Central Florida-based rock band 535 is poised and ready to take the nation by storm.
Formed in November 2006, 535 recently signed a major record deal with Interscope Records and signed a management deal with the team of Kenneth Crear and Johnny Wright of Wright Crear Management.
Currently writing and recording material for a forthcoming CD release, 535 is on tour with Disney super group the Cheetah Girls through December, including Sunday's stop at the Amway Arena in Orlando.
535 consists of Parker Landis (lead guitar/lead vocals), his brother, Griffin Landis (bass guitar/vocals) and Jullian Piccone (drums/vocals). With a combined age less than that of just one average rock band veteran, 535 proves you don't have to be big in stature to produce a big sound.
I spoke with Parker, 13; Griffin, 11; and Jullian, 11. So let's Shake, Rattle & Know: 535.
SRK: Just six months ago, you were playing for small crowds in your native Central Florida. How does it feel to go from playing that to playing sold-out arenas in such a short time?
Parker: Wow. . . . It's just amazing. Everything is happening so fast for us right now. When we walked into the Austin arena for the first time and saw the stage and the production and how big everything was, it was crazy. All those thousands of seats . . . we were, and still are, very excited.
Jullian: And then, when we saw all our new gear set up on stage for the first time, it was awesome. We have always talked about how cool it would be to play on an arena stage, and there we were.
SRK: At what point did you decide that you wanted to perform and be a part of a band?
Jullian: My dad bought me a drum set when I was 5 years old and taught me a few basic four beats. One day, he came in with an electric guitar and an amplifier and told me to kick off a four-beat, and he jumped in on an AC/DC song. When we finished, I looked up at him and said, "Let's do it again!" From that point, I was addicted.
Parker: My dad really inspired me. He was recording in Nashville and always loved rock 'n' roll. He gave me a guitar one day, and I got into watching DVDs of bands like AC/DC and Kiss, and I loved it. I knew it was something I wanted to do myself.
Griffin: I knew after my very first practice. I had so much fun and it was something that I just loved from the moment I did it.
SRK: How did the band first come together?
Griffin: All three of us have been in school together since the first grade, but we didn't know about the music connection until one day I told Jullian that Parker played guitar. So, we got together at Julian's house with my dad and Julian's dad and started messing around playing music together.
That night, my dad hung a bass guitar on me and told me I was the bass player! My Uncle Mike, my dad Matt, and Jullian's dad are all musicians, so it was like a big family jam session every night. They taught us how to play. Now, we teach them!
SRK: You are perhaps the youngest band to ever sign a major record label deal with Interscope Records. How have you been able to accomplish so much in so little time?
Parker: Well, having the support we have from our dads has been a big help. They worked hard every day to promote us and make sure the show was tight when we got the opportunity to play live shows.
The rest comes from the fans and the parents who support us. We just get up there and do our thing, and people like it. I think one of the big reasons that we got this opportunity is that we love what we do. What kid doesn't want to rock out on stage in front of an audience of screaming fans?
SRK: With a grueling tour schedule, rehearsing and recording, do you ever have time to just be kids?
Jullian: We love to play video games and fool around on the bus. We have a football we throw around at the arena, and skateboards to ride around on when we're not rehearsing our traveling.
When we're at home, Parker likes to wake board, I like to go paintballing, and Griffin has been fishing lately. But there's nothing we do that's more fun than doing what we do together; being on stage and performing our music. When we are on stage and we hear the crowd singing along with our songs, sometimes Parker will look back at me and give me a look like, "Wow, this is really cool!"
SRK: There are going to be a lot of people surprised that kids your age have such an in-your-face rock 'n' roll style. What has the audience reaction been like so far?
Griffin: Really great. Kids want to rock out, and if you are up there on stage, all you have to do is get them involved and connect with them. That's my job out there. Parker is singing a lot and Jullian is behind his drums, so I have the most time to work the crowd and get them singing along and responding to the show.
SRK: Do you have anything special planned for the Orlando show, since this is like a homecoming of sorts for you?
Jullian: We are going to have a meet and greet to say thanks to all our friends who came to all our shows and have supported us for the last two years. We would like to do so much more, but we don't have a whole lot of time in Orlando on this tour. We plan on having a big party for all of them when we come back from this tour. We really miss all of them, and try to stay in contact with all of them when we are away.
SRK: What can fans expect out of the band in the coming months?
Parker: Well, we are on the Cheetah Girls tour until Christmas, then we go to L.A. in early January to record the new album. Our single "Turn It Up" is already done, and we're hoping the fans will be able to hear it on the radio in the next couple of weeks. Like the song says, when you hear us on the radio, "TURN IT UP!"
SRK: How much of your fan mail through MySpace and the post office do you actually answer yourselves?
Griffin: Yes, we do answer ourselves. We all like to talk to the fans and e-mail is probably the best way to stay on top of it. Since we've been on tour, we haven't had as much time as we would like to do that, but we want the fans to know that it really is us they are talking to when we hit them back.
SRK: People often think the band name is Rock 535 as opposed to the actual name 535. How did the band get its name and why the confusion?
Griffin: Actually, our name is 535, not Rock 535. The "Rock" comes from the domain address we use for our Web site. But the name of the band is 535, taken from the name of the road that runs past our houses in southwest Orlando. But the "Rock" part is true. . . . When we get up on stage and Jullian clicks it off, we come at you like a freight train. We want you to not only hear the music, but feel it too.
If you have an artist/band you'd like to recommend for review, contact Nunez at www.myspace.com/shakerattleandknow or fantasyforecaster2005@yahoo.com.
