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Keep Rockin,
Chris Aurilio,
Manager of the Blase Ur Superstar Band
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Band history:
Jagged Star was formed in the early spring of 2000 between 2 friends, Kevin Aurilio and Brian Hogan. The very first timed they rehearsed, they wrote the song Dear Mother. In the months to follow, the two also wrote the song Grl Nxt Door. Then in early July of 2000, the next member of the band came along...a bassist named Blase Ur. The first time Blase rehearsed with the band, Brian and Kevin gave him just 15 minutes to learn Dear Mother, Grl Nxt Door, and Lynyrd Skynyrd's Freebird. Then they were off to play their very first gig!
Brian -- "It was funny because I remembered Kevin talking about this kid named Blase and that he played bass. Then I finally met Blase after school one day in the theatre and I asked if he wanted to join the band and he said 'I guess...' And then came the day when he came to rehearsal and Kevin and I just said here are the songs learn them because in 15 minutes or so we are off to play a gig. In all honesty I didn't think he could do it, but he learned the songs and pulled them off great."
From there on the band gradually continued to mature musically and along the way had a few different names (ex. Monarch, and for a long time Jaded*Blue) before finally settling on Jagged Star. They continued to write new songs such as the soft and symbolic "Heaven's A Sin." But although most of the band's songs are somewhat easy going, they do enjoy playing songs with energy, such as "Run Around Blues" and "Dreams."
Brian temporarily left the band in September of 2000. The band reformed just in the nick of time to play at the fall La Boheme coffee house as a farewell for members of Brian's family who were moving.
Brian -- "When we rehearsed for the coffee house, it had been a while since I had played with them, but when we sat down, picked up our instruments and started playing Dear Mother, I felt so good inside. It just felt right playing with these guys again...I am glad I decided to rejoin them..."
Although the break-up was very brief, the time away let them get a chance to come up with new and better songs, such as "Televised Radiation." In the meantime, Blase and Kevin joined up with drummer Jay Alexander to play at the J.P. Stevens H.S. Band Wars. Although they did not write most of what they would play until the night before and totally improvised one song, their set was well received, and Jaded Blue took home 3rd place and $28 to split three ways. Although the money was gone less than an hour after the performance, the experience of performing live in a rock environment was invaluable.
On December 15th, 2000, the band played in front of hundreds of people at the J.P. Stevens 3rd Annual Gong Show. They played their instrumental song "Unspoken" and received an overwhelmingly positive reaction from the cheering crowd. The members of the band were very happy with the success of their performance.
Brian -- "After we finished the song I remember the crowd cheering very loudly and loved every minute of it! It was such a great feeling to know that we had played something that we spent a lot of time working on and that people liked it and really dug! The feeling I got onstage that night was just a total high... being on stage is like no other feeling in the world..its the best feeling in the world!
In the spring of 2001, Steve Plesnarski signed on as the permanent drummer for Jagged Star. Welcome, Steve! This summer looks very promising for the band, especially considering their break-up.
© 2001 by Jagged Star
