By Zac Chelbi
BLUE BELL, PA--The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Rush. What do those three bands have in common (besides being influential figures in rock music)? Before they were pumping out hits, selling out concerts, and being inducted into the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame, they were aspiring teenage musicians with dreams of making it big in the rock music scene. Through hard work, dedication, and tedious hours of practice, they have succeeded in reaching fame in the rock music scene. Young, aspiring musicians, still to this day, are trying to make something of their music; be it for money, artistic integrity, or both.
Eric Nethery is a 21-year-old drummer living in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. He has been playing drums for 10+ years, and has a background playing for his high school’s marching band, as well as being trained in jazz drumming. All in all, Eric is “one talented drummer”. Eric has been a “freelance” drummer, for a while; playing small shows with friends from Montgomery County Community College who requested for him to do so. Although he does not mind helping out his friends and performing for a small crowd, Eric aspires to one day get somewhere in the rock music scene, as part of a band. He helped form a local progressive rock band called Obsidian in May, 2013. Eric and the members of Obsidian have big plans for the band, but face problems with time & practice management. “It’s often difficult to get everyone’s schedules to line up”, says Eric.
Tyler Capone-Vitale is a 20-year-old bass player from Plymouth Meeting, PA. In the past, Tyler played bass guitar for a local progressive rock band called Deepest Reality. They have recorded a few demos with Tyler on bass, but they decided on taking a break a year ago. Since then, Tyler joined Burn the Empire (BTE), a technical death metal band also from Plymouth Meeting. BTE has been around for a few years, but haven’t gotten off the ground until after Tyler joined. Burn the Empire has played in many well-known local Philadelphia venues, including the Trocadero. Although they haven’t quite fully “made it”, they are doing fairly well in the local rock music scene. Tyler says, “We’re still in the process of building a legitimate fanbase. Facebook activity helps, and we’ll get further once we release our upcoming EP.” On the topic of the difficulties of writing new material, Tyler said “Coming up with completely original lyrics that will appeal to our audience, but can also be true to me can be hard to pull
John Herring is a 45-year-old lead guitar player for the alternative rock band, the Big Black Night (BBN), from Newark, Delaware. John and the members of the BBN have each been playing professionally in bands since the 1980’s. They’ve “made it” in the local rock music scene. Although they are all professional musicians, they still face problems with getting further off the ground. According to John, “There’s a Catch-22 involved with building an audience in a band; more airplay leads to more people listening to us, but in order to get airplay, you need enough of a following to be noticed.” John also says a lot of money is needed to go towards publishing CD’s and playing shows.
Being in a professional band involves internal conflicts. John says “As a fellow member of a band, you need to learn to respect each other’s boundaries. For example, I shouldn’t play a lead guitar solo over the bass player’s parts or the drummer’s parts.” Tyler was Able to shine some input into that issue as well: “I often have to act like my bandmates’ manager; keeping them in line if they slack off. As a band, we struggle with deadlines, and of course, need to keep practicing so we perform well for our future shows. Keeping business and friendship separated is a tough decision, but one that a band member must make.”
Eric Nethery, Tyler Capone-Vitale, and John Herring are just three examples out of the many talented musicians out there trying to make it; most of whom are on the right track. Who knows how far Obsidian, Burn the Empire and the Big Black Night will get?
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