On Thursday, Sept. 15, winners of all Steamtown Music Award categories will be announced during a ceremony at The V-Spot in Scranton. In July, during an announcement party for nominees at Thirst T’s Bar & Grill in Olyphant, four fresh-faced acts were bestowed with “Future Of The Scene” awards.
The Tellerz, Static In The Attic, Shock Value and Hearts Unknown (formerly Ten Stories) were honored with the distinction of being formidable up-and-comers in the Northeastern Pennsylvania music culture, and each act is scheduled to perform on Sept. 16 and 17 during the Electric City Music Conference.
Shock Value performs at 6 p.m. Sept. 16 at the AFA Gallery, 514 Lackawanna Ave., Scranton, and The Tellerz and Hearts Unknown follow respectively at 7:15 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the same venue. Static in the Attic plays at 11 p.m. Sept. 17 at Lyrics bar, cafe and music venue, 76 South Main St., Carbondale.
Weekender asked the award recipients which albums made an impact on their creative processes, what they love most about making music together, what it means to them to have received the “Future of the Scene” award and furthermore, what they hope to contribute to the NEPA music scene. Here’s a brief look at each of these potential torch-carriers:
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The Tellerz
Hometown: Roaring Brook Township
Facebook: currently under construction
Members: Awnshae Smith — singer/songwriter/ukulele
Dylan Pidich — multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter
Matt Wruble — bass
Tanner Snyder — drums
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On inspirational albums:
Green Day — “American Idiot”
Metallica — “Ride the Lightning”
Guns N’ Roses — “Appetite for Destruction”
Catfish and the Bottlemen — “Balcony”
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On making music:
It is easy working together as a team; we just connected and the music flowed. Music has shaped all of our lives. We have all been taking professional lessons and performing from a young age. Music has also been our greatest source of inspiration and creativity. Tanner started taking lessons at age five and started performing on stage with local bands at 11 years old. Dylan has been playing guitar since he was 11 years old. Matt’s love of playing began at the age of 6, when he got his first guitar and started lessons. Awnshae has been on stage singing and doing performance theater since 8 years old.
We cannot imagine doing anything else. Music will always be a part of our lives no matter what we pursue in the future.
— From a collaborative email sent by members of The Tellerz
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On receiving the Future of the Scene Award:
It was an amazing and awesome experience to receive the Future of the Scene Award. To be so young and to have been able to do what we did this summer was incredible. It was not easy at times when gigs were scheduled back to back. To be in a band is hard work and dedication, but the feeling on stage with the other members just clicked. We had some really great shows. We met a lot of good people and musicians that supported us.
We hope to continue to grow, play and meet more people in the music scene. Dylan is off to Boston University for his freshman fall semester and we are going to miss him. Matt and Tanner are going into their sophomore year of high school and Awnshae will be in her junior year of high school. Shane Ely, former member of The Tellerz from this summer, is a guitarist and songwriter. He too will be pursuing other musical interests moving forward. We hope to continue to pick up next spring and have a great summer in 2017.
— From a collaborative email sent by members of The Tellerz
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Static In The Attic
Hometown: Carbondale
Facebook: @staticintheattic
Members: Jesse Mower — lead guitar/vocals
Jules Borosky — drums
John Scirone — bass
Tommy Murray — rhythm guitar
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On inspirational albums:
Pink Floyd — “Dark Side of the Moon”
Jimi Hendrix — “Axis: Bold as Love”
Guns N’ Roses — “Appetite for Destruction”
The Beatles — “Revolver”
The Clash — “London Calling”
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On making music:
Our favorite part of making music is the feeling we all get and feel collectively when we’re playing together. There’s a strong vibe/energy that is present, which fuels our playing and creativity in the moment and allows for the truest expression of ourselves as individuals and as a whole.
— Tom Murray, rhythm guitarist and backup vocalist
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On receiving the Future of the Scene Award:
Being nominated for Future of the Scene means a lot because people recognize our potential as well as our accomplishments so far as a band. We hope to build our scene up to become more popular so we can move on to become known nationally and hopefully worldwide so we can ultimately bring the most recognition back to this area for it’s undoubted ability to grow and host excellent bands.
— Tom Murray, rhythm guitarist and backup vocalist
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Shock Value
Hometown: Hazleton
Facebook: @shockvaluetheband
Members: Joey Letcher — lead vocals
Michael Dino — lead guitar
Graham Wolk — bass
Matt Malloy — drums
John “DJ Swerch” Swierczek — DJ/tech
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On inspirational albums:
Coldplay — “Viva la Vida” or “Death and All of His Friends”
Radiohead — “Kid A”
The Front Bottoms — “The Front Bottoms”
Vampire Weekend — “Modern Vampires of the City”
The Smashing Pumpkins — “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness”
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On making music:
The best part of making music for us is when we discover and create something new as a group that we all have a part in making and that we are all proud of. It allows us to channel our feelings and experiences into making something tangible that other people can enjoy or, even better yet, relate to.
— Matt Malloy, drummer
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On receiving the Future of the Scene Award:
Being the first-time recipients of the Future of the Scene Award is quite possibly the greatest honor Shock Value has achieved. It was a huge deal for us because it showed us that what we were doing is good and encourages us to keep doing more with our music and opens up the possibility to bring real change to the NEPA scene, ideally by getting more people interested in local music. There are incredible acts that we have heard all over NEPA who are not only great musicians, but also innovators. Being in the presence of such talented people and being rewarded by them gives us so much joy to be regarded as one of them and recognized as someone they think represents a bright future for the scene.
— Matt Malloy, drummer
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Hearts Unknown (formerly Ten Stories)
*Ten stories recently changed their name to Hearts Unknown due to unforeseen legal matters involving a pre-existing band with the same name.
Hometown: Scranton
Facebook: @HeartsUnknown
Members: Karl Lewis — lead vocals
Jonathon Kamor — drums/backing vocals
Ryan Gruttadauria — rhythm guitar/vocals
Mark Naples — lead guitar
Eric Curtis — bass
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On inspirational albums:
Breaking Benjamin — “Saturate”
Linkin Park — “Minutes to Midnight”
Seether — “Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces”
Megadeth — “Countdown to Extinction”
Collective Soul — “Dosage”
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On making music:
Our favorite part about making music together is hearing the results of five different creative minds in our finished songs. Music is extremely important to all of our lives; it allows us to express our thoughts and feelings while having fun experimenting with different sounds and melodies.
— Karl Lewis, lead vocalist
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On receiving the Future of the Scene Award:
To be a recipient of the Future of the Scene Award means the world to us. We are honored to have received this award after only being a band for one short year, and we plan to continue playing shows and writing new music in the future. Thank you to all who have supported us.
— Karl Lewis, lead vocalist
