North Jersey Notes: Thank You Scientist

I recently received a text message from my bro, Luke “DJ Cloak Dagger” Rizzo, brother of Soulfly guitar wiz Marc Rizzo, informing me that he’s hosting another one of his Metro Art Expos at Mexicali Live in Teaneck, NJ. The Metro Art Expo was created by Luke back in 2008 to showcase local musicians, deejays, visual artists, poets, and dancers. What started out as a small community of artists has grown into one of the tri-state’s premier showcases. Now Luke hosts theses events on a monthly basis at Mexicali Live in Teaneck, NJ.

This month Luke has tapped a band called Thank You Scientist to perform. The cool thing about this band is that they’re fronted by an old friend, Sal Marrano. Who? Sal is the former lead singer for one of my favorite local bands Hello Eden whose guitar player is currently playing bass for Luke’s brother, Marc. I always loved Sal’s voice in Hello Eden, so it was no wonder that I loved the only song that I got to hear from Thank You Scientist called “Leave The Light On.” It’s a different style of music for Sal, but his voice fits it much better. The band was actually going to call it quits until Sal came into the picture, and now they’re a seven-piece. Joining Sal in Thank You Scientist is guitarist Tom Monda, bassist Greg Colacino, drummer Odin Alvarez, Ellis Jasenovic on Saxophone, George Marzloff on synthesizer and keyboard, and Russ “Pete” Lynch on violin and viola.

The crew from Thank You Scientist will be performing at Luke’s Metro Art Expo next Friday night, June 25, along with World Sound Traveler and DJ Cloak Dagger, as well as the art from Marc Tucci and Sephora Ud. This sounds like a fun day of art. This expo is expected to be an unbelievable event, so get your asses down there! Also, make sure you check out Thank You Scientist! If you can’t make the show, log onto thankyouscientist.net.

North Jersey Notes Updates

I just got an email from the boys of Long Island’s own Borgo Pass letting me know that they’re in the running to open for the legendary KISS at Jones Beach in Wantagh, NY, on Aug. 14. If you’d like to help and vote for Borgo Pass, you can do so now by logging onto eventful.com/competitions/kiss2010. In other Borgo Pass news, the boys will be heading into the studio to finish their upcoming as-yet-untitled full-length CD targeted to drop this summer. According to an inside source for the band (one of the band members), “The songs are sounding quite, quite heavy!” And that’s not all! Borgo Pass is happy to announce that they’ve added some new merch to their MySpace page, myspace.com/borgopass. Go there and support these bad mofos!

The gang from Filter Effect has a new website up! You can log onto filtereffect.com to get all of your info on Holmdel, NJ’s, Filter Effect including news, bio, music from their upcoming CD, live video footage, and pictures. You can also use it to find out where this rocking trio is playing next.

And finally, in some great news, congrats go out to my brother from another mother, Brett Aveni from Intuition, Allwood, Getaway Car, The Substance, and most recently, Return To Earth, on the birth of his and wife Chrissy’s baby boy, Zakk! Not only is Brett now a proud poppa, but his new band Return To Earth recently inked a deal with the legendary Metal Blade Records to release the band’s latest CD, Automata. For those who never heard of Return To Earth, joining Brett in the band is my bro Ron “Bald Freak” Scalzo and Coheed And Cambria drummer Chris Pennie. Automata drops on Aug. 17 and for more info on Return To Earth, log onto returntoearthmusic.com.

That’s all for now! If your band is from North Jersey, and you want some exposure, send your press kits to Arts Weekly, c/o Tim Louie P.O. Box 1140 Little Falls, NJ 07424 where you can also let me know where you’re performing next. No cover bands, please! Also, if you haven’t checked out my podcast yet, do it now at northjerseynotes.mypodcast.com!

Just remember….We’re all in the same boat, so every little bit of exposure counts!

NJN Concert Calendar:
6/16—Killcode—Santos Party House, NYC
6/16—HMS Revenge—The Whiskey Bar, Hoboken, NJ
6/18—Life Without Warning—The Clash Bar, Clifton, NJ
6/18—With Daggers Drawn—The Gramercy Theater, NYC
6/19—Black Water Rising/Killcode/Diablo Royale—The Brighton Bar, Long Branch, NJ
6/19—The Dirty Stayouts—Bar East, NYC
6/19—Atom Strange—The Trash Bar, Brooklyn, NY
6/20—Filter Effect/ZO2—The Saint, Asbury Park, NJ
6/21—Jimmy Gnecco—Mexicali Live, Teaneck, NJ
6/23—Steve Brown—The Copper Bottom, Florida, NY
6/23—Apathy/Murder League All-Stars—The Whiskey Bar, Hoboken, NJ
6/24—Blue Food—Tommy Fox’s, Bergenfield, NJ
6/24—Kosmic Daydream—Mexicali Live, Teaneck, NJ
6/25—Steve Brown and the Fallout—The Beachcomber Bar, Seaside Heights, NJ
6/25—Thank You Scientist/World Sound Traveler—Mexicali Live, Teaneck, NJ
6/26—Bern and the Brights—Crash Mansion, NYC
6/26—Filter Effect—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
6/26—Shutterstone—The Pennant East, Bellmawr, NJ
7/6—Filter Effect—The Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ
7/8—Bern and the Brights—Bowery Electric, NYC
7/9—Ender—Willims Center for the Arts, Rutherford, NJ
7/10—Ender—Jefferson Township High School, Oak Ridge, NJ
7/10—The Dirty Stayouts—The Saint, Asbury Park, NJ
7/10—Filter Effect—Jackson Festival, Jackson, NJ