Set It Off

Home Town Heroes
Rank: #4

Their Story:
Few Hometown Heroes have already performed on the AP tour. But Set It Off vocalist/guitarist Cody Carson has. While he was attending college in the Midwest, he caught the final show of the 2008 spring tour in Cleveland and was pulled on stage by Alex Gaskarth to sing an All Time Low song. Although his parents had dreams that he's be a professional clarinetist, that cameo led to their blessing to be a rock star. He assembled he assembled the other four members and Set It Off played their first show within a month.

Why You Should Know Them:
Set It Off play an infectious brand of melodi, pop-heavy rock with novel use of synths to go along with the sing=along choruses. Although they've only been together for a year, they've already completed EIGHT North American tours. You have to respect their confidence. "The new stuff we're writing is going to revolutionize the pop world," says Carson. - Issue #259 February 2010

The first substream generation is already inspiring the second. When Alex Gaskarth invited Cody Carson onstage at a Cleveland, Ohio, performance to sing "Coffeeshop Soundtrack,"the second substream generation was born. Carson, then a clarinet performance student at Oberlin College, redirected his musical aspirations toward the indie music scene. Tradgedy would drive Carson to action as his father lost his battle with cancer, and Carson immediately left Ohio to join up with Austin Kerr and Zach Something to begin Set It Off. Soon Dan Clermont and Benji Panic added their talents and the band was born.

Back home in Tampa, the band, comprised of several member with experience in harder music, breathed new life into the struggling pop scene. Set It Off has embraced their genre and is proud to do what they do best. "We are well aware of the fact that we fit too well into the wide array of pop/punk bands almost too well. But we are good at what we do in our genre." Their EP, Baby You Don't Tripajaharda, was the fruit of much of Carso's dorm room efforts at writing and was a rapid production by the band. Their debut album, Calm Before The Storm, documents the journey of a relationship from falling in love to the break up. That type of holistic album is rare and should be a refreshing addition to the pop punk scene. Carson's voice truly soars over their exciting music and is both elegant and refreshing.

The guys are planning an East Coast and Midwest tour with At Cliffs End this winter and have shows scheduled through the rest of the fall. Keep an eye out for Set It Off as they hit the road and check out their new album, Calm Before the Storm, in stores now. - Issue #17 December

Florida is no stranger to successful pop-punk. New Found Glory, (who, by the way, is playing at Jannus Landing on April 11th! Get your tickets now!) and We The Kings (Hailing from Bradenton) are just two prime examples of the kind of pop-punk/rock phenomena Florida has been famous for pumping out consistently.

Not unlike its pop-punk-predecessors, newcomers Set it Off have found a winning formula by combining relatable lyrics, stunning vocals, and remarkably talented instrumental musicians.

Cody Carson, Dan Clermont, Zach “Something“, Benji “Panic,” and Austin Kerr all call the Tampa Bay area home.

Cody, the lead vocalist and guitarist, was originally a clarinet player and making his way through college playing it when he decided, “You know, I just knew this band was something big. This was my dream, I knew I had to take it.”

With Dan Clermont, a highly experienced, multi-instrumentally-inclined keyboardist, Austin, an impressive bassist, Zach pulling it together with his unmistakable guitar melodies and Benji banging out the percussion instruments, the sound is nothing short of addictive.

The first thing one will notice when listening to a Set It Off track is how refreshing it is to hear a modern, talented rock band with actual singing as opposed to screaming. Cody’s crisp, clear voice is only highlighted and accentuated by the band’s perfectly synchronized instrumentals and undeniably catchy melodies. (Think - Senses Fail meets Taking Back Sunday meets old, GOOD Fall Out Boy.) The lyrics, however, are another strong selling point of Set It Off. In “143,” the band’s recently recorded new single, Cody captures the intense emotion of his cheating girlfriend while he sings,

“Here we go, I’m not alone, your cover’s blown. Hey, sweetie, welcome to your song. I never wanted to exploit your every flaw, until you brought this forward. I know I never wanted to see you fall until you brought this forward.”

Set It Off is currently finishing up their recently recorded EP, as well as completing the process of editing their newest music video for the single “143.” In the meantime, you can keep up with the SIO boys by watching out for new appearance dates on their myspace, watching their daily youtube updates, watching them perform LIVE on stickam, or following Cody's every move on twitter.


to see the article please visit this link:
http://www.examiner.com/x-5630-Tampa-Music-Examiner~y2009m3d14-Tampa-Bays-Next-Big-Thing--Set-It-Off - Chelsea Criner (Tampa Music Examiner)