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aXis MAGAZINE

Ten 13 Concept

Ten 13 Concept lists their close friends, fan bases in cities such as Gainesville, Jacksonville and Orlando, and David Hasselhoff among people who enjoy their music.

Last May, three days before they were to perform at the Florida Music Festival, a scout from NBC contacted the band about auditioning for an upcoming television show.  Six days after their performance at FMF they found themselves in Miami auditioning for a show called America's Got Talent that they knew nothing about.

"FMF was huge.  It was our second year in a row participating, so we were thinking 'promote, promote, promote,'" said 25-year old vocalist and guitarist Joe Loffredo.  "Then NBC contacts us and we were like 'yeah right, we're not mainstream.' We were ready for FMF, so we were debating over the NBC show."

"After the debate was over, and our minds were set on the audition, we were completely focused on learning better ways of marketing our music and networking at the festival.  Since AGT was such a novelty we didn't worry about it.  We focused on what really mattered: the music, the live show, and promoting and networking at the festival."

After making it past the audition in Miami, the band was flown to Los Angeles for another audition to determine whether they were really worth being on television.  After receiving unanimous approval for that audition, they got through the quarter-final round which was shows as a short clip on "America's Got Talent" where the decision to let them advance was up to judges Brandy, David Hasselhoff, and Piers Morgan.  After yet another aution they advanced to the semi-finals where they played a brand new song, "From The Stereo," but the ride ended there.

As a result of their appearances on America's Got Talent, the quintet did an east-coast summer tour, a winter tour through several states including California and Texas, and received sponsorships from Sam Ash Megastore and Getzen Brass Manufacturing Company.

Ten 13 Concept are a unique pop-punk band that includes a trombone and a synthesizer--two instruments that are rarely seen in one band at the same time.  They refer to their sound as "pop-punk/emotronic," and with their on stage energy, rap medley and constant interaction with the audience during their performance, a Ten 13 Concept show is a memorable one.  In addition to that, they are constantly promoting and utilizing whatever resources available to them to get their music to new listeners, which has earned them an ever-frowing national fan base.

"We are limited being a do-it-yourself band," said Joe.  "it costs money to promote and takes time. Sometimes we have to say, "it's better to go to a show and meet kids than sit at home and MySpace," and sometimes vice versa.  Either way, it costs money to make demo CD's and give them out for free to create a buzz, but that's what we're into now.  our sound is changeing and we want Florida to know it."

Joe said that the next thing to expect from Ten 13 Concept is their third album.  They plan to release the yet untitiled album in mid-May, featuring the song they wrote for America's Got Talent.

"We've been writing for the new album for a while.  On tour we stayed in Oakland for a few days at the studio and we were able to put some thoughts down on record," joe said.  "We wanted to see what it would sound like, give us time to debelop a few songs.  Now were'e listening to those tracks and elaborating, finding what we like and what we don't like.  We are going back into the studio to finish the album.  From Miami to Oakland we've been to quite a few studios.  However, this record we are going to cut in Orlando, FL.

You can check out Ten 13 Concept the next time they come through town.  Either way, it's a show you won't want to miss.

"We're not trying to change the world, we sing about things that affect our lives, real life experiences, we connect with fans on a do-it-yourself level, at the end of every show we can honestly say we gave you everything we have," Joe said.  "Take it or leave it, we are Ten 13 Concept."

-Kellie Conboy

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