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FLAT FIVE

The alternative rock band, Flat Five, was formed in Stony Point, New York in 2010. The members of Flat Five generate a unique sound that combines various styles and musical preferences. Flat Five’s style has been inspired by jazz, blues, rock and roll, piano rock, funk, classic rock, metal, and alternative artists.

MEMBERS

Sean McIhlargy-Guitar/Backing Vocals (2010-present) Chris Mizzi-Guitar/Backing Vocals (2010-present) Matt Mone-Drums (2010-present) Andrew Romano-Lead Vocals/Bass (2010-present) Ricky Romano-Keyboards/Backing Vocals (2011-present)

OTHER WEBSITES:

www.facebook.com/flatfiveband 				        www.reverbnation.com/flatfive

“LEGION” (2010-2011)

Initial plans for forming a band began in March of 2010, when lead vocalist Andrew Romano and backing vocalist and guitarist Sean Mac played together in a pit for a local youth theater production. They spent their breaks jamming, and creating music. In April 2010, Andy and Sean invited backing vocalist and guitarist Chris Mizzi and drummer Matt Mone to join them in creating a band. A friend overheard their plans and prepared an extensive list of classic rock covers. By July of 2010, the four members had decided that in order to gain popularity and momentum, it was time to put a name to the band. “Legion” was decided upon by opening up a Latin dictionary at random and naming their band after the first word pointed to. Legion made its debut at the Wayne Day Bazaar in Stony Point, NY on July 15th. In December of 2010, Legion headlined a benefit concert organized by Andy for a local woman fighting cancer. The current manager, Ricky Romano, opened the concert as a solo act, and joined in on a few of Legion’s songs. The “Benefit Concert for Lesley Spatta Cioffoletti” was tremendously successful, raising over $7,500. After the show, the members of Legion invited Ricky to join the band. The band Legion was now complete, and opened their summer 2011 season with the Summer Reading Kick-Off for the Rose Memorial Library in their hometown of Stony Point, New York on June 20th, 2011. A few weeks later, they headlined again at the Wayne Day Bazaar on July 14th. The show drew Legion’s largest crowd yet. During the first two weeks of July, Legion recorded four of their original songs: “MVII”, “Shout It Out!”, “Before I Do”, and “Mamma.”  The recording sessions took place in RunALong Recording Studios in New City, NY with Ron Geffen as the recording engineer. On July 30th, Legion opened a show at the Chance Theatre in Poughkeepsie, NY. Legion performed again at the Chance Theatre on October 8th. Once again they opened the show and drew a large crowd. After this performance, the owner of the theater invited Legion to open for Middle Class Rut at the Chance Theatre on November 18th. At the show, Legion was the second opening act and they received great feedback from their fans and audience members. During the winter, Legion played a few bar shows in the North Rockland area. Their last show as Legion was on January 6th, 2012 at Halligan’s Public House in Stony Point. Legion was establishing itself locally and gaining a strong following.

Name Change-Flat Five

In the first and second weeks of January 2012, the band recorded their final four songs of their first album. After this session, it was decided that a new name for the band was needed: one that was unique and fit their sound. The members agreed upon “Flat Five” since they all love the sound of the flat five chord. On January 18th, the band announced their new name as well as released two of their newly recorded songs: their cover of Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls” and an original song, “Miss Condescending.”  Flat Five applied to compete in the 2012 Hard Rock Rising, sponsored by the Hard Rock Café. They finished 2nd out of 800 bands in the New York City regional voting round and have received the 2nd highest amount of votes in the entire United States. Flat Five won the qualifying round at the Hard Rock Café in Times Square, NYC on March 5th against Morningside Lane and Portmanteaux. This was their first show with their new name as well as the live debut of their new songs, “Miss Condescending” and “The Way.” Over 100 of their fans attended the concert. Flat Five competed in the NYC final round in Times Square on March 20th. They won second place in the entire competition. But they are far from giving up, and are currently working on a second album.

Albums

Debut Album: Flat Five Released: March 15th, 2012 Songs: “MVII”, “Shout It Out!”, “Superman”, “How (Did We Fall So Hard)”, “Miss Condescending”, “Before I Do”, “The Way."

