Break of Reality

"Plays with genuine technique but rocks out like it means it." - Time Out New York

"Plays with genuine technique but rocks out like it means it." - Time Out New York

"The energy, enthusiasm and appreciation for Break of Reality's music that was shown by the students here at Cornell was something that, despite some of our best efforts, has yet to be recreated. What made the evening so great from a programmers standpoint was the fantastic music, your professional, eager, agreeable and appreciative attitudes towards the performance (which belied your years), your willingness to engage the students in discussions related to study, performance and musical styles, and of course the student's positive response to the music.

We are always searching for programs that are at once entertaining, educational and enriching in order to enhance the campus life experience and Break of Reality met and surpassed all of those criteria." - Assistant Program Director

"The cello rock band Break of Reality has serious street cred in two musical arenas -- speed metal and classical music.

Cellists Patrick Laird, Christopher Thibdeau and Erin Keesecker were joined by percussionist Ivan Trevino on two 30-minute sets -- the first acoustic, the second amplified. They wasted little time diving in a take-no-prisoner approach to cello playing.

On the original "Solid Ground," all three bowed their cellos as if ripping into power chords. The tone was large and sounded amplified, but the amplification would come later.

The most appealing thing about these musicians is that they're such a double threat. All four are graduates of the Eastman School of Music -- and it shows. They can shred like guitarists, but you know they can ace the classical repertoire. You don't get a thunderous tone and have it stay super-clear unless it's been put through the rigors of conservatory training.

Things intensified in the second half of the set, which was amplified and played with a full drum set.

The band tore through a cover of System of a Down's "B.Y.O.B." That was followed by a red-hot cover of Slayer's "Mandatory Suicide." Here Laird took the lead, his cello sounding like a tricked-out Les Paul.

All three cellists weren't shy about taking the cellos out of the end pin holders and holding them like guitars. Those were played with a power-chordlike fervor.

The apex was the band's cover of Metallica's "Creeping Death." Here Laird attacked the strings with controlled violence. Laird's lead guitar lines were delivered with an intensity that would make Metallica guitarist James Hetfield proud.

To prove that the cello is no wallflower instrument, Laird walked his cello to center stage, knelt and hoisted it behind his neck. He played double stops on the fingerboard while Thibdeau bowed from above.

It was a Hendrix-like moment, and it speaks volumes about what can be done with a bow and a cello." - Concert Review by Edward Ortiz - Arts Critic, Sacramento Bee

"Their tunes are well written, consistently interesting, and achieve a near perfect balance between classical string sounds and distortion-box-colored thrashy metal... Their piece Broken (no lads, not a cover of the Pantera tune from Far Beyond Driven) evokes Barber's Adagio for Strings, yet effortlessly manages to integrate distorted celli & drums at the composition's peak. f-ing brilliant. And very, very beautiful. Slipping the "cool rock and roll part" of Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps into the otherwise original Circles is beautifully done, and gives me a happy chuckle every time I hear it." - Review by Corbin Keep, Newsletter of the New Directions Cello Festival

"This band has something everyone needs: excitement, originality, and an undeniable intensity that louder, heavier bands only dream of. And it has bridged the classical/rock gap while other bands have fallen short, or horsed it into the boat with way too much bombastic pomp

The quartet's packed farewell show at Roberts Wesleyan College was breathtaking. The first set was subdued, with drummer Ivan Trevino manning a lone djembe. Somehow this cat still manages to pull of double-kick tricks with his palm. If I could move my hands that fast, I'd never leave the house.

The second set started out in pitch blackness with the sounds of an ominous wind blowing through the PA. Cellist Patrick Laird appeared in a lone spotlight in one of the aisles and began to saw within a sea of feedback, reverb, and chaos. It was chilling, it was cool. Cellist Erin Keesecker followed. By the time the entire group was back on stage and Trevino stood behind a full kit, the band was in full gallop. This is the goose contemporary music has been waiting for, and it is leaving our shores for NYC and beyond. I will miss it."

http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/music/blog/I+SCENE+IT:+Reality+moves+on/
- Rochester City News - Frank DeBlase

"The sight and sound of four serious-looking music students playing rock on classical instruments has been an arresting event, here and in New York City.

"We will literally play anywhere in New York City," Laird says, "and people will always stop and listen. To me, that struck me as unusual."

"Young people," says Trevino. "Skate kids. Metal heads. Young married people. Businessmen."

"It's about breaking expectations," Laird says. "People see a cello, a djembe maybe, and they have no idea what they're about to hear. They think they do, but they don't."

That's also the message that the band brings to the schools where it puts on workshops. They've done that from Penfield High School to Ithaca College to Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music. "We're trying to get these kids to not expect the norm," Trevino says. "Just because you're playing a, quote/unquote, classical instrument, doesn't mean you can't play other things."

With its move to New York City, between gigs, workshops, bar mitzvahs, playing in the streets and selling CDs, and flying out to California — as it will in June as guest artist at the New Directions Cello Festival — Break of Reality figures it can devote itself full time to breaking into the music business."

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070415/LIVING0105/704150305/1049 - Rochester - Democrat and Chronicle - Jeff Spevak, Staff music critic

"The Sound Between is the strongest and most original recent addition to my music library, where it has been in heavy rotation since I got it. The elegant arrangements are inventive and dramatic, while BoR’s precise playing is somewhere in the neighborhood of perfect—at least as far as my untrained ear can tell. Songs go from 0 to 60 in a split second, turning on a dime to take you from a quiet chamber recital to a thundering arena rock concert: Fans of both Nine Inch Nails and Kronos Quartet will be pleased."

http://www.nypress.com/20/21/abouttown/about2.cfm - New York Press - By David Callicott

"Break of Reality knows how to be a synthesis of both styles - the middle ground between the classical doctrine and the heavy metal mantra. The band certainly blurs preconceptions of this "classical" instrument." - University of Rochester, Campus Times

"In metal and metal-derived music, what's heavier than the textbook loud, overdriven chug chug, noodly noodly guitar? Easy: the cello. That's right, the cello. Break Of Reality is a rock band consisting of four Eastman School cellists and a drummer. They rocked the California Brew Haus last Saturday. Other than some simple guitar effects, the sound from the instruments is pretty much their intended low, breathy moan.

The music is heavy and creepy. When horsehair is drawn across gut, it's millions of times more ominous than the heaviest of guitars in the minor-est of keys. You gotta see this band. And it's cool to see the Brew Haus leaning toward more live entertainment. This is a great rock club with a good stage with a cool vibe." - Rochester City News

"Break of Reality knows how to be a synthesis of both styles - the middle ground between the classical doctrine and the heavy metal mantra. The band certainly blurs preconceptions of this "classical" instrument." - University of Rochester, Campus Times

"All band members have been excellent, professional and personable performers, facilitators and group teachers at our music school for the past 3 years. They actively demonstrate a unique talent for crossing over the gap between classical and rock styles, encouraging students to look at their instruments and music in general in a fresh and creative way." - Director

"All band members have been excellent, professional and personable performers, facilitators and group teachers at our music school for the past 3 years. They actively demonstrate a unique talent for crossing over the gap between classical and rock styles, encouraging students to look at their instruments and music in general in a fresh and creative way." - Director