Share this
Twitter
Myspace
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
Slashdot
Furl
Yahoo
Technorati
Newsvine
Facebook
Export PDF
Print
E-mail
TagsBY JERRY MILANI
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
When J.P. Maklouf, his brother and two childhood Roseland friends first decided they would give it a go at making their band their livelihood, they probably didn't imagine the scene that awaited when they landed in Brazil last month."There were screaming fans everywhere. It was our 'Justin Bieber moment,'" said Maklouf, 24, vocalist and guitarist for Cash Cash. "We did concerts in Rio and in Sao Paulo and every time we hit the airport there'd be kids waiting for us, security didn't know what was going on."
Appearances on MTV's Brazilian affiliate and heavy play in the time leading up to their arrival made Maklouf, his brother Alex, 20, Sam Frisch, 24, and Anthony Villacari, 20, instant hits in Brazil, and set them off as they followed with the 21-city, "Stuck on Repeat" U.S. tour, which began on July 28 and concludes this weekend with stops at School of Rock in Hackensack on Saturday and Hanger 84 in Vineland on Sunday. For Maklouf, the homecoming is a fitting finish to the whirlwind.
"We haven't played New Jersey in awhile but our roots are here," added Maklouf. "I'd say that a solid 50-75% of our music is influenced by our growing up in N.J. We have a lot of club type songs, dance, 'fist-pump,' some Bon Jovi anthem style vocals, a little bit of Jersey Scene stuff that we grew up with."The origins of the band go back to when Maklouf and Frisch played together as pre-teens in grade school, eventually starting a band in junior high, playing covers of popular artists like Nirvana, before branching out and writing some of their own music, which was an important turning point, according to Maklouf. Once Alex was old enough to commit the time to the band, Alex and Villacari completed the foursome, then known as "The Consequence."
"We had to change the name," explained Maklouf, "after we learned that a rap artist using the name 'Consequence' sent us a cease-and-decist. We were 'The' Consequence but that wasn't enough of a difference. So we had done a song called 'Cash Cash' and it seemed appropriate because they were after the money, so that's what we named the band."
With the name dispute out of the way, Cash Cash was free to concentrate on what they term "feel good" music, or "dance urban pop," with many influences, many of them from the Garden State.
"We grew up listening to just about everything, from 90's bands like Gin Blossoms and Third Eye Blind to remix style music, classic Hendrix, Celene Dion, Backstreet Boys, we loved it all," he noted.
Anything and everything, it seems, and Maklouf says it's all reflected in what they write and play.
Maklouf hopes their latest single, "Red Cup (I Fly Solo)," a fun play on those ubiquitous red cups holding adult beverages at college parties, and the brand name of a common manufacturer thereof, becomes an anthem-like hit on campuses this fall. The term "solo" refers not just to the brand, but to the songwriter's preferred relationship status at this stage in his life. It also features cameos from Dancing With the Stars' Lacey Mae Schwimmer and "I'm Awesome" rapper Spose.
For this foursome of young twenty-somethings, it's not just one party after another. Coming off the current tour, the band plans to write and record some more songs before planning the next road trip.
And if they have their way, it will all end up where it started, back home in New Jersey.
I love you guys. (leelee_5)