Mike Brindisi & The New York Rock
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Mike Brindisi & The New York Rock

Ithaca, New York, United States | INDIE

Ithaca, New York, United States | INDIE
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"MIke Brindisi & The New York Rock on Howard Stern!"

The band was a runner up in the contest on Howard Stern on 3/4/10 performing their single "Words"

You can find the article on the shows archive section on Howardstern.com - www.howardstern.com


"Mike Brindisi & The New York Rock opens for Gavin Degraw"

On Saturday, July 5th, nearing the checkered flag of the KONI Challenge Series race, fans will need to prepare themselves to hear the greatest mix of raw talent and emotion ever to appear on the Red Cat Summer Stage, sponsored by Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards and Winery, DeGraw will take the stage at 7:30 PM following opening act Mike Brindisi and The New York Rock, during the Saturday Night After Hours Concert in celebration of the release of his second album, the self-titled, Gavin DeGraw.
Hitting the ground running, New York native DeGraw first broke through in 2003 with the release of his debut album, Chariot, selling over a million copies and earning itself a platinum certification. His popularity continued to rise as the album’s hit song “I Don’t Want To Be,” was chosen as the theme song for the hit TV show, “One Tree Hill,” as well as earning a Billboard Music Award nomination for Top Soundtrack Single of The Year. The rock-oriented DeGraw hopes to continue his success with his second album, the self-titled, Gavin DeGraw, released on May 6th. According to DeGraw, this album “is a collection of impassioned, emotionally resonant songs about the joys and rigors of love and life.” The album features already hit songs “In Love With a Girl” and “I Have You To Thank” which has helped propel itself to the #1 album on iTunes the first week released. Gavin’s magnetic sound, abundant talent and charisma will make for a memorable Saturday Night live on the Red Cat Summer Stage for all race fans to enjoy.
- Finger lakes travel Journal


"There and back again"

There and Back Again

Corey Millard

If Mike Brindisi could tell you one thing about making a living out of music, it might sound a little something like this: it's really, really hard. In fact, if Bilbo hadn't already nabbed the title, "There and Back Again" would probably be about as apt a name as any for Brindisi's story. To say he's been around the block would be an understatement. And to say something like "Hey guys, that album Mike and the band have been working on is coming out" would do an egregious injustice to what's gone into it.

It took Brindisi almost his entire life just to get to Ithaca, to figure out what he wanted to do with the overflowing passion for performance that had been mounting inside him since he was a kid. Before Ithaca, there were years and years of delays, hang-ups and disappointments. But then, a career as promising as Brindisi and his band, The New York Rock, doesn't come out of nowhere. It's the experiences - the near-misses, the forays into new endeavors that somehow inexplicably lead you back to what you loved all along - that inform everything to come and lay the foundation for success.

For Brindisi, it all started with the one aforementioned driving impulse: performance. He acted in school plays when he was in high school, and even got involved in drama outside the academic realm, working with community theater projects when school wasn't in session. But Brindisi's dad was a musician, and there were guitars slung all about the house. It was only a matter of time before he caught the bug.

"I was always creative and I knew I wanted to be a performer," Brindisi says. "But I started getting into music more and more. I saw all the guitars in the house and was sick of picking them up when my dad wasn't looking and pretending I was wailing some solo. So I asked him to teach me."

So Brindisi's dad taught him, and before long he was shredding his way through Metallica songs in the basement, with one of his buddies thrashing away at the drums, keeping time. Brindisi has held on to some of these hard-nosed sensibilities as he's grown musically, but the same ears that got him hooked on Metallica got him listening to just about everything rock has to offer.

"I was fortunate and smart enough to listen to every kind of music," Brindisi says. "That's what helped me grow as a songwriter. You can hear on the new record how I'm influenced by every style in rock and roll. I grew up listening to everything! I could listen to the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, Nirvana and [Stone Temple Pilots], or sit down and listen to Simon & Garfunkel or Jewel. A good song is a good song no matter what style."

After playing with a handful of relatively successful bands in high school, Brindisi chose to focus on his eclectic songwriting approach. After sending out a demo, Brindisi turned some heads in Nashville, who offered to help record some tracks. He shelled out some money and headed down to Tennessee to make a recording, but that's when his seemingly flourishing career took a hit - those Nashville studio execs were running their mouths with the same empty promises Brindisi had heard a hundred times before.

"I used to sneak backstage at concerts with fake backstage passes on and hand out my demos to bands. I hung out on tour buses and even ate the catering for the bands," Brindisi recalls. "It was crazy, but it worked. Sometimes those contacts would make promises and then it never panned out. I have also been told I was to be flown out to L.A.

