Kicking Sunrise

Kicking Sunrise Performs Their Song 'Here's To The Sunrise' On Eyewitness News This Morning

The band is from Washington Township, New Jersey. - CBS3

A new band is making its Killington debut this weekend: Kicking Sunrise will play the Wobbly Barn on March 18 and 19. They are very excited to share their music with everyone here. The band is: Joe Murphy, Rockin the Region DJ Dave Hoffenberglead vocals/rhythm guitar; Ryan Hornibrook, bass/backing vocals/rapper; Matthew Bosco, lead guitar/backing vocals; and Mark Altamuro, drums. They hail from Washington Township, N.J. and all are
in their early twenties. I had the pleasure of speaking with Murphy, who told me what the band is all about.

I always like to find out how a band came up with its name and Kicking Sunrise owes theirs to Bosco’s brother Luke. Murphy said that he’s a really creative, talented artist who was thinking about names to go along with what the band is all about, which is partying and music with a positive message. Luke said, “Kick it to Sunrise,” and they eventually got that to Kicking Sunrise. Murphy said that goes perfect because they party all night and don’t want the night to end.

The band formed in 2013 after Murphy and Hornibrook released a YouTube video of them covering Justin Timberlake’s “Suit and Tie.” Murphy says, “We got some really good feedback on it and I realized that we should not mess around anymore, and play music, start writing songs and form a band.” This is Murphy’s second official band. He was in a band called April May when he was 15 and also had some solo projects.

Murphy says a Kicking Sunrise show is very high energy and you’ll hear covers, but also some of their originals. He says, “What we try and do to stand out from the rest of the bands is to treat each cover song like it’s our own. We get into it and we pull our emotions into these songs to feel these songs and really perform them like they’re our own, to sell the crowd. It’s hard to get people’s attention when they’re hearing the same songs over and over. These good cover songs that are on the radio are background noise, eventually. To grab new fans we really put our heart and soul into these cover songs.”

You’ll hear the popular songs and recognize them right away, but Kicking Sunrise tries to put their own spin on them. Murphy says, “People always say that we have a distinct sound with my vocals and Ryan’s vocals. We want people to be able to sing along so we keep it close to the original, but it depends on the song. Our main focus is always our original songs and our new album … ‘Here’s to the Sunrise.’ We have some new and exciting stuff in the near future coming up … like videos and hopefully a tour soon. We’ve had some great feedback with it and a couple minor success stories with the single.”

The band’s title song, “Here’s to the Sunrise” was featured on TBS for baseball coverage and TNT for a PGA tournament. The guys were really excited about that. This is their first album and it’s a collaborative effort. Everyone writes their part of the song. Murphy and Hornibrook bounce back and forth with ideas and get their creative juices flowing.

The band relocated to California for 10 months while they wrote the album. They wanted to get some new inspiration. Murphy says, “We were out there writing, tracking, recording, mixing and really finalizing the album. It took about three months to actually write all the songs and ideas.”

The band is sponsored by an independent record label, Right Coast Music and their boss lives in Costa Mesa, so they visited him out there. They came back home to release the album and tour the East Coast. They loved it out in Cali, but wanted to release the album back home with their fans. The band’s originals are a mix of pop, hip hop and r&b. Murphy says, “It’s a feel good, summertime beach vibe. It’s chill.”

Being under an independent label gave the guys a lot of creative control. Murphy said it was one of the benefits and also says, “We have so many different ideas and different styles with the four of us. We even put some EDM on the end of the album. We were able to mix and match with all of our styles.” Bands know that cover songs pay the bills and Murphy says, “If I want to play music full-time right now that’s what I gotta do or otherwise I’ll be in the restaurant.”

Murphy has two favorite cover songs that he doesn’t mind playing: Gavin Degraw’s “I Don’t Want To Be” which he says is a super powerful song that everyone loves singing along to and Macklemore’s “Can’t Hold Us” which gets Murphy up as well as the crowd and they have a great time playing it.

Each band member has different genres of music that they’re influenced by. When they wrote the album, these came into play. Hornibrook raps are like old school hip hop and he raps a cleaner version of everything else that’s out right now. Murphy says he does a good job with it and thinks it’s cool to have songs with a rap in it, that increases your audience. It’s not age-limited where everything is censored; it’s a combo of Will Smith, Travis McCoy and B.O.B. Murphy’s style is like Gavin Degraw and Adam Levine. Bosco is a rock, blues and jazz guitar player and Altamuro has a hardcore/punk rock style of drumming.

I asked Murphy what he loves best about playing music and he says, “I know it’s kind of cliche to say but it’s what I love to do. I have no choice, it’s all I know. Being a musician and playing professionally in this day and trying to make it as a band or singer and make it to the top of the charts with a song, you sometimes get down on yourself. I just love playing for the perfect crowd on the perfect stage. I’m hungry for it and I’m driven especially with my original stuff. Whenever you have those bad days and you just want to give up or quit. The problem is whenever I do that I want to write a song about it. So I have no choice but to play and pursue this. It’s all I want to do.”

The band has a lot of stuff going on right now. Keep up with them on Twitter to see all the behind the scenes stuff. Twitter is a really big thing with them and they really want to stay connected with their fans. Their Twitter is @KickingSunrise. Murphy says the band is in full force and going in a great direction. I think that everyone should direct themselves to the Wobbly Barn. I like the sound of Kicking Sunrise and like Murphy says, it really is feel good music. - Mountain Times

WASHINGTON TWP. -- The local band Kicking Sunrise has been performing around South Jersey for years, but this weekend its members will take the stage at Ott's on the Green Bar & Grill to celebrate the release of their debut album, "Here's to the Sunrise."

