Suspension of Disbelief

Ask anyone about their memories from high school and most people will mention the different cliques that were present within the school’s cafeteria. There was the table that had the football and basketball players, as well as other athletes. Right next to that table was the cheerleaders and other popular people. A couple tables down, you can spot members of the student government sitting together with the honor students. Across from them is the table with the skateboarders who love rock and roll while all the way on the opposite side of the cafeteria is the table with students who love hip-hop and bass in their music. Joining any one of these two cliques together might seem like an impossible feat, but Suspension of Disbelief has seemed to unite the latter of the cliques with an unprecedented cool.

Representing the suburbs of Philadelphia and Trenton respectively, this dynamic group of musicians is planning to take over your ears with their music and introduce you to something you never thought existed. A hybrid of hip-hop and hard rock, Suspension of Disbelief’s make-up is that of two separate music groups joining together. The first group, Audio Variable (A/V), is a hip-hop group from Mount Laurel, NJ; a suburb of Philadelphia. While the second group, Elle, is a 5-piece, post hardcore rock band from Bordentown, NJ, a suburb of Trenton.

Leading totally different types of lives and playing completely separate styles of music, only fate would be the glue that would bring these two music groups together. Both were scheduled to play one day, among other bands, for a gig during an event on “Go National Skateboarding Day”. A band was up first performing while A/V was set to go on next only to find out that the sound system was not set up for a hip-hop group and their was nothing to play back an instrumental CD. Quick thinking led members of A/V to request that the band performing before them would hopefully play some of their instrumentals live so that they can still put on a show. The band performing before them was Elle, they excitedly agreed to help, and the response from the 3 tracks they performed together was overwhelming.

Seeing the potential and reaction from people of bringing two genres together sparked the groups to continue to work on new material. Their first project was on A/V’s third EP entitled “Subject to Change: Showtime” where Elle remixed one of their hit singles “Is It Skinny”. Hearing their music recorded and listening to the blend of hip-hop and live rock and roll prompted both groups to follow this new path a little more seriously while educating each other in the process. Says guitarist Vince Campanaro,
“I never took the time to really understand hip-hop or rap and never really considered it to be real music. You don’t have to play any instruments to be in a rap group and it doesn’t seem like it could be that difficult. After working together with A/V though, it amazes me at how much talent and intelligence it takes to create lyrics and tell a story all while staying in the right amount of measures with a constant rhyme scheme.

Suspension of Disbelief’s goal is to create a new and unique brand of music making bringing all different types of people together. Says member Stan Greene,
“Our mission is to bring different groups of people together who never thought they would meet. Instead of someone looking at a rock video of an artist screaming and not understanding the passion behind his lyrics or instead of someone watching a rap video and not quite wanting to know why the artist pleads to the audience to feel his pain, they will finally both know where each one is really coming from.

“People fear what they don’t understand which is why a lot of people do not cross over with their music”. says member Maurice Hall. “We feel like we can bring a fresh new outlook and break the barriers.”

With a brand new outlook on music and the sky the limit, Suspension of Disbelief’s members believe that, when given the opportunity, can make their mark in the industry. Merging together those high school lunch tables may still seem like a daunting task but with Suspension of Disbelief playing in the background, impossible? Not hardly.