Watch out for the Hudson County based band “…but not forgotten” as they make their encore appearance at Sayreville, N.J.’s famed Starland Ballroom in February. The female fronted, five-piece eclectic rock band has been bringing their metal-edged, melodic, punk driven beats to the local rock scene since their official inception one year ago. Two band members are from West New York.
The band, whose members range in age from 20 to 32, has performed in various venues in New York City, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. They also played as the opening act for Ozzfest favorites Kittie, OTEP, and Crisis at the Starland Ballroom in October.
The group will also participate in the Jagermusic band search sponsored by Sonic Bids and Original Sessions. Currently they are working on the production of their first album, which they hope to complete by their next performance at the Starland Ballroom. The group will release 12 original tracks.
The founders Leading the way for the band and contributing lead guitar and bass respectively are co-founders Elo Hernandez of West New York and Eddie Barrios. After playing other groups, Hernandez wanted to collaborate with Barrios on this project.
“I’m just a glutton for punishment,” said Hernandez jokingly. “I knew Eddie was a talented guitarist, and I was at a point where I wanted to do something different, more modern and melodical.”
The fact that they had such a great rapport for so many years made it comfortable for them to work with each other.
“It was me and Eddie for about a year,” said Hernandez.
By 2003, other members started to flow into the mix, and by February of the following year, “…but not forgotten” was officially launched and regularly appearing in venues across the metropolitan area.
The players Originally from New Jersey, front woman and lead vocalist Vanessa Diaz, 26, of Jersey City began her music career as a drum and bass emcee based in Philadelphia’s roaring rave scene. She lived in Philly for about six years.
“I fell in love with the atmosphere and the music; it opened my eyes to a lot of different genres,” said Diaz, who first discovered the rave world during high school. “Then I thought, I can do that. At the time there were no female emcees.”
Before then, Diaz had mostly listened to rock, and was a huge fan of bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden, and later on groups like Nirvana and The Cure.
After working within that genre for a few years with great success, Diaz decided she wanted to head back to her roots in music, as well to as her home state.
“I was doing my thing for a while, and I wanted to get back to my original roots,” said Diaz. “I always wanted to be a front person, and my first love has always been rock.”
Diaz moved back to Jersey to go to school for audio and engineering, but became inspired to pursue her own projects. She came across “…but not forgotten’s” online ad for a lead vocalist.
“Luckily I didn’t have to go very far,” she said. “I felt like I had known them for a long time.”
Diaz now serves as the group’s primary lyricist, and brings in her experience and influences of the rave world to her music.
WNY drummer The drummer for the group is Alfred Soler, 26, of West New York. Soler, who is self-taught and also plays guitar, has been professionally playing for the last 12 years, and had previously collaborated with some of the members of “…but not forgotten” in other venues.
“I felt like this band was an all-star group of local people,” said Soler. “They’re very good and easy to work with.”
Soler’s musical beginnings stem from his days in the grammar school band where he first learned to play the clarinet, and learned music theory. However, from a very young age, Soler showed an affinity for the drums. With rock music being the common link in the chain, Soler was inspired and influenced by groups like Nirvana as well.
“I’ve loved music all my life, and I started listening to rock when I was about 9 or 10,” said Soler. “That’s also when I first picked up the guitar.”
In addition to his extensive rock background, Soler also worked for a small studio in California doing rock and hip-hop recordings for six years, and is now assisting with the recording of their first album.
At the age of 20, Elias Arroyo of Union City is the youngest member of the group and has already been fine-tuning his craft for about 10 years. Starting with piano lessons at the age of six, Arroyo eventually picked up the rhythm guitar, and throughout the years has played in a few bands. Back when he was starting out, Arroyo picked up some pointers from Barrios, who happened to be an acquaintance of his older brother.
“This is the first major band that I’ve been with, and I’ve always liked female fronted groups,” said Arroyo. “[Plus] I’ve always wanted to play with Eddie. He taught me to play guitar.”
The future The band’s eclectic sound, which they have described as melodic hardcore rock, brings a combination of styles from punk and metal to nu-metal and Emo.
The diversity in music influences has also spawned from the group’s diversity in age, with the eldest member being 32 and the youngest being 20.
“We all do come from slightly different eras, different music, and different influences, but it all comes together quite nicely,” said Diaz.
“You never stop learning music, and playing with Eddie, I learn something new everyday,” said Arroyo. “…but not forgotten” has been featured on “No Man’s Land,” a weekly radio show on WSOU 89.5 FM. They also filmed an in-studio performance at William Paterson University, which should air on cable next month.
“It’s usually the college kids that support [local groups],” said Elo in regards to the university show. “There was a whole hour dedicated to us. A 30-minute interview, and 30 minutes of playing.”
They plan to send the segment to Cablevision, in hopes of some more local exposure.
Their next performance will be at The Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard St., New York, NY, and the band will also be making its encore appearance to an expected crowd of thousands at the Starland Ballroom on Feb. 20, as the opening act for OTEP and Candiria among others.