Andy Brooks
by Deb Rao
Staff Writer
There seemed to be a whole new generation of musicians taking over the music industry in 2009. Young bands are taking breathing new life into the early genre of punk and metal with their alternative punk pop sound. One band that is catching the attention of the New Moon generation is Orlando band Transmit Now. The band’s first gig was on the Van Warped Tour in 2008. Pretty impressive for newcomers in the business.
Transmit Now teamed up in early 2009 with Jeff Hanson (Paramore, Creed) and his record label, Silent Majority Group (Warner Music/ILG). With the guidance and along with producer Brett Hestla (Framing Hanley, Brand New Day), the band recorded their first full-length record Downtown Merry-Go-Round which is due out in early 2010.
This summer they released an EP Test Test and Transmit Now was on a summer/fall tour with Framing Hanley that went across the nation that helped garner new fans that the band won over at their live show.
Their song “Let’s Go Out Tonight” has been played on the VMAs, MTV’s Making The Band 4, Paris Hilton Is My New BFF and ESPN Sports Center. The band was also the winner of MTV’s “I Want My Music On MTV2 Contest” and you can check out the video at this link if you want to view it … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT3wCeTkoXU.
Andy Brooks (vocals), Kevin Parrow (guitar), Greg Parrow (drums), Tony Aguirre (guitar) and Lee Gianou (bass) have a lot in store for their fans come 2010 with the release of their debut full length.
Hardrock Haven is always looking for fresh talent and Transmit Now caught our attention for up and coming band to be on the look out for in 2010, as singer Andy Brooks discusses their debut upcoming release Downtown Merry-Go-Round on Silent Majority Group. Let’s us be the first to introduce to you an Exclusive interview with Transmit Now singer Andy Brooks.
HRH: Andy, Tell us about Transmit Now.
ANDY: We are just getting out there and doing some bigger touring now on a bigger scale. Our new record is going to come out in February.
HRH: Transmit Now recently toured with Framing Hanley this summer. How did that go?
ANDY: That was great. Those guys are awesome dudes. It’s good to have a band take you out and understand being the opening act. There were really cool to us. We had a really cool experience in front of their crowd.
HRH: I know you have a new EP out. Test Test. I heard five of those songs are going to be on your upcoming full-length release Downtown Merry Go-Round. Is this correct?
ANDY: I think two of three are going to be on the album. A few of them are not going to be on the official album. “Posterboys” and “Issues” will be on the new album for sure.
Andy: Tell us about your vocal style. Who did you grow up listening to?
ANDY: I was a huge Michael Jackson as a kid. From the pop side of the game. I was a really big fan of the band Silver Chair. They haven’t really done much in The States in a long time. But they were a huge influence on me. I have always been a fan of Incubus. I don’t know if I sound like any of those dudes but that is kind of where I was coming from.
HRH: You know who you remind me of? The singer from Papa Roach.
ANDY: He is a great singer. Thank you very much.
HRH: How long did it take to write your upcoming release, Downtown Merry Go-Round? What was it like working with Brett Hestla?
ANDY: A few of the songs over the time that we had been together just kind of started crafting and kind of became a lot bigger when we started working with Brett. A lot of the tunes were written just before we went into the studio. We would write all week and would submit the songs and see where they ended up going to. A lot of the record just popped out literally before we went into record it. It was kind of a back pace / recording environment. It happened really quickly from start to finish. Aside from songs we had prior to getting a record deal. I think our first single is going to be “Issues” or “Let’s Go Out Tonight.”
HRH: What are your upcoming tour plans?
ANDY: We hope to go out on the road when our record comes out. We are lining some stuff up for January or February. We are hoping to be back out there. We definitely will be. It is just a matter of with whom at this point.
HRH: What is the music scene like in Orlando these days?
ANDY: It is great. Florida has produced a lot of great bands. Florida is such a long ridiculous state. There are so many different scenes here. South Florida is not known for its rock scene. It ‘s seems like Central and North Florida has produced bands such as Red Jumpsuit, Underoath, Dash Board Confessional, New Found Glory just tons of band that have come out of the state. It is a good place.
HRH: How did you get the name Transmit Now?
ANDY: This is a super secret story. But I suppose I’ll divulge it. Our guitar player was messing around with is rig one day. Guitar players have these cool thoughts that they can make cool sounds by manipulating household items. So Tony thought one day somehow he would re-wire a blender from the kitchen. It sounds crazy but it is true. He re-wired the blender from the kitchen and tried to hook it into his guitar rig and he starts picking up radio stations from not anywhere near where we were. It is just crazy how the amp just started to transmit those crazy signals. We were all sitting around laughing hysterically as his amped transmitted these radio stations from God knows where? We decided Transmit Now would be the now for the band. It is crazy but that is how we came up with it.
HRH: How would you describe the sound of the band?
ANDY: We are an alternate band with a pop lean toward it. Some of our tunes are pretty pop and some of our tunes on the full record are a lot more alternate than pop. It is somewhere between both of those genres is pretty much where Transmit Now lays.
HRH: Andy, thank you for checking in with Hardrock Haven.
ANDY: I appreciate it, thanks.
Visit Transmit Now on the web: