The Gallery

Interview, live footage and more at http://videos.masslive.com/abc40/2011/02/the_gallery_could_become_first.html - ABC 40

A gallery is usually a static display of art, but The Gallery seems to always be on the move.

After relocating from Wilbraham to Los Angeles in 2012, the pop-rock quartet has spent a large chunk of time on the road. Their latest tour will bring them to the Iron Horse Music Hall on Aug. 8. The show is at 10 p.m.

The band, which includes brothers Brendan and Ryan Cooney, Dave Mozdzanowski, and new addition Ben Lozano, first gained both local and national attention in 2011 when it was one of just 16 groups chosen to compete in a national contest that could have won them both a Rolling Stone cover and a recording deal with Atlantic Records. They ultimately lost to Canadian band The Sheepdogs.

But that didn't set them back. If anything it propelled them to push themselves, which resulted in the move to L.A. The band is now approaching 10 years in the business, which even surprises the members a bit.

"It's amazing. I mean we went through some band changes but it's always been Brendan, Dave, and myself," said Ryan Cooney. "We built a lot of momentum but it can be very hard being on the road. It's demanding financially and in a lot of different ways. But we always said as long as opportunities keep coming and we can keep growing, we're going to keep on doing it."

There are several factors in the band's longevity and success, Cooney said.

"First, we couldn't have done it without all the support of people back in Western Massachusetts," he said. "But also, we started out as friends before the band. So it was friendship and family before it was ever a business. And I think we've done a good job of keeping that in perspective. I think we all have different attributes and personality traits that contribute to the whole group."

While Cooney said they enjoy living in LA, they miss Western Massachusetts.

"We love Massachusetts and we loved growing up there. We went out to California not to get away from Massachusetts, but because we just thought there would be more opportunity for us," he said. "But we miss the tight-knit community that we have back home."

The band change Cooney referred to earlier was the addition of guitarist Ben Lozano, who replaced previous guitarist Shea Brennan. Although Lozano is from L.A., the band actually met him when he was going to school at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

"He's a very talented musician and an easy-going guy. We couldn't have asked for anybody who was more like minded to us," Cooney said. "He's not high-maintenance at all and he's also one of the more talented guitar players I've ever met or had the pleasure to play with." - George Lenker

Welcome to a land of wounded folks. The population soars with every passing day. The defects are impossible to completely quantify. They cover such a wide range that they all feel brand new when you hear about them. Any collection of songs by The Gallery is full of all the pulpiness of living that we gather around us. It's all of those situations that soften us and smooth out the rough edges. It's everything that turns our muscle to mush -- the way apples bruise -- and everything that tends to make us more liable to shed tears as we age. They sing of all the catches that we never see until their breath's hot on our cheeks and we're eye-to-eye with them. They sing of how truth and love fail us, but we foolishly or wisely never hold it against either. These somehow sound like the half-victory songs of the common people. - Sean Moeller

Los Angeles is commonly associated with the arts industries, especially film and music. It’s here where epic rock bands like Van Halen were discovered and music styles were afforded life. In the 1960s, youth fell in love with surf rock while hippies grooved to psychedelic rock. Through the 1970s and 80s, Tinseltown was dominated by glam metal, country rock and those cool blends of rock, jazz, funk and Latin music Grammy-winning guitarist Carlos Santana brought to the table. By the 1990s, hardcore and indie rock squeezed into frame as featured acts with sequential roles. Today, local bands continue to keep alive LA’s rich musical history with a refreshing push towards indie rock and other popular musical genres. Here is a select list of LA’s top rock bands, including a band that is bringing indie rock street credibility to LA and another which is creating a new 21st century approach to rock music.

The Gallery
www.thegallerymusic.com

Originally hailing from Massachusetts, The Gallery, combines hook-laden rock songs with a mix of mainstream appeal and hints of indie greatness. The foursome now resides in Hollywood and is made up of Brendan Cooney (lead vocals / guitar), Ryan Cooney (drums), Dave Mozdzanowski (bass / vocals) and Ben Lozano (lead guitar). A recent release of their first full-length record, Restless, boasts anthemic and towering hits which are nothing short of extraordinary. The Gallery’s songs are instantly relatable, exploring themes of love, and days gone by. Catchy hooks like “Fast Friends”, “White Noise Town”, “Ballroom of Broken Hearts” and “Catalyst” reveal a band with road-worn lyricism and a consistently sharp brand of musicianship. Influenced by bands such as Tom Petty, Oasis, The Fray and others, the band continues to create their unique blend of music with songs that tug at the heart. From Brendan Cooney’s relatable lyrics and impassioned harmonious voice to Ben Lozano’s catchy biting guitar strumming, Dave Mozdzanowski’s melodious bass riffs and Ryan Cooney’s rhythmic drumming, their brand of guitar-driven, southern-infused pop rock is immediately impactful to every listener. With a touring schedule that is constantly expanding, the quartet has played some of the most infamous venues around the country gaining popularity and fans in every city they tour. In addition, you’ll find The Gallery playing some of L.A.’s top concert venues including The Troubadour, Hotel Cafe, The House Of Blues, among other iconic settings.

