promize

-Greenfield, MA

the moon sets and the sun rises on the band that gives you a "reason for expectation"; promize. these alternative rockers pride themselves on their dark music as their lead singer translates what they are trying to convey with their instruments. with decades of collective musical experience, promize offers a complete sound that has been shared with the world for a while; you just might not have known it. albums, rolling stone magazine, and even movie soundtracks have all had the privilege of bearing the promize name and sound. and now, it's time to give you a quick run down of this six (sometimes seven) member band:

shelby taranto: lead vocals
dave manning: drums (leader)
rob sweeney: keys and effects
pete mcewan: bass and backing vocals
jon zera: guitars
kelly baraban: guitars and backing vocals
rich p: special guest guitarist (touring guitarist)

collective influences:
Deftones
Tool
Zed Zeppelin
Perfect circle
Filter
Chris Cornell
Jeff Buckley
Rush
Dave Matthews
Soundgarden
Smashing Pumpkins
Stone Temple Pilots
John Paul Jones
Stanley Clark
Geddy Lee
Lee Sklar
Radiohead
Alice in Chains

the band's latest album features "unholy"; a sure hit and a band favorite according to shelby. furthermore, on their climb to ultimate success, the band turned down a record deal with sony! however crazy as it might seem, promize is currently in talks with a major label. that's where jon boy zera comes in as he answers questions on behalf of the band.

Dom: what hurdles have hindered you from being where you want to be already?
Jon Boy: there are many hurdles any band must endure to survive on a daily basis. getting along with one another can be one of the biggest hurdles to overcome. in order to survive, everyone in the band has to be able to get along and work with each other. you need to have the same goals, be on the same page and you must have mutual respect for each other. with promize we all get along very well, we have respect for one another and we’re all striving towards the same goal. it’s important to assign one band member as the leader and have trust and faith in that leader to make the right moves. when you have a band and each member wants to play boss and be in charge you’re doomed.

Dom: i agree. that's very important. what are your proudest accomplishments as a group?
Jon Boy: standing outside of a venue waiting to go on stage we heard our song, "unholy" come on national radio. being featured in rolling stone magazine would be a close second.

Dom: very nice! you've done so much already. signing a major record deal: is that a peak, plateau, or new beginning?
Jon Boy: it’s the next chapter for us and what we’ve been working all our lives for.

Dom: a new chapter indeed. you've performed quite a bit. what do you think is the craziest thing to happen during/after one of your performances (including crazy fans)?
Jon Boy: where do i begin…we’ve seen fans have promize tattoos all over their body including one guy with the p, r, o, et cetera tattooed on each knuckle. we played an outdoor festival once and the stage was struck by lightning! we’ve had people streak across the stage naked, few fans fainted while signing autographs for them. one guy purposed to shelby after a show. it’s all good fun though. we love our fans.

Dom: and they love you [haha]. what advice do you have for artists that are looking to get signed?
Jon Boy: getting signed is like winning the lottery. there are plenty of amazing bands out there who have worked hard for years and will always be overlooked by labels and there are others who just got lucky. with the internet being so huge these days, in order to increase your chances and exposure it’s important to promote the hell out of yourself by using the internet. we still spend 14+ hours a day, 7 days a week self promoting anywhere and everywhere we can online. you got to work hard at it and promote, promote, promote. if getting signed were easy everybody would do it.

Dom: in other words network, network and when you're done with that network some more. jon boy, thank you for taking time to answer these questions on behalf of promize! i wish you all the best on this potential new record deal!
Jon Boy: thanks, dom.

shelby, dave, rob, pete, jon, kelly and rich...you have earned the Dom seal of approval!
be sure to check out promize on reverbnation.

Dom
if nobody feels you, i feels you, feel me?
be easy coz life is hard...