BIOGRAPHIES:

Sean Mac Born: June 16, 1992 Genres: rock, alternative rock, hard rock, blues Instruments: Guitar, bass, piano, trumpet, baritone horn, drums Sean Mcilhargy, also known as Sean Mac, is one of the four original members of Flat Five. Sean graduated from North Rockland High School in 2010 and is currently enrolled at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, New York. He is studying to earn a degree in Sports Management Studies. Before Flat Five was formulated, Mac participated as lead guitarist for the Rockland County band. In the ensemble, he plays both lead and rhythm guitar. Guitarist Slash has had a great amount of influence on Mac, and he has set his own style to imitate Slash. Mac’s style was strongly developed throughout Reaganpalooza’s countywide tour. Since Mac started playing guitar, music has been an extremely important part of Sean’s life. Mac believes in being a well-rounded musician, and also plays the trumpet, baritone horn, drums, bass guitar, and piano. He developed his techniques and styles by ear, not through traditional study. He claims guitar playing is the key to his musicianship success.

Andrew Romano

Andy Romano is one of the founding members of the original band, Legion. His rock music experience started in 2006 with a garage band that he started with his friends, “One Good Reason.” Although this band never received any acclaim, it adopted Chris Mizzi as a member in 2007, which helped to build the strong professional and personal relationship that Andy and Chris have. This friendship ultimately led to Mizzi’s involvement in Legion. Andy acquired much of his singing and musical experience from theater. Throughout his years in grade school, his participation in his school district’s theater scene was of note, landing him in the newspaper and local television several times. This experience in theater and acting provided him with the skill to pour his full emotion into his performances, and turn his time on stage into a truly entertaining experience for his audience. He always finds it fitting to demonstrate his full appreciation of his audiences’ approval by ending every performance with a rousing, “I love you guys!” His theater experience also introduced him to many styles and blends of music which have influenced his songwriting. Andy is responsible for most of Flat Five’s lyrics, but he also tweaks the lyrics of songs presented to him by the other band members. He draws inspiration for his lyrics from personal experiences. Andy often includes messages or feelings in his lyrics that he normally would not express verbally. Artists who influence Andy’s songwriting include: Green Day, Blink 182, Jason Mraz, Billy Joel, John Mayer, Jet, Ray Charles, and Elton John.

Chris Mizzi

Christopher Mizzi, Chris, is one of the four original members of the band. He plays lead and rhythm guitar, as well as bass. He loves all guitars, but tends to gravitate towards the Fender Stratocaster. Chris began developing his passion for music at a young age. He loved, and continues to love, watching his father play guitar. Chris’ father, George, has been the most influential individual in Chris’ life and is responsible for his love and knowledge of music. Chris loves all genres of music, but takes a particular interest in blues, rock, funk, and jazz. He is particularly influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Rory Gallagher, David Gilmour, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Bob Dylan, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Hubert Sumlin, and Robert Johnson. In 12th grade Wind Ensemble, Chris proposed the idea to Sean about forming a band. He was beyond thrilled to join together with Andy and Matt to form Legion. Since the addition of Ricky and the transformation into Flat Five, he feels that the band has matured. He is happy to have grown closer to all of the members of the group and looks forward to playing as many shows as possible with them. Chris is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Materials Science and Engineering from Cornell University. He takes an interest in all academic subjects, but particularly enjoys topics pertaining to Mathematics and Physics.

Matt Mone

Matt Mone, Flat Five’s drummer, is another of the core members of the band. Mone has been playing drums since he was four years old and he continues to develop various styles and techniques unique of Flat Five’s sound today. Back when Mone was in fourth grade, he participated in Theills Elementary School’s concert band and the jazz band. Throughout other time at school, Mone has taken part of many ensembles including concert band, wind ensemble, full orchestra, jazz band, marching band, percussion ensemble and pit orchestra for the school’s drama society. Before Flat Five, Matt was the drummer of the Twenty Sevens (from 2007 to 2008), and the rhythm guitarist for Limit 33 (from 2009 to 2010). A number of drummers have had tremendous influence on Mone’s style, such as Rev (Avenged Sevenfold), Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, Chris Adler (Lamb of God), [|Ringo Starr], Hannah Ford, and Jason Bittner (Shadows Fall). In Flat Five, Matt has grown as a musician, learning the diverse styles of music from the other four band members, and continues to challenge himself to play the best he can. Matt is currently enrolled in Rockland Community College, majoring in Criminal Justice. In his free time, he enjoys riding his Harley motorcycle, getting tattoos, and recording his own music.