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Above: Rollercoaster Jupiter rehearsing
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Being in a band is like a brotherhood for Rollercoaster Jupiter. These four Woodbridge natives are musicians that are seasoned with determination, containing a dash of humor, and bound by a strong friendship. With the recent release of their first full-length album, and the responsibility of owning 7Valley Recording and Rehearsal, life is hectic for this band.
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Above: Jerry Rosa, drummer
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Angelo Bernardo, the band’s guitarist, describes the quirky way that the band came up with their name, “We were just jamming – playing music and singing lyrics. Then Luca [DiCarlo, vocals] just blurted out something about being on a rollercoaster to Jupiter. It’s something that just happened.” After this episode, the name stuck. It captures the band’s essence: a new journey on a rollercoaster to space. The band members all have different musical backgrounds, like being apart of different bands, yet they are together united on a musical journey.
Rollercoaster Jupiter describes their music as the tortoise and the hare. “They are two animals riding together. The slow, well-thought out strategy comes from the tortoise, and the quick don’t give a f*** attitude from the hare,” says Jerry Rosa, drummer (brother of guitarist, Chris Rosa). Rollercoaster Jupiter is like yin and yang. They say this because their music is moulded from an abundance of inspirations, such as U2, Queens of the Stone Age, Pearl Jam, and Foo Fighters, etc., and, and contains slow, heart-felt ballads, all while incorporating sharp, quick tempo changes and fast rock instrumentals.
Their musical journey all started June 29th, 2010 when they played together as a band for the first time. Finally, they are reaching success as they released their self-titled album on August 20th, 2012, which is available on iTunes. The album was recorded in their own recording studio – 7Valley Recording and Rehearsal. “We want the album to create an emotional connection with the listener,” says Bernardo. A lot of the songs carry the theme of remising on the past, for instance, about youth. “Themes include reminiscing about the past, prevailing through change, and making it. Depending on your mood for the day, there’s a song for everyday,” says Bernardo.
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Above: [L-R] Angelo Bernardo, Jerry Rosa, Luca DiCarlo, Chris Rosa
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Once the album was finally complete, the members of Rollercoaster Jupiter agreed that they felt relief. “We put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this album,” says DiCarlo. After playing music for over fifteen years, Jerry Rosa felt a sense of fulfillment more than any other emotion, “After fifteen years I finally accomplished something. A lot of arguing went into this album, but we still love each other.” Although the band often has their differences, they all share the same goal: to evoke emotion, positive or negative, within the listener. They say that if somebody doesn’t like their music, that’s okay because they are proud of their hard work, and they like any sort of reaction because it still evokes passion within the listener.
The band members’ relationships with each other play a role in influencing the music of the band. “There is an interconnection and a natural chemistry with every one in the band,” says Bernardo. This could be heard in the music. Everyone has a distinct sound, especially the guitarists. “If you listen really closely, you could distinguish Angelo’s guitar playing from Chris’s. They have their own style and it really shows,” says DiCarlo.
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| Above: Chris Rosa, guitarist |
Rollercoaster Jupiter reaches a vast demographic of listeners. They range all the way from 12 years old, to even people in their 40s, and to men and women equally. How could this be? “Our music is very accessible. I even let my ten year old nephew listen to it and he loves it,” says DiCarlo. It also helps that people could relate to the song lyrics depending on their interpretation because not all songs are about a romantic connection. “It can be about any type of relationship, not necessarily romance, like the bulk of songs on the radio. It could be about a love you have for music, art, or even your toilet seat,” DiCarlo says, laughing.
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| Above: Angelo Bernardo, guitarist, warming up |
Aside from being in Rollercoaster Jupiter, Chris and Jerry Rosa, and Luca DiCarlo are business partners in ownership of 7Valley Recording and Rehearsal in Woodbridge, ON. If you could imagine, it’s busy and hard juggling the responsibilities of being in a band, and tending to 7Valley. They cope with this stress but pulling their fair share of weight pertaining to the business.
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| Above: Luca DiCarlo, Vocalist |
However, there is a perk of owning this recording studio and rehearsal space, “Since we share this space with other musicians, we get to meet a lot of different people which we wouldn’t normally meet at gigs. The studio is a welcoming place because it has an artistic vibe it. We meet gospel singers, rappers, and attract musicians young and old,” says Bernardo. Meeting this different types of musicians feeds the bands hunger for inspiration all that more.
What’s next for Rollercoaster Jupiter? “We want to play music for a living and not just as a nighttime job separate from our day jobs. That’s our dream,” says Jerry Rosa. The band is planning for schedule shows for November and December 2012, however dates are tentative.
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| Above: Logo for 7Valley |
It is made clear that their strong friendship greatly contributes to the quality of their music and vice versa. “You reveal yourself through music,” says Bernardo, “therefore we have insight to each other that plain friendships don’t have.”
Advice that Rollercoaster Jupiter could offer to budding musicians is to keep an open mind. Not just to music, but to meeting new people and to life in general. They also do not want people to forget to keep playing because being skilled does not come over night. Hard work is key and regarded as a high value for the members of Rollercoaster Jupiter. Never stop playing. DiCarlo says, “We have to do this because it’s a true passion – whether it’s to play in our basement or the ACC!”
https://www.facebook.com/rollercoasterjupiter
www.7valley.ca
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