To listen to The Gallery, visit www.thegallerymusic.com/music and to find future tour dates, visit www.thegallerymusic.com/tour

Also featured in the article: Lord Huron, Cayucas, Haim, Wildcat!Wildcat!, Queen Caveat - CBS Los Angeles

A normal day of shooting on NBC’s The Voice, last season, would include the usual star-studded lineup; Pop-punker Cassadee Pope, the cute-as-a-button Melanie Martinez, Carson Daly working on 2 hours of sleep and Adam Levine’s shirts.

Behind the scenes, hundreds of screaming girls would show up hours before the 8:00 p.m. EST live start to secure their spot in the audience, a spot that would allow them to see said lineup and scream at all each celebrity, especially Adam’s shirts. Unbeknown to them, many of the people working behind the scenes ensuring all this merriment were inching their way toward their own personal successes elsewhere.

No one could know that the young man escorting an NBC executive to his seat would become the right-hand man to the head of television development a few weeks later. Nor could they know that smiling face making sure the contestants’ families were taken care of before the show was in the midst of launching a popular swimwear line, or that the quick-witted dude with the awesome beard facilitating bathroom breaks was part of the longest-running improv team in iO Comedy Club’s vaunted history. Who would have guessed that the 6’6” behemoth with the sick sideburns running the show was a country-rocker fresh off of an appearance on the Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson and was about to break his SXSW cherry in Austin this March.

Among the talented, yet unsung, cast of characters were brothers Ryan and Brendan Cooney giving speeches about when the best time to use the bathroom was (which was never) and Dave Mozdzanowski putting out bike racks to keep teenage girls from sacrificing their bodies in front of Cee-Lo’s SUV in order to get an autograph. Add guitarist Ben Lozano to the mix and upcoming band The Gallery is created.

This foursome came to L.A. from Massachusetts, by way of West Palm Beach, Fla.

“The decision to move to LA wasn’t too difficult to make. We had spent time here before to record, and marked that as the bands most progressive months. I wasn’t opposed to the idea of escaping Massachusetts winters for 70 and sunny either,” Brendan says. “We came out here with the goal to record a full length record, but the means of getting there was uncertain. So I guess we kinda came out here on faith that it would all work out.”

The guys made the move off the heels of the band’s EP, Come Alive, to buckle down a devote themselves to creating the upcoming full-length, Restless, which is as laid back and fun as the guys themselves. To some it could come off as an unapologetic pop-rock record, to some an album that hits on the all parts of rock-and-roll that make the world an enjoyable place and to all, 12 tracks of good music and again, fun.

“It’s something we’re very excited about. All of the bands that we look to for guidance musically and how they manage their career have made us excited to focus on a full record. We had a great time trying to make every song great, and are excited about starting to play them live,” Ryan says.

The move to L.A. and new record also finds them dealing with a new type of audience. In 2011 The Gallery was named one of the top 10 unsigned bands in America by mega-outlet, Rolling Stone. Though, the band didn’t win the contest that ultimately named The Sheepdogs “top dog,” it was something The Gallery was able to build off of in many ways.

“The Rolling Stone thing was cool, just to be given a nod as an independent artist. After it was over, we went back to writing, and touring and working for that next opportunity,” Ryan says.
Of course, when you’re a smaller band devoted to your craft and someone like Rolling Stone approaches you, there’s going to be a little trepidation. The fear of being exploited or having your music presented in the wrong light is unavoidable.

“We were reluctant to do the contest at all when we got the offer, but they told us their intention would be to make it a legit competition between bands, so we joined. We were in the top 16, but didn’t make it any further than that,” Dave says. “We made some great contacts with other bands in the contest, and tons of press, so we think it was worth doing, but we never wrote songs specifically for that or to get votes.”

There are definitely additional perks from a contest like that as well. “The Rolling Stone contest really broadened our fan base, especially in Massachusetts. Our show turnouts went from 30 people 200, and varied in age groups. We’ve noticed a lot of moms and dads come to our shows with their kids!”

