On May 21, at 9:30 p.m., Street Sense will be hosting its first benefit concert at The Black Cat. Three local bands have volunteered to perform, and all proceeds will benefit Street Sense. Below are their stories and thoughts on homelessness in D.C.
Formed in 1995, Velvet, a College Park-based band, has released three independent albums with Signal to Noise Records and is best known for their live shows. Band members Joe, Andrew, Doug, Jae and Joe (there are two of them) all grew up around College Park.
Voted “Best local band” by the University of Maryland’s daily newspaper, Velvet has many loyal fans (and two faithful Roadies) who catch their high-energy shows all over Maryland and D.C. and relentlessly request songs on the radio from the bands three albums.
The band members love playing for the diverse, open-minded D.C. crowds. Velvet has expanded their hard rock reach beyond the metro area and radio and have had their songs featured on the Discovery Channel’s “Outward Bound” series and in the recent feature-length horror film Jigsaw.
The band recently heard about Street Sense and say they are happy to help in any way they can. They have previously performed at other benefit shows.
Monopoli is the newest band of the three, having performed their first show on New Year’s Eve 2004 at the Velvet Lounge. Dex, Rube, Alfonso, and Magazine met through D.C.’s club circuit. Over the past year and a half, the band has played to the packed clubs in D.C., including the 9:30 Club, the Black Cat, Iota, and the Velvet Lounge.
They are very grateful to their adoptive city, claiming that Washington has been very loving to them. According to CD Baby, their sound is “equally far-reaching, elastic and concise, punchy and distinct-something you can hang your hat on.” Selected by Washingtonpost.com/mp3 as an Editor’s Choice, Monopoli is hearing from Hollywood music directors, record labels and radio stations, and is looking forward to an exciting 2005.
Alphonso’s thoughts on homelessness are in line with his views on war, poverty, hunger and disease: “It is all entirely dependent on the choice for action. You have to choose to change. Monopoli doesn’t want to put off the homeless reality. It’s in front of us every day. And so we choose to play to show that it’s all right and necessary to choose to support Street Sense.”
Gist’s founders are not content with just spreading their original post-punk, hard rock music to the ears of District listeners; they are also running a record label and music store performance space, which they say helps to ensure that other local artist are heard. Although the drummer, Fred, is the only D.C. native in the group, Finley and Nayan, who hail from Canada and South Africa, respectively, have made D.C. their home for years.
The band came together in 1995 and have put on demos and released albums, including the upcoming Diesel City, almost every year. More recently, Nayan and Fred opened Revolution Records (4215 Connecticut Ave.), a funky music store that doesn’t specialize in one type of music; it is a place where hip-hop, rock & roll and indie records and artist are all welcome. Nayan and Fred call it a “record store for the community” and host performances by eclectic artist every weekend, giving local musicians a chance to share their talent.
Because they live in D.C., the band members are exposed to the problems of homelessness and have always wanted to help. Now, using the power of their music, Nayan believes that they are able to help in a positive way, such as playing in the Street Sense fundraiser.
