Orchard Park Natives Featured in Bee
The Orchard Park Bee connects with drummer Erik Eimiller to talk with him about Dirty Smile and the Hard Rock Rising Competition.
Dirty Smile Wins Regional Round of Hard Rock Rising Competition
by JENNIFER WATERS
Reporter
Dirty Smile band members Erik Eimiller, Gus Walters, Megan Brown, Dan Helbling and Mike Suda are competing with bands from around the world for a chance to open at the first Hard Rock Live Rome outdoor music festival in Rome, Italy, this summer.Hard Rock Rising is the world’s largest and most far-reaching battle of the bands competition, encompassing 82 bands spanning Hamilton, Ontario, to Erie, Pa.
Through Hard Rock Rising, local Western New York artists Dirty Smile could win an all-expense paid trip to Rome, Italy, to perform at the first Hard Rock Live Rome music festival this summer. The festival will embrace more than 40,000 fans from across Italy.
Dirty Smile has recently won the Hard Rock Cafe Niagara Falls competition and will move on to compete against 80 bands around the world who have topped their regional competitions.
Formed in 2011, Dirty Smile members Erik Eimiller, Dan Helbling, Mike Suda and Gus Walters create a backdrop for the powerful vocals of Texas transplant Megan Brown. “Megan Brown is our dynamic lead singer. She has the ability to sing by herself, a cappella, and the whole room will stop and listen. She has that kind of presence. I think we have the ace in the hole because of Megan Brown. There’s never been a female fronted band to win this; she’s the key,” he said.
Putting together their sound was no easy feat. Eimiller said the band endured a grueling search for a drummer and the members were at times close to disbanding. Agreeing to help longtime friend Suda by filling in for a show last year, Eimiller said he had no intention at the time of joining the band.
“He asked me to fill in for a couple of shows, and I said sure, I’d give the guys a hand because they’re too good not to have a drummer,” he said. Eimiller said the first show didn’t go spectacularly, finishing a less-than-thrilling performance knowing he had agreed to more in the near future. Unexpectedly, something changed during the second show.
“Something happened that night; it was magical. We blew the night up,” Eimiller said.
From there, he agreed to join the other four performers, and the band began to make moves, which included shooting their first music video in the Larkin building and on Old Transit Road in Orchard Park, hometown to Eimiller and Suda.
Much like the completion of the band, Eimiller said the idea to enter the contest was a bit abrupt.
At the last moment, the group decided to enter the Hard Rock Rising contest. Band members booked a studio for 10 hours where they recorded their first single, “Siren.” After a week of editing, the song was submitted — hours before the deadline.
All of the bands are dependent on Facebook votes and song downloads for their overall ranking. International voting begins on April 28 on both the Hard Rock website and individual band sites. Fans can vote for Dirty Smile on www.dirtysmileband.com.
Musicians will now compete to be in the top 25 of all bands, who will then be turned over to a panel of music industry professionals, which include Steven Van Zandt, producer, songwriter, founding member of the E Street Band, and soon-to-be Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and singer-songwriter Bonnie McKee, who writes for Katy Perry, Kesha and Britney Spears.
All of the participating artists are part of ReverbNation, the world’s leading music community for rising musicians.
email: jwaters@beenews.com
