As I was searching for a band to feature this week, I came across this band from Philadelphia, who has made their way onto our shores in North Jersey. The name of the band is Stealing Fame, and they’re not that bad. I landed on their Facebook page, facebook.com/StealingFame, where I got the chance to hear songs like “Destruction Of Man,” “Feel It,” “Break The Cell” and “It’s Too Late” off of their latest CD, Destruction Of Man. The songs rock hard and singer Michael Stoutenger even sounds amazing at times…actually, he sounded amazing on everything that I listened to. He has a great hard rock voice. The thing I felt needed more growth was the songwriting. These kids are still young yet and what they have already still really impresses the hell out of me, which once again, proves that Gene Simmons from KISS is way off base when he says “rock is dead!”
The band says they call themselves Stealing Fame because of the fact that “fame is never given freely, but must be stolen.” The boys from Stealing Fame seem to be taking the Philadelphia music scene by storm since they debuted their revamped lineup back in August 2013. The release of their first full-length CD, Destruction Of Man, has really garnered the band the attention they were seeking from fans, venues and the music industry, leading to opening slots for acts like Bobaflex, Blameshift, Screaming For Silence, Swashbuckle, October Rage and Royal Bliss. Stealing Fame was originally formed as The Michael Stoutenger Band back in 2009. That form of the band built a fan base and success playing at multiple festivals, competitions and venues in the Philadelphia market. The group changed members and direction like they were changing their underwear, but with these changes came a stronger focus on a sound and goal for the band, which led to the formation of Stealing Fame. In November of 2011, they debuted their first EP, Homemade, which garnered them some attention on several movie soundtracks, iTunes and Xbox Live. In August 2013, Stealing Fame would finalize their triple-threat lineup, and joining Michael in the band would be drummer Scott Berry and bassist Rob Conn.
Stealing Fame would release their first full-length, Destruction Of Man, in June 2014, where they received much love on the Spotify and iTunes apps. The band has been promoting the CD ever since and hope to get back into the studio soon to start work on their second full-length CD. You can catch Stealing Fame live at Dingbatz in Clifton, NJ on July 31 with my boys Brand Of Julez and Revel 9. For more on Stealing Fame, check them out at StealingFame.com.
NORTH JERSEY NOTES UPDATES:
My bro Santino Noir, former lead singer of Scarlet Carson, continues his solo hip-hop career with the release of this latest EP, See No Evil, which features the song “Gimme That.” Santino dropped the music video for “Gimme That” a couple of weeks ago on Facebook, and last week he celebrated the release of See No Evil with an EP release party over at Slake in NYC. It sounds like Santino might have made the right move to go solo, and hey, if that hip-hop thing works for him, more power to him! Check out the new video for “Gimme That,” which is catchy as hell, on SantinoNoir.com, where you can find out more about my bi-coastal brother.
Speaking of my bros, Rob Ferreira, guitarist from Dead Fish Handshake, recently dropped a tasty nugget. He’s been working on a side-project called The Paragon Image, which features his Dead Fish singer Matthew Paul, bassist Sean Patrick Murray from New Theory, guitarist Tom McNamara from Beyond Visible, and drummer Donald Pusateri from the Tool tribute band Schism. Oh yeah, and the songs were co-written by Clint Lowery from Sevendust. I can’t wait to hear this beast, The Paragon Image. All of these guys are some talented musicians! And they’re recording it all at none other than Architekt Music in Butler, NJ. There’s no site for this project yet, but keep those ears peeled as I try to learn more about this all-star project!
And finally, by now, many of you know about the “Food Truck And Rock Carnival” happening at the Oak Ridge Park in Clark, NJ. Many of you also know that bands like Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy And The Conspirators, Stone Temple Pilots, Godsmack, Anthrax, Black Label Society, Skid Row, Sevendust and many more are on the bill. Many of you also know that I work for the promoter partnering on this show and have been loading up my inbox with requests to play this show. Yes, this is probably THE biggest rock festival to hit Jersey and we all want to play it, but the only way to do so is to sign up for The Break Contest at thebreakcontest.com and sign your band up for a chance to perform at this amazing groundbreaking event! This is the only way I can help get you on this show!
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, or you can email me at tim@theaquarian.com, where you can also let me know where you’re performing next!
Just remember….We’re all in the same boat, so every little bit of exposure counts!
Tim Louie is the Author of S**t Happens.
NJN Concert Calendar:
7/1—Vanessa Milanesi and Val Vallese/Brothers and Sisters/Kevin Hill Organ Trio/Shakey Tables—Mexicali Live, Teaneck, NJ
7/1—Diesel America/Texas Hippie Coalition—The Gramercy Theatre, NYC
7/2—Lieder—Northern Soul, Hoboken, NJ
7/3—Atom Strange—The Legendary Dobbs, Philadelphia, PA
7/3—Stealing Fame—North Star Bar, Philadelphia, PA
7/8—Folding The Pages/Answer Infinity/Strive/The Clocktown Giants/Low Roads Ghost—Mexicali Live, Teaneck, NJ
7/9—Kurt Travis/In Angles/Adventurer/Varsity/Ingdorf—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
7/10—Scars of Envy/36 Crazyfists/The Defiled/First Decree/In This Moment—Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ
7/11—Bubba Grouch/The Gripes/FLAMMABLE ANIMALS/THE BUNKS/MOTHER PSYCHOSIS—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
7/12—Magus Beast/Korotory/Xenophile/BOOTLEGGER/Sanitarius/Psychoprism/ Invaders/Flotsam and Jetsam/Dead By Wednesday—Blackthorn 51, Elmhurst, NY
7/17—Don Jamieson/Circle Of Insanity/Rahway/Nights Of Malice/Strange Substance/Tilted—The Brighton Bar, Long Branch, NJ
7/18—Corevalay/Ronin/Empire Fallen/Me With Creeps/Stereo Outlaws—The Stanhope House, Stanhope, NJ
7/18—SYKA—The Studio at Webster Hall, NYC
7/26—Rise Against/Killswitch Engage/LetLive/Johnny B. Morbid/Common Wealth—The Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ
7/31—Stealing Fame/Brand of Julez/Revel 9—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
8/1—IKILLYA/Driven Mad/Spectral Voices/Fate Breaks Dawn/Robots and Monsters—Saint Vitus Bar, Brooklyn, NY
8/1—Subcommittee/Bubba Grouch/Till Now/Suitable For Transfer/Eli—Morris Plains VFW 3401, Morris Plains, NJ
8/1—IKILLYA/DRIVEN MAD/Spectral Voices/Fate Breaks Dawn/Robots and Monsters—Saint Vitus Bar, Brooklyn, NY
8/14—Killcode/Eve to Adam/Cracked Alice—The Bowery Ballroom, NYC
