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| Local band is finding its audience |
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| Written by Alva Perez | The Inst-Gator | |
| Wednesday, 18 June 2008 | |
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With more than 23,000 friends on its MySpace site and more than 150,000 song plays, Portrait of the Artist is one of the biggest bands hitting the local 209 music scene. The band has more then a hundred shows under its belt and has released an EP, “Constructing an Empire.” Portrait of the Artist musicians are: vocalist Nick Swisegood of Escalon, guitarist David Delaroca of Newman and bassist Alex Leslie, guitarist Aaron Weimer, keyboardist Jeff Thorkelson and drummer David Stump, all of Patterson. During one of the band’s recent practices, the Insti-Gator sat down face to face with the band members and asked a few questions. Insti-Gator: Everyone in the band looks really young. How old are you guys? Delaroca: Nick’s the oldest; he’s 23. Alex is 20, Jeff is 19, both Aaron and I are 18 and David S. is the youngest at 16. IG: Where did you guys get the name ‘Portrait of the Artist’? Leslie: A former band member told us that he came up with it, but then we figured out he got it from a book. IG: When did the band come together? Leslie: It was in August of 2006. IG: How did you guys get started? Leslie: Aaron pretty much started it. Delaroca: I found them through MySpace and asked them if I could play. Stump: Yeah, we pretty much all found each other through MySpace. IG: How would you describe the band’s music? Stump: I would say we’re metal-core. Delaroca: I don’t know. I like people to listen to it and then decide for themselves. IG: Who are your biggest influences? Delaroca: Probably As I Lay Dying, Underoath, Catherine and the Devil Wears Prada. Iron Maiden is definitely a big influence. They do a lot of the same stuff we do with our guitars. Stump: We also love Enter Shikari and Metallica.  Portrait of the Artist Delaroca: Sharing the stage with the Devil Wears Prada, Enter Shikari and Catherine was huge for us. They’re bands all of us really look up to. Stump: Yeah, and Enter Shikari is, like, the biggest band in the U.K. right now, so it was pretty big. Delaroca: I think that having people listen to our music and actually liking it is probably our biggest accomplishment, though. Leslie: Just staying together this long is an accomplishment. IG: What’s the biggest audience Portrait of the Artist has played for? Delaroca: About 900 people. Leslie and Stump: That’s a lot of kids. IG: How would you describe your fans? Leslie: It’s a huge range of people. Stump: Yeah, it varies from metal heads to little Emo girls. Delaroca: Yeah, and then we have our devoted fans that come to every single one of our shows, stand in the front row and sing along to all of our songs. There’s, like, 15 of them! Leslie: They always make us look really big and important. IG: What’s the best thing about being in a band? Delaroca: Probably traveling. Weimar: Meeting new people and partying. Stump: Playing for people. Leslie: Yeah, actually playing on stage is great. IG: Has your music changed at all since you started the band? Delaroca: Yeah, it’s changed a lot. It’s definitely progressed. Leslie: Every single song we’ve written is different. IG: So what’s in POTA’s future? Stump: We’re planning on doing a tour and hitting the studio soon. Delaroca: A tour is going down for sure. And a new CD should be coming out.
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