"The bottom line is you have to move on or you'll just end up being sucked into a rut that may ultimately cause you to quit or give up. Failure has never been an option for me... You move on, but more importantly, you learn. I'm too far in this race to turn back now. I have to finish."

While Brindisi was regrouping, he revisited a dream it seems we've all had at one time or another - he wanted to be on Saturday Night Live. Determination pays off.

He had been performing a few stand up acts at a local clubs to get his name out there - yes, Brindisi turned to comedy for awhile, and he was good at it too - and he heard an SNL casting director was going to be at an upcoming comic showcase. He got into the showcase, where he delivered a decent set. But it was after the show that he made his mark. Mike managed to weasel his way into a little face time with the casting director, and a few days later the phone rang. It was the good people from SNL offering him a chance to appear on an episode featuring Lindsay Lohan and Usher. And this time, the promise was for real.

Brindisi didn't really get a chance to do all that much during his appearance - "I basically cheered and danced in the background," he says - but, in keeping with the circuitous paths that performer's lives always seem to take, Brindisi met a sound-guy named Speedy who put him back on track.

"Speedy to me is one of the most important and surreal parts of my career and my - Ithaca times


"Brindisi & The New York Rock to release Cd"

The Ithaca music is rife with rootsy bands that blend everything from bluegrass and Cajun to African and Caribbean. But recently there's been a paucity of bands that play catchy, commercial hard rock.



Enter Mike Brindisi and the New York Rock, who will be releasing their debut CD, "Counting Pennies," at the Haunt on Friday night. Chock-full of big guitar riffs, hooky melodies and anthemic vocals, the disc contains a bunch of songs like "Crawl" and "Words" that would sound at home on any modern rock station.

That's largely due to the mixing job done by Alex Perialas or Pyramid Sound Studios. The band had originally tracked some parts in another studio, but when they asked Perialas to mix the record, "we realized every guitar needed to be re-amped," Brindisi said in a recent interview. "So he ended up not only mixing, but re-engineering as well. He doesn't want producing credits, because he wasn't involved from the start. But he basically took something good and made it great.

"We had ended up rehearsing a lot more after the album was finished because there were new things we tried with Alex that weren't there and we had to make sure we could do them live. He had a really big involvement with this, and we owe him a lot."

Describing the new album, Brindisi said "it's a mixture of songs from the last eight years of my life. Every song does have a message, but there's no general theme" to the album.

A few years back, Brindisi recorded an EP in Nashville, and some of those songs have gotten a lot of local airplay. He decided to recut a few of those songs for the new CD. " Regionally some people may say they've already heard them, but they've got to understand I'm trying to take this to a national level," he said. "With Alex's touch, they're bigger and better."

Musical mates
While Brindisi, a native of Herkimer, N.Y., has been kicking around Ithaca for a few years, it wasn't until early 2008 that he was able to put together a band that matched his musical vision. The New York Rock debuted in front of a packed house at the Haunt last February, and went on to play some other notable gigs, including opening for Gavin DeGraw at a Watkins Glen NASCAR event and for Rehab at another crowded Haunt show.
After a couple of lineup changes, the band now includes Rick Kline (bass), Lou Pelino (guitar), John O'Leary (keyboards, backing vocals) and Bryan Dennis (drums).



"The most important thing is I know I can tour with these guys, because I have a little bit, and that's really important," Brindisi said. "I laugh harder with these guys than I laugh with anybody and I actually enjoy hanging out with them. So I'm really grateful for my band, and I'm really proud of the album."

So what's next? "In the near future, our goal is to get management and to get these songs on the national charts," Brindisi said. "I pride ourselves on playing live. It's a real rock concert experience. If we're playing the Haunt, it's still going to feel like it's Madison Square Garden. We're going to put up the production and try our hardest to put on a great show."

To learn more about the band, and to hear some songs from "Counting Pennies," you can visit www.myspace.com/thenewyorkrock.

- Jim Catalano Ithaca journal


"Time to Rock"

At 15 years old, Mike Brindisi was falling asleep in homeroom.

Boredom wasn’t the culprit. Rock stardom was.

“Playing gigs and being up past 2 a.m. packing away a music gig will do that to you,” said 26-year-old Brindisi, of Herkimer.

Today, Brindisi still is packing away his gear after 2 a.m., but now he’s got a band to help him – Mike Brindisi & The New York Rock.

The original, rock alternative band hailing from Ithaca formed as recently as October, but have moved forward quickly despite their newness; They’ve opened for national singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw, played sold-out shows at The Haunt and recorded with producers of Timbaland and Aaliyah fame.

It might seem like this band is off and running, but Brindisi began at the starting line long ago, facing many hurdles along the way, he said.

