Quo Vadis

Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: Arts and Entertainment

The music scene is growing faster than ever and Danimal Records, an independent record label based out of Red Bank, New Jersey is constantly introducing music lovers all over N.J. to new artists. Danimal Records specializes in free music sampler promotions given out at big events such as Warped Tour and Bamboozle.
Some of their CD samplers have included their bands as well as Pepper (Lava-Atlantic/Volvo Entertainment/LAW), Houston Calls (Drive-Thru), Roark (Drive-Thru), Stone Rider (Trust kill), Halifax (Drive-Thru), Bedlight For Blue Eyes (Trustkill), Crash Romeo (Trustkill), A Hero From A Thousand Paces (1X1), Jason Webley (Springman), Anchors For Arms (Lobster), Rosematter (Lobster), Days Like These (Lobster), Suicide City, and Lourds.
In February of 2008 New Jersey Shows and Danimal Records hosted their 9th annual Battle of the Bands (BOTB) and on August 23, 2008 the final round of BOTB was held. Solfege Radio, the underdog of the competition took first place, beating out 300 competing bands for the spot. As winners of the BOTB they received a cash prize and the option to sign with Danimal Records.
Solfege Radio gives alternative punk a new spin with Jon Stolpe on guitar and vocals, Marco Torriani on lead vocals, Conner Wilson on bass and vocals, Matt Stolpe on drums and Joey Nester on guitar and vocals. All five members reside in Florham Park, N.J. where they spend their days attending school and their nights practicing for weekend shows.
"We try to practice anywhere between 2-5 times per week depending on how all of our schedules are," said Stolpe.
Since winning the BOTB Solfege Radio has spent several hours in the studio recording their newest single "11" and performing just about every weekend at several different venues in N.J., New York and the surrounding area.
"The art of performing is amazing. By the end of a show you know exactly how well you did by how much sweat is dripping down your face, by the way the audience is yelling…it's great," said Nester.
Although attending school, working, practicing and performing is not easy, John, Torriani, Wilson, Stolpe, and Nester excel at managing everything because they all have good support systems at home.
"Our families are all really supportive. They come to shows, help sell tickets and are really behind us 100 percent. As long as we keep are grades up they're pretty good about all the shows we play through out the year," said Nester.
Solfege Radio's newest single "11" was inspired by an after party they attended following one of their shows. It was a battle cry for that night. It was about the feeling you get when you're hanging out with your friends and you have no worries in the world, said Torriani. The single has been released and will be available online at MySpace, ITunes, Pure Volume and Snowcap.
In the coming months Solfege Radio will continue to perform and they have hopes of returning to the studio soon. To find out when and where there shows will be held go to www.myspace.com/solfegeradio.
"We all really enjoy what we're doing right now and we hope to be able to do it for a long time. We're lucky for the opportunities we've received," said Stolpe, "we don't need to be rich or famous. If we could just support ourselves by doing something we love for the rest of our lives that would be enough."

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