Ugly Paint

Congratulations to Matthew Sweedo and his band Ugly Paint for winning the People’s Choice Award at this weekends, OC Music Awards.

Growing up playing little league together, Ugly Paint has played at various charity events around the community and always looks forward to playing in the rehearsal space, better known as their garage, with ugly paint all around it.

For upcoming shows and more check out: uglypaint.net

- JSerra Bog

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The members of Laguna Niguel rock band Ugly Paint never expected to be nominated, let alone actually win, any prizes at the 2011 OC Music Awards held in March at City National Grove of Anaheim. The sextet of teenagers was nominated for best youth artist, which they lost to pop singer Amanda Lamb, but they walked away with the People’s Choice award.

Having beat out several local stars — jazz artist Chris Williams, alternative rockers Jeramiah Red, reggae/dub band (and seeming fan-favorite) Seedless and rock/pop singer-songwriter Taylor Warren — the members of Ugly Paint took turns at the podium, thanking their parents, friends and teachers. Most in attendance were smiling politely and a few, including Avenged Sevenfold frontman M. Shadows, let out a little “awww” in response to the guys’ genuinely excited and sincere gratitude.

“If you look at the pictures of us from that night on stage talking into the microphone, it looks like we’re just in awe,” lead guitarist Jacob Sloan, 15, said in a recent phone interview. “It was, like, the best thing ever.”

Ugly Paint performs Tuesday, June 21, as part of Surf City Nights, a free event in Huntington Beach on Main Street from 5 to 9 p.m. The band also just booked its first OC Fair gig this summer in Costa Mesa, performing on the Hangar Stage on July 21 at 4:30 p.m.

Sloan, along with bassist Jacob Bernstein, 15, and vocalist/guitarist Adam Cease, 14, formed Ugly Paint six years ago when the boys became friends while taking guitar lessons. Sloan says that after seeing the Jack Black flick School of Rock he was inspired start some sort of “kid band.” With the help and encouragement of Cease’s guitar-instructor father, Lysle, now also the band’s manager, the trio started working on music together.

“We all listened to Green Day and liked the music,” Sloan says, “so we learned some of those songs in the early years, like ‘Holiday’ and ‘American Idiot.’”

Through playing baseball and various other extracurricular activities, Sloan, Bernstein and Cease met guitarist Hayden Kalianov (13), drummer Matt Swedo (15) and keys player Jaehun Chung (13), who rounded out the lineup about four years ago. Trying desperately to figure out a name for themselves while rehearsing in Cease’s garage, the group came up with Ugly Paint after someone said: “Why don’t you call it Ugly Paint like the paint on the walls in here?” Sloan recalls. “And it just stuck.”

Collectively, Ugly Paint is influenced by artists such as Green Day, Blink-182, the Strokes, Vampire Weekend and local acts Reel Big Fish and A7X. Sloan says the band got to meet M. Shadows at the awards show — and managed to keep their cool around him.

“He was a really nice guy,” Sloan says. “We took some pictures with him and he was just like a regular person, but I was a little starstruck. We’ve never met anyone in Reel Big Fish but a couple of the guys went to their show at House of Blues in Downtown Disney and they had a blast.”

Though its members are still in either high school or middle school, Sloan says Ugly Paint is a serious band. The group has set rehearsal times — typically 5-7 p.m. on Tuesdays and 4-6 p.m. on Saturdays in Cease’s garage — and continues to book gigs at numerous South County fairs and festivals, marketplaces and skate parks. The band has served as opening act at House of Blues Anaheim and, more recently, the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, supporting Glee star Cory Monteith’s band Bonnie Dune in March.

Ugly Paint also has worked out some new covers, including “Good Thing” and “Your Guts (I Hate ‘Em)” by Reel Big Fish, “Bro Hymn” by Pennywise and Neon Trees’ “Animal.” Sloan says they’ve also worked a rotation of six or so originals into the set, and adds that there is definitely more to come.

“I’ve learned a lot from Ugly Paint,” Sloan says. “I can’t really picture myself being compatible with any other musicians because we all communicate so well. We have disagreements, but in the end we compromise and it’s perfect. I feel like I could be with them forever. It really doesn’t matter if we get famous or not (right now). It’s just really fun.”

- OC Register

LAGUNA NIGUEL – Local band Ugly Paint has been busy since winning the People's Choice award at the OC Music Awards in March.
The six high school students from Laguna Niguel, who have already been playing together for seven years, just finished their first album of original songs. The group continues to play shows around Orange County, and this week, the band will join two others for a benefit for the South Orange County School of the Arts. Three members of Ugly Paint attend the school, housed at Dana Hills High School.
- OC Register