INTRODUCING: A Clear Blurr
New Jersey has given us some great bands over the years, and pop-punk prodigies A Clear Blurr are no exception! Since forming in 2007, they’ve gained a reputation for producing melodies and performances that easily surpass their young age. So, if you haven’t already… you need to check out:
A Clear Blurr
Tom Kenney- Vocals/ Guitar
Karl Pearson- Bass
Cole MacDonnell- Drums
Kevin Nicotera- Guitar/Vocals
While still in high school, they’ve already gained a recognizable fan base with their catchy sound and high energy. Yesterday, I had the chance to have a phone chat with Tom Kenney, who sings for the band:
Me: Is this your, or any of the guys’, first band?
Tom: Me, Cole and Karl started the band after Straight Back Sideways (old band name), then added Kevin. Around October 2005, we stopped playing for a while then Karl and I started playing again (without a name). We wanted to play live again so we got Billy to play drums for a while and then we got the name A Clear Blurr through Karl’s dad. His [his dad’s] old band name was Clear Blur, so we added the A and extra R, and then once Billy left, we added Kevin,. who we grew up with him, and then we got Cole drums!
Me: What has it been like being a high school student AND aspiring musician? Do you have a lot of fans at your high school?
Tom: Our senior year we had a bunch of freshman fans, we have a lot of people that like us in school that are afraid to talk to us, our friends think we’re a bunch of losers. Some teachers thought we were famous it was pretty funny. We’re pretty much treated the same way, teachers treat us the same, no special privileges.
Me: If you could go on tour with ANY band in the world, which would it be?
Tom: Definitely Blink 182, and not just because they draw a bunch of people each show, but we grew up listening to them and they’re our main influence. Tour wise; our primary goal is to play all of Warped Tour next year. We played two dates this summer, and last summer we played one date.
Me: Do you or anyone else plan to apply for college while trying to advance your music career?
Tom: Three of us are going to a county college (me, Cole and Karl). Kevin’s going to Rutgers.
Me: Is trigonometry one of your favorite subjects? Why did you name your second album after the subject?
Tom: We actually named it Trigonometry because all of us took it and we all did horrible and hated that class! So we were like, “Hey lets name our album Trigonometry!” We’re all horrible in math…. except for Kevin.
Me: If you had a “no consequences pass†to punch any celebrity in the face, who would it be?
Tom: shit.. I don’t even know….. umm, Perez Hilton. All he does it talk crap about everyone. He talked crap about Travis Barker, and now he wants to kick his ass.
Me: You all do a lot of community service; what types of activities do you do around your town?
Tom: We play a lot of benefit shows. We’ll sell merch and then donate a portion of the sales to the cause. We donate our time to a lot of things, Toys for Tots, etc…
Me: What’s your favorite track on the new album?
Tom: My favorite track to listen to is Tinted Blue. It’s totally different than any song we’ve ever done. But to play it’s definitely Gyna, because it’s so energetic.
Me: Do you plan to ever relocate, or do you all want to stick around New Jersey?
Tom: If we ever got really big and could afford to move, Karl wants to move to Calfornia in the worst way! He was born there and plus, Jersey is so expensive. We’d maybe go to Maryland or South Carolina, too.
Me: Is being in a band a major chick magnet or do you think it brings negative stigma?
Tom: I actually have a girlfriend right now, but it’s very easy to have as many female friends as you want. They may assume we have a whole bunch of groupies, but the girl I’m dating now, she doesn’t care, she actually didn’t even know I was in a band when we met!
Me: Any last thoughts?
Tom: Basically, we’d LOVE to play Warped Tour next year. Be sure to go out and buy our new album Triginometry on Sep 29th. We’re trying to sell 1000 in a week to be on Billboards Best Kept Secrets chart. You can get it on itunes, smartpunk.com, and local [New Jersey] Hot Topics, and you can get one from our MySpace at: myspace.com/aclearblurr
***
http://www.aclearblurr.com
http://www.myspace.com/AClearBlurr
*Stay tuned for a FULL review of A Clear Blurr’s second album, Trigonometry, which is available for purchase September 29th!
About the Author
Denise Borders 39, Los Angeles. Denise founded PWV in 2008 and remains the primary manager and photographer/videographer. She is not secretly obsessed with Joey Cape.
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