The four-man group, based in Sewell, will take the stage at 4 pm on Saturday for their album release party at the outdoor courtyard at Ott's. They'll be performing acoustic versions of several of the tracks off their debut album, which dropped June 1 at midnight.

Jon Rendino, owner and operator of Ott's, located on Greentree Road, has booked Kicking Sunrise several times in the past, but thinks there will be an even higher turnout than usual for Saturday's album release party.

"I'm just expecting a really good crowd. I can't put a number on it as far as numbers go, but I'm expecting a very, very good crowd. It's going to be a lot of local people and it's going to be a lot of fun," said Rendino.

Admission to Saturday's debut event will be free. It will also be the first time physical copies of the band's album will be available to the public.

A band's debut album is a significant milestone, and Kicking Sunrise's members are just glad they can finally share the product of their hard work with the public.

"Honestly, it's a huge release," said bassist Ryan Hornibrook Tuesday. "Being behind the scenes since March and seeing everything that took place to get to where it is right now. It's just exciting to get it out to the public so they can see the hard work that went into it.

"The responses we already got since it released ... have been overwhelming. It's pretty incredible."

It's been a whirlwind week for Kicking Sunrise. Saturday's show, according to lead vocalist Joe Murphy, will be a special one and a way for the band to slow things down and connect with their friends and fans in attendance.

That's been something that's been nearly impossible before due to the band members being their own road crew and most fans having went home by the time they finished packing up after a show.

"Usually when we play out, we bring all of our friends out. The problem is that we're still at the bottom of the food chain here and don't have our own road and own sound people," said Murphy.

"At these shows when everyone comes out to see us, we have a hard time actually taking the time to talk to everybody. The difference with this release party on Saturday is more so a time for us to celebrate with everybody the release of this album and the accomplishments we have made."

Other members of the band include Mark Altamuro and Matt Bosco.

Saturday will be a marquee day for Kicking Sunrise, who have come a long way since gaining popularity via YouTube in January 2013.

The band is signed to the Independent record label, Right Coast Music, which is owned by Mark DeLeo and his brother, CJ. Mark serves as one of the band's managers and has a very good relationship with Rendino and the staff of Ott's.

"Saturday is really our coming-out party with Jonny's organization here. He's been gracious enough to let us do the release party here and there's a reason why we did that," said DeLeo.

"A year and a half ago, when no one knew who these guys were, Jonny was the first person to give them a chance to play in an atmosphere like this.

"And that's one of the main reasons we wanted to come back here Saturday and hold our release party -- because it kind of all got started here and it's a way to thank Jonny for giving us that first shot."

Stephen Pistone may be reached at spistone@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Steve_Pistone. Find NJ.com on Facebook. - NJ.com

Soul-pop rock group Kicking Sunrise chatted with Digital Journal about their new EP "When It's Right," and their musical inspirations.
On the song selection process of the new When It's Right EP, they said, "When It's Right is made up of five songs that gave us the most genuine feeling out of a group of 12 written songs throughout 2016 and early 2017."
They listed the track "Give Me Tonight" as their favorite song on the EP due to its "night life" vibe, as well as the excitement for new love.
Regarding their plans for the future, they said, "Our plans for 2018 are to break into the live original music scene as heavily as possible while aiming to drop at least two new original songs a month."
On their musical inspirations, the band shared, "As performers and songwriters, we are inspired and motivated by our crowd's response in the studio and on the stage. We write and produce our best material when we lock ourselves into pleasing our targeted audience."
On the impact of technology on the music industry, Kicking Sunrise said, "Technology has been rapidly changing, and is constantly impacting the music industry when it comes to social media. Social media is the most useful and powerful tool that musicians have today to share content and connect with new people all over the world."
They continued, "As musicians working under today's technology and social norms, we heavily use social media to promote our product, stay connected with others, meet new people, and share our music every day."
"The best advice we have for other musicians and anyone running or promoting an online business is to stay up to date with social and current trends," they told aspiring musicians. "Most importantly, if you are in the music industry always keep creating music."
"Our latest EP When It's Right is a combination of our best sounds created through late 2016 and early 2017. We hope you all enjoy and look forward to the continuous progression of our original music," they concluded.
To learn more about the band Kicking Sunrise, check out their official website.


Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/entertainment/music/kicking-sunrise-opens-up-about-new-when-it-s-right-ep/article/514194#ixzz5DF5oMcho - Digital Journal

The New Jersey boys in Kicking Sunrise are really making a name for themselves in the industry. On January 4th they released a new EP called, “When it’s Right” and are already on some awesome line-ups for up coming shows which include some shows with O-Town in March!


This Thursday, Kicking Sunrise will be rocking out in Philly at The Barbary, where you can not only hear their hit single, “Here’s to the Sunrise” which is the theme song for CBS3 Philly’s Morning Show, but you can also hear them jam the songs from their new EP called “When it’s Right”.

These guys are really taking off, and if you’re in Philly this Thursday, Jan 25th, I’d definitely take the time to check them out! Head to kickingsunrise.com for more info! - New Fury Media