Thursday, September 13, 2012

Friction Division Interview by James Kingsley

By James Kingsley, guest Blogger


Staten Island’s Own Friction Division Brings the Funk to the Island.

Staten Island hosts many local bands such as Dead Men Dreaming, Dark Aura and Process of Fusion. Recently, the Island has welcomed Friction Division, a band that combines funk and rock.

Friction Division started in 2008 consisting of only three permanent members as they had a revolving door of drummers until earlier this summer. As of July 2011, Frank Delegro took over the position and has began to play shows with the band.

“At the first show I couldn’t stop sweating. I was so scared. The second show I felt a lot more comfortable. It’s a cool feeling to know that the audience really likes the music you play for them, I can’t explain it in words how that feels,” explained drummer Delegro.

The members of Friction Division hope to a change the feelings of those that listen to music in today’s world. They strive to change people’s mindset about music or at the very least open their mind to more music out there.

“Our music changes every song we make. One minute were writing a heavy song that makes you want to punch the guy next to you, next minute were writing a funky rock song that makes you want to dance, our music is already changing but I hope it will change people’s minds on rock music,” Delegro explained.

The band has been influenced by a variety of artists and genres.

Lead guitarist Mike Alexander explains, “We all are influenced by different things. Joe is greatly influenced by funk music. Huston likes a lot of alternative stuff and a lot of acoustic singer/songwriters.”

As for Alexander, he prefers heavy rock. “Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains and Zakk Wylde were huge influences on me growing up… those two alone were also very diverse and they showed me that you can also be sensitive as a guitarist and as a songwriter.”


Individually, the band members have their own goals and their own opinions on the future goals of the band. They do however share a common goal of getting a record deal.

“Our current goal is to slowly record an EP. When I mean slowly I mean we'll do one song at a time and post them individually online as a means to get us gigs at better clubs throughout NYC and perhaps other spots too,” Alexander said.

Friction Division play cover songs and also have some of their own hits such as "Take Me Away," "Grasp," "Highway" and "Not Yet." They plan to continue touring and sharing their unique sound.

“I would say that Friction Division is definitely a melting pot of everybody's musical interests and they just happen to blend in a way that I've never experienced in over the last 14 years I've been playing in bands.”


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