Alter The Press! Presents: Brightside Drive
For Fans Of: Panic! At The Disco, The Fray and Boys Like Girls.
With their new album streaming in full on Alter The Press! and also recently being tipped for big things by MTV, Baltimore's Brightside Drive are quickly gaining plenty of momentum. The four-piece made up of Hayes Kramer (vocals/guitar), Christian Fiore (guitar/vocals), Tucker Neill (bass) and Mike Demarco (drums) produce a sound that is reminiscent of Panic! At The Disco's 'A Fever You Can't Sweat Out', but tweak it to make it more catchy and accessible. However they equally keep a somewhat rockier side, as 'Shh...Shut Up'. Brightside Drive are certainly for those who like a good mix of upbeat, pop-rock.
Alter The Press: Why should Alter The Press readers check you out?
Brightside Drive: I don't know from my personal stance, I like our music a lot. We put everything we have into it and try to leave it open so everyone can relate to it. But I've heard fans come up to me and say how it reminds them of the first time they heard something like Panic! At The Disco or Jimmy Eat World, something that really sunk in with people. The Hanson guys seemed to dig it when we played with them.
ATP: What's the story behind the band?
BD: The band was started when Hayes Kramer and Christian Fiore were introduced by a friend. Previously, Fiore played in a variety of different groups, while Kramer, on the other hand, began writing music and recording it on Garage Band, and then putting it on MySpace. Hayes expressed interest in starting a band to Christian. Shortly after, we began writing together and by winter, already had a few original tunes worth starting a band over. Fiore reconnected with a preschool buddy, Tucker Neill. Neill instantly became enthralled in the online managing aspect of the band, and soon became the icon of Brightside Drive. After a short stint as an acoustic band, the we asked a former band mate of Christian's, Michael Demarco, to drum for the band. We all instantly clicked, we had similar interests and ideas. From then on we began piecing songs together as a full band. Since March 23, 2009 (the day of their first performance as a full band), everything has been going uphill.
ATP: Single highlight as a band so far?
BD: If we had to narrow it down to one moment, the highlight of our career as a band would be when we played our first sold out show at the Recher Theatre in Towson, MD. The words "Sold Out" really slapped us in the face because it was in a way, a wake up call. Knowing that we have played multiple sold out shows is a pretty cool feeling.
ATP: What are your plans for the 12 months?
BD: Well we just self-released our debut album, "Transitions" and I'm sure once people hear whole album for a week exclusively on Alter The Press, everyone will go rush right out and buy it! But after that, I think right now we're going to explore a lot of options, buckle down on as many shows in the area and region as possible, get to writing some more music and hit the road by next summer. So for now, that's the plan.
'Transitions' by Brightside Drive is available now.
Brightside Drive on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.