It was just another stepping stone, another chapter in the book of The Gallery, whose roots go back to the womb, literally.

“Well, Brendan and I are brothers and started jamming together when he was about 14 and I was 16-17,” Ryan says. Dave came on board through mutual friends and, while the younger Cooney was still taking his S.A.T.s, he and Ryan opted for a more tropical climate and enrolled in school in West Palm Beach.

“I can remember - PopStache

If you like your rock served up unironic and full of gooey hooks, swing by El Corazon Saturday night to check out The Gallery.

Based out of Los Angeles, these Massachusetts transplants feel like a mix of Tom Petty (who lead singer Brendan Cooney takes his vocal cues from) and the emo pop bands that nearly everyone of a certain age grew up listening to whether they wanted to or not. On paper that might seem like a recipe for disaster but thankfully they lean toward sounding more like an ’80s heartland rock outfit than Fallout Boy.

Their latest album, 2013's “Restless,” was produced by Warren Huart, who has cut tracks for Aerosmith, The Fray and James Blunt, among a laundry list of other big names. Huart also produced The Gallery’s 2011 EP “Come Alive.”

“He played a big part in stripping any hints of emo,” Cooney said Wednesday while driving to San Francisco to start the first leg of the band’s tour. “He kind of has a no bull—t approach to producing so I think we learned a lot from him that first time around.”

The pedigree shows as the album features several standout tracks. “Restless Soul” — a band favorite —builds impressively and features some insightful lyrics, while “Fast Friends” and “Catalyst” are fun rockers with sticky sweet sing-along choruses.

“It’s kind of based off our biggest influences: Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen,” Cooney said. “We just tried to put a new spin on that stuff, our favorite music to listen to and cover.”

Opening for The Gallery is Seattle alt country rocker Dylan Jakobsen, who befriended the band at SXSW last year.

Jakobsen’s EP “Statelines,” a sampler of songs from his full-length album due out next month, leaves you wanting more. He’s got a great voice and infuses just enough twang into it to elevate him out of the typical singer-songwriter mold. Alt country fans should not sleep on Jakobsen.

Local acts Sean Michael’s Kight, What’s Mine Is Yours and Blue Like Jazz get things started right at 7 p.m. - Seattle Times

Today The Gallery frontman Brendan Cooney tells us about the song "Young & Restless" from their brand new album "Restless," which was released today. Here is the story:
The song is about humanity, and how everyone goes through hard times – whether it's loss of loved ones through war, or heartbreak in general… but it's the human spirit to keep on keepin' on. As for the chorus, it is about how we need to be there for each other – we are stronger together than we are individually.

We started this song over two years ago, so I honestly couldn't tell you when or where the original idea spawned from. The original title was 'The Thing About Love,' because the opening verse of the song was the only part we had finished ("The thing about love and the thing about peace; the thing about hope and the thing about me…"). It took me a long time to figure out what part of the song - pre-chorus, chorus, verse, etc. - that should be.

We wanted to finish the song for a long time – even for the 'Come Alive' EP – but we just couldn't get it done in time. Nothing we tried for the rest of the song felt as strong as that first verse. When it came time to write this record, we were just trying and trying to finish it, but it wasn't coming easily. Usually that's a sign not to force it.

We had the original 10 songs for the album, and thought the record was done. Our manager, Sara, however, loved the song and wanted us to give it one last try. We'd showed it to our producer, Warren, who loved it as well. We ended up going back into the studio to record it, almost as a bonus after the rest of the album was completed.

We didn't feel the original chorus melody we came up with was strong enough to be the chorus, but we still liked that melody and the idea behind the lyric ("It's been a long year for the broken hearted…"). We ended up writing a new chorus, and making the old chorus the bridge – we kept the lyrics but changed a few of the chords to make it feel more like a bridge.

Once the new melody was written for the chorus, it was up to us to sit there and play the chorus melody over and over, and sing over and over, to see what words sounded good and fit the meaning of the song. I finally came up with "We are the young and restless, together no one can stand against us, we are the young and restless, we are one" after trial and error, and just listening to it hundreds of times. We'd already had the idea to do gang vocals for the chorus, even before the lyrics were written, so that helped write the "we are" part of the lyric. We had also already decided to name the album Restless, so we thought that lyric would be a good fit.

