Unlocking the Truth

Unlocking the Truth
Origin Brooklyn, New York, United States
Genres
Labels
  • Cherry Party
  • Sony Music
  • Artery
Website unlockingthetruthband.com
Members Malcom Brickhouse
Jarad Dawkins
Alec Atkins

Unlocking the Truth is an American metal band from Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 2007, the trio consists of guitarist and vocalist Malcolm Brickhouse, bassist and vocalist Alec Atkins, and drummer and vocalist Jarad Dawkins.

History

Founding members Malcolm Brickhouse and Jarad Dawkins met each other at a birthday party in 2005. Sharing similar tastes in music, they decided to create a band.[1] As the metal duo’s street performances started gaining attention, Brickhouse and Dawkins felt their band needed a bassist but none of their friends were musicians. So they taught their pre-school friend, Alec Atkins, how to play the bass guitar from scratch. These street performances in Times Square and around New York City led to people recording and uploading videos of them to YouTube, which garnered a lot of attention through social media.

In 2014 they were the youngest group to perform at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.[2] They’ve performed at the AFROPUNK FEST,[3] SxSW and were the youngest band to play at the 2014 Vans Warped Tour.[4] The trio have opened up concerts for Guns N' Roses, Motorhead, Queens of the Stone Age, Living Colour and more,[5] while also earning spots in commercials for AT&T, Beats by Dr. Dre, Maybelline and Verizon.[6] All of the attention the band received garnered attention from an abundance of press outlets including Spin,[7] Revolver,[8] Guitar World, Rolling Stone,[9] New York Daily News,[10] Village Voice,[11] New York Post,[12] New York and Los Angeles Times[13][14] and more.[15]

The band has signed a $1.8 million contract for five albums with Sony Music Entertainment.[16] Due to the age of the members of the band, the contract had to be approved through the New York Supreme Court.[17]

On August 18, 2014, it was announced that the band partnered up with Artery Recordings.[18] The band appeared on The Colbert Report on September 16, 2014.

The band is the subject of the 2015 documentary Breaking a Monster directed by Luke Meyer.

Style and influences

Unlocking the Truth’s sound has been described as “a salute to old-school metal that also blends modern influences.”[19] In the LA Times, Randall Roberts wrote of their Coachella performance as “a hard, distorted blend of metal, speed punk and alternative rock on the main stage, they were as well-practiced as units three times their age.”[20] Artist Direct says "they are the future of music."[21]

The band has cited influences such as Metallica, Slipknot, Disturbed, Living Colour, Escape the Fate, Chelsea Grin and Motionless in White.[22]

Band members

Current members

Discography

EPs

References

  1. ↑ Zimmerman, Neetzan. "Internet-Famous Preteen Metalheads Are Being Bullied for Being Awesome". Gawker.com. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  2. ↑ Barkan, Jonathan. "Youngest Group To Ever Perform At Coachella Is A Metal Band". Bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Unlocking The Truth". Afropunkfest.com. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  4. ↑ Teitelman, Bram. "Preteen trio Unlocking The Truth to play Coachella, Warped Tour". Metalinsider.net. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Unlocking The Truth News". Loudwire. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "Eighth Grade Band Unlocking the Truth Signs $1.7 Million Sony Deal - Us Weekly". Usmagazine.com. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  7. ↑ "Mini Masters of Reality: Unlocking the Truth Plot Metal's Future From Their Parents' Basement". SPIN. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "Teen Metal Band Unlocking the Truth Appears on ‘The Colbert Report’ — Video". Revolvermag.com. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  9. ↑ "Eighth Grade Metal Band Unlocking the Truth Plots Future After Seven-Figure Record Deal - Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  10. ↑ "Teen metal group Unlocking the Truth scores book deal". NY Daily News. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  11. ↑ Jonah Bromwich (11 September 2012). "At Metal School with Unlocking the Truth". Villagevoice.com. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  12. ↑ "Tween metal trio lands $1.8M record deal". New York Post. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  13. ↑ "A Heavy Metal Alloy, Fused With Youth : Unlocking the Truth Is a Band That Rocks Beyond Its Years". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  14. ↑ "Coachella 2014: junior high band Unlocking the Truth looks into future". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  15. ↑ Marsh, Julia. "Tween metal trio lands $1.8M record deal". New York Post. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  16. ↑ Pattison, Louis (16 January 2015). "Underage against the machine: why labels are desperate to sign teens". theguardian.com. The Guardian.
  17. ↑ Kaye, Ben. "8th grade metal band lands $1.7 million record contract with Sony". Conseqwuenceofsound.net. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  18. ↑ "UNLOCKING THE TRUTH Partners With ARTERY RECORDINGS". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  19. ↑ Bansal, Andrew. "Motörhead, Graveyard & Unlocking The Truth Perform At Club Nokia". Metalassault.com. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  20. ↑ Roberts, Randall. "Coachella 2014: Junior high band Unlocking the Truth glimpses future". Latimes.com. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  21. ↑ Florino, Rick. "Interview: Unlocking The Truth". Artistdirect.com. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  22. ↑ Macomber, Shawn. "Key Influences: Unlocking Truth". Decibelmagazine.com. Retrieved September 20, 2014.

External links