PEACE MUSIC
4th Place Winners of the Beantown Meltdown
By Debbie Catalano
Photo by Kamal Asar

There's nothing like the warmth of acoustic music - and even in a rock band competition, acoustic guitars are strong enough to catch ears - at least that's what finalists Peace Music proved in the recent Beantown Meltdown. Don't get the wrong idea, however, Peace Music - who at press time just changed their name to Not Broken - is not just an acoustic band, even though that's where their roots lie. The band mesh those acoustic grooves with electrified, harmonious rock with pop-like hooks. Spirited yet grounded, Not Broken have a loyal fan following as their live show attendance and CD sales attest to. The band, which consists of founders Michael Finochiaro on lead vocals and David Torrisi on guitar, with newcomers Frank Palmisano on bass and Brian Belfiore on drums, recently recorded a demo in Orlando, Florida entitled The Florida Sessions produced by Jay Stanley, formerly of the band Tabitha's Secret whose original lead singer was Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas. Not Broken is in good company as Jay's production/recording credits include The Bare Naked Ladies, Duncan Sheik, Uncle Cracker, and Creed.

SoundCheck Magazine: It appears that the band has grown member-wise since your 9-song self-titled album-tell me about that. Or tell me a bit about the background of this band.
Dave Torrisi: Our first album was primarily a studio album that Michael and I decided to make. Over the years we did a lot of writing and wanted to get those ideas out in a full band sound. We really didn't have a band so we did it on our own. On the first album Michael performed all percussion and I layered all the guitars. A friend of ours, A.J. Pappas, currently in the band Eve to Adam, laid down the bass. During this time we had a two-man acoustic act playing around the Boston area. With the album close to being finished we knew that we needed a band to perform this music. Also at this time Michael and I were ready for a change. When we started jamming with Brian and Frank everything started to click. We grew up with Frank and jammed with him many times previously. Brian, also a friend, loved the music and his drum playing fit our sound like a glove.
SCM: Your latest CD, "The Florida Sessions," reflects a more electrified sound (while still keeping with the acoustic vibe/sound) - with the new members was this a conscious decision to change the sound a bit?
Dave: I really don't think it was a conscious decision, I think it just happened. But, there are a few factors that might help explain the genesis of our current sound. First they're four individuals in this band that bring their own energy to the new materials as well as the old. Although Michael and I bring songs to the table, the finished product is a complete band effort. The second reason is that over the past year, Michael started playing acoustic guitar in the band. This gave me the opportunity to focus on the development of my electric guitar sound, which helped us get that bigger electrified sound. The first album we wanted to keep more acoustic because that's what we were doing then (playing out acoustically). Now, with the full band, we've been able to expand our sound.
SCM: Why or how did you end up going to Florida to record this?
Dave: Michael and I went to high school with Jay [Stanley] and played in a band with him at that time. When we found out that Jay was producing bands we immediately reconnected with him and sent him a demo. Not too long after we sent the demo he called us back and invited us down to Florida to do some recording. Since then we have been down three times and are planning another trip in the spring.
SCM: That's quite a compliment that Jay Stanley wanted to work with you. How was that experience?
Dave: The experience has been amazing. The band is very appreciative of the opportunity that Jay has given us.There's nothing like recording with Jay down in Florida. It's completely laid back and hassle-free. We just hang out at his beautiful home all day and record music. Brian made the comment on his first trip to Florida that Jay's place was a "musician's playground." If you factor in the Jacuzzi, the beautiful pool, and the two state-of-the-art Pro-Tools in-home studios, I don't think Brian's statement was at all inaccurate. In fact, Creed recorded their latest album Weathered at his in-home studio, so just the fact that we were creating music in the same space and atmosphere that Creed did was quite an honor.
SCM: Definitely. That sounds like it was a great, positive experience. Now, will he help you out with the finished product in getting it out to people in the industry?
Dave: Well, that's the plan. In the meantime we're trying to make our mark up here so we can give Jay more fuel for our resume.
SCM: So I have to ask, what made you decide to record The Commodores' "Easy Like Sunday Morning" for this CD?
Michael Finochiaro: When Dave and I first stepped foot in Jay's house it was quite a shock. Being the humble musician Jay is, he really didn't tell us the capacity of his success. So we were excited to see Matchbox Twenty plaques all over the walls and very happy that our friend invited us to record and share in his success. I spontaneously just started to sing "Easy Like Sunday Morning" out loud. It was basically a description of my happiness at that moment. Jay heard me and said, "Why are you singing that?" I said that I just felt incredibly happy to be there, and I sang the line again. At that point Jay said, "That's weird, I've been working on that song recently." He proceeded to sit down at his baby grand piano and played the intro. He asked me how I felt about doing a cover and I gladly accepted. He spun me a copy and I rehearsed it for a solid day and a half over and over, then I nailed it.
SCM: Wow - I didn't expect such a sort of magical story to be behind that answer! That's cool. O.K., let's talk about the Beantown Meltdown - how did you end up competing in that?
Brian Belfiore: Well, we had played a couple of shows at Goodtimes Emporium over the summer and had heard that there was going to be a competition in the fall. From playing there previously we knew what a first-class venue Goodtimes was for a band to play at. So we were psyched at the opportunity to showcase our material. We knew the atmosphere and hype would be good. We thought this would be an excellent way to gauge how our band is progressing. It was a good opportunity to see how we stacked up against some of the better original bands in the Boston area. In the preliminaries we realized that most of the bands in the battle were heavy. We thought this would benefit us because we knew our style of music was so different that this would probably make us stick out a little more. Our fans seemed to be energized because we were involved with this. They were tremendously supportive.
SCM: How did you find the overall experience to be?
Brian: Overall, it was an unbelievable experience. We ended up meeting a lot of great people. The competition also benefited us greatly as far as exposure, and hopefully it put us on the map in the Boston area. Making it to the finals inspired the band to keep practicing harder and keep writing new tunes. In fact, we have a few new tunes that we're anxious to debut at some of our upcoming shows.
SCM: That's excellent! What are your future plans?
Dave: The band hopes to finish up recording with Jay within the next year and release our second CD. In the meantime, our goals are to keep practicing, writing, and performing. We are also working on building our fan base every show while approaching radio stations for airplay.
SCM: Anything else you'd like to add?
Dave: We just want to give a shout-out to all of our fans that have supported us in the past year. Without you guys we'd be playing to the walls! The fans are our inspiration for performing.