SMACKED Youth are waiting for July 9, 2018 to roll around. That is the date youngest band member Noah Tynan will turn 18 and the doors to Newcastle venues will open to the band.
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Until then the trio will continue to play any gig they can get at venues like Hunter Street’s all-ages Drone.
The line-up sees Sam D'Agostino, 16, on guitar and vocals, Adrian Smith, 16, on drums and Noah Tynan, also 16, on bass.
The band has been together about a year and said the name – Smacked Youth - referred to their “generation”.
“It’s a representation of young people, just being young,” Smith said.
“Getting smacked about by life, but also having fun.”
The band started as a two-piece with D’Agostino and Smith jamming. They recorded their first single Puppet of a System with their friend Josh Holliday at his Mayfield home studio.
“It was a great experience to record with him, cause Adrian and I had never been in a studio,” D’Agostino said.
“We really enjoyed the experience of being able to record.”
Tynan responded to an ad for a bass player on the Smacked Youth Facebook page, earlier this year, and the trio clicked.
“He came and had a jam and he really fitted perfectly,” Smith said.
The band plays original tunes, influenced by 90’s alternative rock bands like Nirvana and Silverhchair. But they are also into contemporary acts Violent Soho and DZ Deathrays.
In April, Smacked Youth took out the Aaron Chugg Award and the Encouragement Award at the YouthRock band competition.
They performed at Sutherland Entertainment Centre, Sydney, and won vouchers totalling $750 to purchase musical equipment.
“We are still contemplating what we are going to spend it on,” Smith said.
“But it was pretty cool to make it through to the grand final.”
They also got to meet other bands, and plan to do some touring with them when D’Agostino gets his P-plates next month.
“We might do some touring up and down the coast,” Tynan said.
The band has just released a new single Drown recorded at Grove Studios on the Central Coast, as part of the prize from YouthRock. It is available for free on the band’s SoundCloud account. A second single Hole was recorded with James Strezov at Studio 1618, at Adamstown Heights.
The lack of venues willing to give young bands a go was a frustration for the band.
“There need to be more, but it’s kinda cool, the undergound vibe of the under-18’s scene in Newcastle,” Smith said.
Follow them: facebook.com/smackedyouth