North Jersey Notes: Autumn Hour, Clifton, NJ

Autumn HourDuring one of my rehearsals with my band Hostel Inc. down at Factory Studios 2 in Clifton, NJ, studio manager Big Dave dropped in to say hi, but he also wanted to give us a listen to the new band that he’s been playing drums for, Autumn Hour, which also features former Hades and Non-Fiction singer, Alan Tecchio. I thought that the band had a prog rock sound with a set of balls to it. The songs rocked and Alan’s voice is just amazing. He especially sounded great on songs like “Techcceleration” and “End User,” but the song that really caught my ear and that I envisioned being a big radio hit for Autumn Hour is their remake of the Eurythmics’ hit “Here Comes The Rain Again,” which they rebuilt into their own. It was awesome!

Autumn Hour is a project that has been looming for singer Alan Tecchio for some time now. He was working on his last project Seven Witches, which featured guitarist Jack Frost, when he decided to focus a little more on Autumn Hour. Big Dave, who was running Factory Studios, suddenly got the bug to play again, and reached out to Alan, whom he played with in Hades. Big Dave was back on the throne! To round out the rest of Autumn Hour, Alan enlisted former Pain Museum bassist and fellow Seven Witches bandmate, Clint Arent, and on guitar he got Justin Jurman, who used to play guitar for a local NYC band called Fuel. No, I don’t mean the Fuel that was signed, but there was a local band called Fuel back in 1989, which also featured TNA singer Mike McManamon.

Autumn Hour’s debut CD, Dethroned, is set to drop any day now! It was recorded up in New City at the same studio that Exodus records at. In fact, their producer worked on Dethroned with Autumn Hour. Keep an eye out for these guys! Especially when “Here Comes The Rain Again” hits the radio! It’s likely to blow up the rock radio charts! Give Autumn Hour a listen at myspace.com/autumnhour or catch them live at Dingbatz in Clifton, NJ, on Saturday, March 28 with Seven Witches, Alan’s other band!

NORTH JERSEY NOTES UPDATES:

Last week, I mentioned that sometime in March there was supposed to be a Monroe reunion over at Dexter’s in Riverdale, NJ. Due to unforeseen circumstances, that reunion has been postponed already. I did, however, hear from the former promoter of Dexter’s that the Monroe reunion will still happen at another venue! Keep your eyes peeled for this date at myspace.com/monroenjband.

The sister duo that I know as HelenaMaria recently sent me an email letting me know that they recently performed a couple of cover songs and posted them on YouTube. The cover songs (Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” and Leona Lewis’ “Forgive Me”) were so well received that the girls decided to release the songs on iTunes. To see the videos of HelenaMaria, log onto youtube.com/helenamariamusic or log onto
myspace.com/helenamaria
.

And finally, Dave Incognito, singer of Incognito Theory, recently sent me a text asking me to listen to yet another new song that his new band posted on MySpace called “Hell On High Heels.” At first, I thought that was the cheesiest title for a song since Motley Crue did it in 1999. After I heard the track, I thought the song was one of the coolest songs that I’ve heard from a local band in a while. Dave sounds great and the riff by Ron Blakkfoxx was simply catchy as shit! Give the song a listen at myspace.com/incognitotheory. If you love bands like Black Label Society, you’ll love this band!

That’s all for now! And remember, if your band is from North Jersey, and you want some exposure, send your demos and press kits to Arts Weekly, c/o Tim Louie P.O. Box 1140 Little Falls, NJ 07424. No cover bands, please!

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

NJN Concert Calendar:
2/28—Rahway—Desmond’s, NYC
2/28—Sykohed/Arch Demon Choir—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
2/28—Atom Strange—The Delancey, NYC
2/28—Kosmic Daydream/6to8 Mathematics—Buddies Tavern, Parlin, NJ
2/28—Echofission—The Thirsty Toad, Lodi, NJ
3/5—T.N.A./The Plot Thickens/Bullet Boys—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
3/13—BoundAlive CD Release Party—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
3/20—God Zero/White Knuckle Battery—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
3/21—Echofission—Buddie’s Tavern, Sayreville, NJ
3/21—Ippy and the Project—Dublin Pub, Morristown, NJ
3/27—Evan Toth and the Excuses—The Brown Room, Cape May, NJ
3/28—Rahway—Club 35 Player’s Lounge, Sayreville, NJ
3/28—Seven Witches/AutumnHour/Infernophonic
—Dingbatz, Clifton, N
J