited because this is one of the biggest opportunities we've had yet to play for a really large crowd."

Though Young is hoping for increased exposure with Saturday's show, Black in the Mind hasn't been failing in developing a fan base.

Despite only having been together as a foursome for a few months, the band has developed a large following across Florida, and even has some international fans.


Misty Rogers/ News Chief
"We've heard from fans in Austria, other parts of Europe," said Dustin Boehm, 19, the band's drummer and one of its founding members. "And we have fans in Florida who come to all of our shows. It's really amazing."

The band attributes the fan base to not only the atmosphere of their shows, but also to a popularity on MySpace, the networking Web site on which the band has listed a profile.

Though MySpace might seem an impersonal approach to building a fan base, the members of Black in the Mind make it anything but.

"I don't know how often we'll finish with a concert and leave comments for fans thanking them for coming to a concert," said Ryan Sylvester, 20, Black in the Mind's bassist. "We'll leave them comments thanking them for coming before they even get the opportunity to comment on the concert."

While the MySpace profile gives potential fans information about upcoming shows and how to purchase merchandise, the band is vague about describing its sound or genre on the site.

"We don't like to put ourselves in one genre," Young said. "We want to have music that annihilates walls between music genres. We don't like to put ourselves in a box for who we are or what kind of music we play. It's just pure rock 'n' roll music."

The band's lack of genre is an aspect of the reason members chose to become "Black in the Mind."

"We struggled for a while to come up with a name we thought represented our band," said Michael Folds, 20, the group's songwriter who performs as a singer and guitarist. "We embraced the idea of having nothing in your mind as you're listening to our music - so your mind is black."

A unique name is just one of Black in the Mind's devices for being different than the norm. The musicians encourage their fans to wear red to concerts.

"Everyone wears black T-shirts to rock concerts," Young said. "We thought, if our fans are wearing a different color, when the bar owner asks how many of the people in a venue are our fans, we can say, ÔSee all the people in red? They're here for us.' "

Black in the Mind affectionately refers to its fans as the "Sea of Red," and often sells red T-shirts with the band's logo, the band's name in swirly text accompanied by several paiselies, at concerts. The shirts are so popular among the "Sea," Young said they have sold out of merchandise within days of ordering new shipments.


Misty Rogers/News Chief
"It usually takes bands six months to sell out of shirts," he said. "We sold out in two days. I think that's saying something about our popularity."

The popularity is something the members of - News Chief