Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Feature article and interview coming in March 2010! - Coming March 2010
Discography
Demo EP - 2008
Album to be recorded in June 2010.
Over 8,500 plays on Myspace.
Photos
Bio
Driving pop-rock with a soul.
The music:
The Understudies combine Laura's classically-trained voice and piano with Mike's raw vocals and blues-rock guitar, driven by Jarrod's alt-rock drumming and held together by Ryan's ska-infused basslines.
The story:
The Understudies was formed over a pitcher and a prayer as three friends dared to dream together one late night at a local watering hole.
Mike and Ryan had played together for years as mainstays in the Washington DC acoustic and open-mic scene, starting when they were students at Catholic University. Often they would play the same nights as Laura, a fellow CUA alum who had been writing and playing her own songs in bars since long before she was legally allowed to be there.
As friendship developed, the three decided to try joining forces together in a band. Laura brought in Jarrod, a product of the Central PA rap-rock scene and coincidentally a CUA alumni as well, to round out the lineup.
The Path:
Since 2008, the band has honed their original sound by adhering to a rigid rehearsal schedule and taking opportunities to play bars, clubs, church basements and friends' living rooms throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. They've used their capability to play full-out electric shows as well as more intimate acoustic sets to take their music to places some rock bands don't dare attempt.
Live shows aside, the band has also recorded a 4-song demo (2008), and will enter the studio with friend and engineer Brendan Smith (who has worked with the Smashing Pumpkins and Ben Harper) at the dials to record their debut album in June 2010.
The Influences:
Listening to the band jam during practice, one would be treated to numbers by anyone from Maroon 5 to Bush, to Jimmy Eat World over to Alicia Keys. Recent and current pop-rock, pop, and blues are all comfortable haunting grounds, and serve to inform their rock-infused, pop-crafted sound, while growing up in the midst of mid-90's alternative has fueled their passion for blending genres at will.
The Final Word:
This is a band that plays for the love of the music. This isn't something they want to do. This is something they have to do.
Once you experience it for yourself, you'll understand.
All inquiries can be sent to the band directly at theunderstudiesrock@gmail.com.
http://www.theunderstudies.us
UnderstudiesRok on Twitter.
Links
