Entertainment - Musician's Corner: Brother Aside

Who’s who:

Scotty Phillips - lead vocals

Dillon Swertner - lead guitar

Leejay Pollacchi - rhythm guitar and backing vocals

Doug Jones - bass and backing vocals

Mike Bogardus - bass and effects

Jeff Pawlick - piano and electric violin

Mike Pawlick - drums

About the band:

Saratoga Springs’ Brother Aside formed roughly a year ago. The members of the band range in age from 15-18. Four of them reside in the Spa City, while the other three call Lake Luzerne home.

Artists such as Led Zeppelin, The Allman Brothers Band, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, Styx, Bon Jovi and Pearl Jam have influenced the local septet’s rock music.

On Sunday, Oct. 21, Brother Aside won the inaugural High School Battle of the Bands contest that Junior Achievement of NENY held at Northern Lights in Clifton Park. The spoils of their victory include an appearance on Jason Keller’s show “Big Break” on 103.1 FM by the end of this month and a slot opening for a national act at a future gig at Northern Lights.

The band decided to change their name to Brother Aside about three months ago; previously they had been known as Ockham’s Razor. Their former moniker will likely appear as the title to the five song EP they’re recording this month and hope to release by mid-December.

Brother Aside won’t be performing again until they finish recording, but Pollacchi said to check their Web site for updates since the group will be lining up some shows once the EP is done.

To check out the band, visit www.myspace.com/ockhamsrazor06.

Quotable Quotes:

“We work together really well, and experiment with a wide variety of styles. We’re trying to be different. We don’t want to just sound like every other band,” Pollacchi said.

“Live shows are amazing,” Pollacchi said. “There’s no better feeling than going in front of an audience, and seeing how they react to the songs you’ve written.”

—Mike Ryan