We knew the song would be going in a poppy direction for us – even going into it – but we thought we would stretch ourselves a little, while staying true to the sound of the rest of the album. We wanted to keep a balance of that. Overall lyrically it's personally one of my favorites, and I like how it came out. I am glad we got the push to finish it, and I'm happy we waited this long and didn't force it.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here! - antimusic

Ladies and gentleman, meet the new kings of Top 40 radio: Los Angeles, CA's The Gallery.

On their full-length debut Restless, this arena-ready quartet packs enough wallop to make current chart-toppers blush. Album opener "White Noise Town" is anthemic, towering and nothing short of arresting. Vocalist Brendan Cooney has an urgent and impassioned croon that tugs at the first listen. Ditto to the gang-vocal and hand-clap infused "Young and Restless," a jangly should-be chart-topper that screams platinum from the opening seconds. The disc's first half continues with radio-ready material on the sweetly affecting "Fast Friends," the bursting ballad "Restless Soul," the brisk and buoyant "Wild at Heart," and the pensive, organ-driven "The Fever," which is arguably one of the disc's best. Long-lasting, timeless and undeniably accessible, "The Fever," is a song the band can hang their hat on for years to come.

On the second half, the hit parade continues with gusto. There's the tightly packed "The Runaround," the Petty-inspired "Ballroom of Broken Hearts," the lilting ballad "Lost Inside Forever," and the soon-to-be-fan-favorite "Catalyst." Restless closes out with the punchy "Hard On Me" and the country-leaning ballad "Dream Girl." Much like "The Fever," "Dream Girl" is a song can look back on with immense pride. With an ageless accessibility, there's little to dislike about it and seems to have a simple grace that is both alarming and eye opening. In short, it almost feels as if the quartet has ten more songs like this at the ready.

A vast step forward from the oft-overlooked Come Alive EP, Restless is a hook-laden gem of a record for anyone who isn't afraid to embrace the pop gloss of Top 40 radio. Once upon a time (say the late 90s) music like this was beloved by the masses and sold like hot cakes. These days albums like Restless are few and far between, consigned to niche audiences and those who aren't ashamed to stay consigned to terrestrial radio stations. Whether The Gallery sees that fate remains to be seen, but any record exec should be able to see the star potential in each of these twelve songs. As sturdy and confident as any disc released so far this year, Restless is a triumph and a startling step forward from a band that won't be under the radar for long.

Recommended If You Like
Imagine Dragons, Augustana, The Fray
- Gregory Robson - AbsolutePunk.net

The Gallery: an unsigned indie rock band from Western Massachusetts. The group has been in both Rolling Stone (as part of the "Choose the Cover" contest) and Alternative Press ("AP&R"). In addition, their latest EP, Come Alive, charted on CMJ on both the Radio 200 and Top Adds charts. One track, "Catalyst," was also selected as a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition. Check out the video for their song “Ballroom of Broken Hearts”; reminds us of Tom Petty. - Hits Magazine

The five tracks on their new EP Come Alive is a stripped-down rock anthem with a folkish twist. The guitars are simple and unfiltered; the drums and bass are organic and unprocessed; the vocals are melodic and tranquil. The songs themselves are a breath of fresh air, infused with a nostalgic sense of raw emotion that is a tribute to early ’60s and ’70s rock. Keeping with the theme of uninhabitability, frontman Brendan Cooney’s subtle southern twang is as memorable as it is unique and his lyrics carry a sense of optimistic honesty rarely found in contemporary music. - Stereo Subversion

In a music industry where rock, these days, is a slick, hyped-up affair, the guys of the Gallery stand out from the pack with their back-to-basics approach. Eschewing over-compressed harmonies and studio trickery, these western Massachusetts natives take honest, straight-ahead rock 'n' roll back to its jangling roots. Miss the days when Tom Petty ruled the chart? So do these guys, but they're giving some pretty good hope of reviving the Great American Rock Band. - AOL Spinner

Why You Should Know 'Em: If your parents' old Tom Petty albums sound interesting but a little dated to you, The Gallery's self-proclaimed "no frills" approach to rock might be just what you're looking for. "We grew up listening to everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Saves the Day," says drummer Ryan Cooney.

You Like? You'll Like: Tom Petty / Ryan Adams / Counting Crows - Alternative Press

Who: Riffed-out rockers originally from tiny Wilbraham, Massachusetts.
Sound: Big, shout-along choruses and bluesy guitar breakdowns. Singer Brendan Cooney grew up on Nineties rock, but gravitated toward legends like Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. "We write with classic song structures in mind," he says. "Not a lot of bands are epic anymore." - Rolling Stone Magazine