RadioAirplay.com Blog: Center Stage

Meet the latest Radio Airplay Center Stage Band, Audio Revival - A rock band formed in early 2012 in New York City. Their sound is founded on the plethora of influences ingrained in them by the music of their formative years and parents' record collections. Through various styles, they leave no stone unturned in their quest to deliver something identifiable yet unparalleled. A strong trio of musicians drives Audio Revival's signature sound. Ben DeFusco mans lead guitar with peerless skill, while bassist Chad Flaherty and drummer Steve Purcell deliver a driving pocket. Jake Flaherty's powerful voice and high-energy stage presence round out the band; creating a truly unique, powerful quartet.

Their song, Smoking Gun is an infections pop-rock anthem with powerful male vocals, gritty guitars and slick modern production.
Get to know the talented band in our newest feature and Q&A with some of the band members.

Describe your sound in one ramble-on sentence.
Active indie rock infused with rhythmic and electronic flavorings, topped with melodies that make you want to sing along.

What's your earliest music-related memory growing up?
Chad & Jake: Playing (and dreading) piano recitals as a young lad. It was quickly realized that Jake had a great singing voice, so he was enrolled in singing lessons in his early teens. Definitely lots of church piano music on the part of our mother and her friends (including Ben’s father – a music director and guitarist).
Ben: I remember singing at church, and getting my first electric guitar when I was 8 for Christmas. It was an Epiphone LP sunburst, with a crappy little Marshall amp. I was SO pumped.

What was the first tune(s) you learned?
Chad: Probably a Nirvana, Pearl Jam or STP song – maybe Smells Like Teen Spirit or Interstate Love Song?
Ben: Smoke on the Water (like every other guitarist)

Do you write/compose your own songs? Briefly describe your songwriting process.
Yes we do, it’s a mixture of inspiration, and dedication. Usually someone will write an idea or full song then present it to the band during one of our writing sessions. Then we have full on rock out sessions where we develop the song further. Lastly, the song will take its final form during the recording and mixing process thanks to our 3x Grammy award winning engineer and producer, Dave Clauss. Every once in a while a song will be born out of thin air during a jam session with the whole band – that is always magical.

If you were to cover another artist's album, which would you pick and why?
There is no way any of us would agree on this! The long car ride music selection is pretty eclectic, and we don’t always agree on what is good.

What was the highlight of 2015, either for you personally or for the band? What was the low point?
2015 was great! The high point was finally starting to gain some traction with labels. Low point was whisky fueled rehearsal arguments.

What is 2016 looking like for you? Upcoming projects? Can you give us a little hint, on what we can expect for this year?
We are currently going crazy with writing and recording for a 6-7 song EP that will be released this summer. We hope to promote the hell out of the EP and tour in the fall.

Any embarrassing on stage moments you'd like to share? C’mon, don’t be shy.
Ben got drunk before a camp concert for 12 year olds...Also pick any number of musical mistakes on stage; which in the moment are infuriating to the perpetrator and other band members alike. Although, they end up being funny after the fact...sort of. Jake has a habit of stepping on Chad’s instrument cable, popping it out of his pedals mid song – this is also infuriating yet funny. We should probably go wireless.

What do you enjoy doing outside of music? Does your hobby rejuvenate their creativity?
Ben: I like watching football and Game of Thrones with Chad and arguing with Jake. Steve loves sports, as do we all. Jake is usually charming and always entertaining in any given social situation. He is also a badass personal trainer. Chad loves FPS video games and listening to obscure Enya songs, especially the ones where she’s speaking gibberish or Gaelic – sometimes video games + Enya simultaneously. We all enjoy exercising (most of the time), traveling, and whiskey - also beer, wine and cannabis. The latter being great for creativity, but not so much execution ;). Eating healthy, getting good sleep, exercising and visiting far off tropical lands are great for rejuvenation.

What do you like the most about Radio Airplay?
We love that it allows us to put our songs into rotation with the kind of music we think is cool, or is similar to our sound. You don’t really have that level of control with other streaming sites. The other guys kind of choose for you, which doesn’t always line up with our preferences. Also, Radio Airplay has great metrics, and shows you where your music is being played and who is listening. Most importantly, they show love to the indie artists!

Check out this great video of their song Southern Song and get to know Audio Revival better by visiting their website and social media sites below!