A botched music deal in Nashville, Tenn., nearly broke him, a failed audition for “American Idol” almost made him give up and a successful stint in comedy (gigs at Caroline’s Comedy Club in New York City and a role on Saturday Night Live) just about led him to believe music wasn’t his calling.

But a chance run-in and jam session with SNL’s guitar tech put him back on the road to music.
“As I was walking out of that room, he said to me, ‘Do me a favor, and go sell me a million albums,’” Brindisi said. “That’s when I said: ‘Enough with the comedy; it’s time to focus on music.’”

And focus he did. He moved to Ithaca, a place he could afford, a place that embraces original music, he said.

He rented a guest room. He wrote music. He sought band members. He performed everywhere and anywhere he could.

Eventually, he found his band members — Rick Kline, bass; Lou Pelino, guitars; John O'Leary, keyboards and vocals and Bryan Dennis, drums.

It’s been a full sprint since that formation, Brindisi said.

The band’s single “Crawl” ranked No. 22 as the most requested song of the year at WVBR, Ithaca’s local rock station. And now, the band is performing at various venues across the Northeast, recording CDs, making videos and reaching fans.

Being signed by a label will be the next leg of the race but not exactly the finish line, Brindisi said.

The finish line is the one that every musician is running toward, he added.

“I want a song on the national chart,” he said. “I want to tour the world. Who doesn’t want to tour the world?”

He’s sweating hard to get there, he said.

Between songwriting, performing and managing and marketing the band, Brindisi sometimes feels the strain.

But he won’t stop now.

“I’m too far in the race now,” he said. “The starting line is a lot farther away than the finishing line.”

For more info, check out www.myspace. com/thenewyorkrock or www.thenewyorkrockonline.com
- Observer dispatch


Discography

Counting pennies 2009
Mike Brindisi Live & Well volume 1 2012
Taste 2013

Photos

Bio

Mike Brindisi is not only an independent recording artist but a true power act. Between writing, recording, and performing all over the United States, Brindisi remains active by hosting his own radio show on WVBR in Ithaca, NY. Some of his career highlights include opening for Gavin Degraw, Headlining the NASCAR and INDYCAR races at Watkins Glen international Speedway, collaborating with Legendary Producer Eddie Kramer, having his songs played nationally on independent radio stations, and touring markets such as Nashville, New York City, Austin and Philadelphia!

Brindisi appeared on the Howard Stern show, had his music video "Crawl" air on the National TV Station "TheCoolTV", recently starred in an independent film and appeared on Saturday Night Live. As an authentic rock artist who has paid his dues from the beginning, he has experienced the "ups and downs" of the industry. But, those experiences have prepared him for his future and opened up doors for him where they appeared closed. Recently, in an interview with the Examiner, Brindisi stated that "After appearing on the Howard Stern show, I was approached by MTV to audition for my own show. Another guy listening ended up working at MSG and gave me a VIP tour after a Rangers game. I'll never forget him showing me the dressing room where every famous artist has been. He looked at me and said, "you'll be here someday I know it." The whole experience changed my life and I kept pounding the pavement in the studio, writing songs and cranking out records."

As a pre-teen, Brindisi determined that he was destined for stardom. "When I was a kid, I had pictures of Axl Rose and Slash on the walls of my bedrooms, and big dreams in my head." Said Brindisi during an interview.
"I wanted to play the guitar, just like my father, he was a musician; so, I pestered my father to teach me to play. The only problem is that all of the guitars were right-handers and Brindisi is left handed. Determined to learn, he taught himself how to play right handed. Once he accomplished this, Brindisi began playing in bands and writing his own music. Soon after high school, Brindisi was approached by a record executive who flew him to Nashville, cut a demo, and flopped his record. "I returned home with a broken heart, empty pockets and another tough lesson learned. I moved to Ithaca, NY because it's an awesome music town (and I didn't have the money to move to NYC or LA)" Brindisi said of the experience.

Brindisi jumped back in the saddle and began handing out copies of his EP's once again. There was a local radio station WBVR, who provided air time for local musicians. Brindisi handed a copy of his demo to the DJ and pleaded with him to play his song "Crawl". The DJ obliged, and the song soared! It was ranked 22 for the most requested songs of the year at WBVR. Since then, Mike Brindisi has been touring and recently recorded his sophomore album, "Taste" which will be released May 11th, 2013.

"No one performs like Mike does. His voice captures you, but his soul envelops you in his relentless rock arena performance. This kid is about to catapult." Mia Tinari, Principal of MCT Entertainment.

Many dedicated fans and new fans have described Brindisi as "Vivid, Enticing, and Addicting. His Live shows are incomparable."

Band Members