Woodbridge-Based Band Audio Insight Entering the Big Time

Listening to the first track on their debut CD Dimensions, it’s hard to believe that only three people are making the kind of noise Audio Insight makes.  The music is LOUD.  It’s also intricate and complex.  The sound belies the relative youth of its creators, Woodbridge natives Anthony Celi (guitar/vocals), Mike Deverin (bass), and Dan Sullivan (drums/percussion), all of whom are currently freshmen in college.

The band, which formed in 2008, is currently participating in the Bamboozle Break contest, a Battle of the Bands-style competition for the right to play at the Bamboozle Festival at the Meadowlands in late April/early May.  Audio Insight is one of twenty remaining bands in the New Jersey regional competition, ten of which will move on to play the festival.  One ultimate winner will play the main stage at the festival, as well as earn a showcase for record labels, prize packs, photo shoots, and other necessities for independent bands on the verge of breaking into the big time.

After playing a successful set at the most recent competition, the band will now play at the Break finals on April 9th at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park for the chance to play the Bamboozle festival.

The band formed while all three members were still in high school (Celi and Deverin went to Woodbridge High, while Sullivan studied at St. Joseph’s in Metuchen).  “I met Anthony in high school,” said Deverin.  “The teacher (of a woodshop class they shared) was crazy; we just made fun of him and talked about music.”  Deverin and Sullivan had been friends since childhood, and when the three got together to play, the three clicked instantly.  “The first band we all liked was Rage Against the Machine,” said Deverin.  “We started playing Rage Against the Machine covers and went from there.”

The band members cite a variety of influences, ranging from Radiohead to Pink Floyd to Canadian prog-rock pioneers Rush, who’s hit “The Spirit of Radio” they covered at the Break contest show March 12th.  “We only practiced it three or four times before the show,” said Celi.  “The judges really liked it.”

The judges aren’t the only ones that seem to really like Audio Insight’s music.  The band was recently honored by Aquarian Weekly.  “They named us one of the best unsigned bands in the area,” said Sullivan.  “Out of every unsigned band in New York or New Jersey, we’re in the top 12.”  They’ve also been getting airplay on WSOU, the hard rock-heavy college radio station of Seton Hall University.  “We had an interview with them in January,” explained Celi.  “They played four songs from the CD, and [approximately] 60 people called in.”

It wasn’t that long ago, however, that all three band members were new to playing live music.  All three are self-taught musicians who picked up their respective instruments in the last five years.  “I took one month of lessons, and then I was relieved of that institution,” said Deverin of taking bass lessons.  “I put the bass drum on backwards [the first time putting together a drum kit],” added Sullivan. 

In less than five years, the band has gone from being completely new to the live music game to becoming very good at it.  When the band started practicing on a regular basis, they would practice twice a week, hosting friends weekly for practices that the band dubbed their “Thursday night shows.”  “People would come to our practices.  Twenty people would show up at my house,” said Celi.  “That’s how we started to get fans in the area.”

“You see these bands with these live DVDs coming out and they’re just jamming.  That’s what we want to get to, that feeling of live music,” said Sullivan.

The live shows led to the recording of Dimensions, which the band released in November (locally, it can be purchased at Vintage Vinyl in Fords, or online via iTunes).  They celebrated the release with a show at Architect Live in Butler.  “We were the first band to have a sellout performance,” said Deverin of the 150-capacity venue in North Jersey.   “The guys that made the venue know sound, because they were in a band too.”

“We couldn’t have picked a better place,” added Celi.

While the band currently in the midst of putting together a tour for the summer and preparing for a live performance at William Patterson University’s Brave-A-Thon on March 25th, the focus is clearly on the next round of the Bamboozle Break.  “April 9th is the biggest day of our lives,” said Deverin about the upcoming Finals competition at the Stone Pony.  Information about the show, as well as free downloads of some of the band’s music, is available on their Facebook page.

If the band is successful on April 9th, they will be playing the Bamboozle festival alongside bands such as Motley Crue, Taking Back Sunday, New Found Glory, and fellow Jersey boys The Gaslight Anthem.  It would be the biggest show of the band’s young career.  But regardless of the size of the stage and audience, the men of Audio Insight clearly enjoy simply playing live music any chance they can.

“If I can have this much fun at a concert,” said Sullivan of attending concerts as a teenager, “I can have as much up there.”