“THE TICKET”
Magazine

of the New Jersey

STAR LEDGER NEWS

Campus crew

Hoboken's Maxwells puts on show of talents discovered by students from

Steven's Institute

Friday, April 28, 2006

BY JAY LUSTIG, Star-Ledger Staff, POP/ROCK

When Tim Alexander, a student at Stevens Institute of Technology in

Hoboken, e-mailed the shore-based band Last Perfect Thing expressing

interest in recording the band for a compilation album, the musicians

didn't take it too seriously.

"When kids from colleges contact you, you're not quite sure what it's

ever going to be," said Last Perfect Thing singer-songwriter-guitarist

David Wilkens. "It sounded cool, but we were just like, 'Yeah, sure.'"

The band soon learned that Alexander and his colleagues at the

Stevens-funded record label, Castle Point, were serious. The label,

formed last year, recently put the finishing touches on its first

release: a six-artist, 13-track compilation, "Delusions of Grandeur."

Five of the acts -- the bands Myopia, Never the Nines, the WMDs and

Last Perfect Thing, along with singer-songwriter Cori Yarckin -- will

perform at a public record-release party at Hoboken's leading rock

club, Maxwell's, on Sunday.

The music is a collection of modern rock, ranging from Last Perfect

Thing's frenzied "A Better History" to Myopia's quirky, rap-like

"Nebula" and the WMDs' soaring power ballad, "World Of Situations."

The artists have little or no connection to Stevens. They were found

in local clubs by members of the Castle Point staff.

David Musial, director of Stevens' music and technology program and

the label's faculty adviser, recalls when Alexander, the label's first

vice president (until he graduated last year), called him at midnight.

"He said, 'Professor Musial, come check out this band, I think we

should sign them,'" Musial said. "I left my home and came out to the

nightclub, and sure enough, the band was really good."

More than 20 Stevens students are currently involved in the label,

handling everything from art design to publicity. They do not receive

academic credit or payment for their efforts, and any money made by

the album will be pumped back into the program. The idea is to give

students interested in entering the music industry hands-on experience

and an opportunity to interact with professionals.

Stevens paid for sessions for the album at HarariVille Studios in

Weehawken. The studio is owned by Rob Harari, who has worked with

artists like Barbra Streisand and the Electric Light Orchestra.

Guitarist-producer Carlos Alomar, a longtime David Bowie collaborator,

contributed to several tracks.

"I learn something every few minutes when I talk to these people,"

said Stevens senior Stephen Puig, the label's president.

Alomar said he was impressed by the artists' musical ability, and

attitude. "A producer can have a lot of ideas, but unless the band can

execute them, it doesn't work," he said. "These kids are not jaded,

and because they're not jaded, they not only take the instructions,

but they enthusiastically learn (new parts). ... They find a great

part, and they go, 'Oh wow, that is cool,' and they can see that

that's going to make their song (successful)."

Puig said the label decided to go with a compilation for its first

release to make sure all the tracks were strong. Also, a compilation

gives the label an opportunity to get feedback before embarking on

another project.

"We decided to take the best of what we could offer from these bands,

show the songs to the listeners, and have them pick and choose --

almost, figure out what they like -- and then we can take it from

there, if we want to do another project with one of the bands," Puig

said.

The album will be promoted and sold via www.castlepointrecords.com. It

will also be distributed, nationally, through a New York company,

Sumthing, www.sumthing.com.