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Echosmith (photos by Jonathan Weiner)
Echosmith (photos by Jonathan Weiner)

'Artist to Watch' Echosmith hammers out musical success

by jmaloni
Fri, Jul 4th 2014 01:35 pm

Siblings are 'Cool Kids' at Warped Tour

Preview by Joshua Maloni

Eight months after releasing their debut album, "Talking Dreams," the four Sierota siblings - Sydney, 17 (vocals/keyboard); Jamie, 21 (vocals/guitar); Noah, 18 (vocals/bass); and Graham, 15 (drums) - better known as Echosmith - are an MTV "Artist to Watch."

Their signature single, "Cool Kids," is a radio hit.

The Sierotas recently appeared on "Conan" and are performing as part of the Vans Warped Tour. Sydney was featured on the cover of Alternative Press and Substream to promote their involvement with the tour.

In person and on screen, the foursome has displayed musical ability and stage presence well beyond its years.

Simply put: In the 248 days since "Talking Dreams" was released, Echosmith has become one of the most promising acts in all of music.

If this trajectory continues, the L.A. alt-pop band will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame about seven minutes after you read this article.

"We love our fans," Sydney said in a phone interview Wednesday. "It's amazing to see our fans, because we haven't been touring that long. I mean, we've been touring pretty straight for the past year. It's amazing to see the people who are like, 'Hey, this is my 10th show.' It's like, 'Gee, that's a lot (laughs)!'

"I can't wait to see that number grow. It's really cool to see how passionate our fans are, and how connected they are, and how much we can talk on social media and do chats on Facebook or Twitter or whatever it is."

"We're really thankful for them," she said.

Echosmith's rise to the top somewhat parallels the success Hanson had in the '90s. Say what you will about the latter group's "MmmBop," but it was undeniably catchy, and resonated with music lovers across genres. The same can be said about "Cool Kids" (and, yes, "Cool Kids" has vastly superior lyrics).

Hanson found success because its sibling members - Isaac, Taylor and Zach - were legitimately talented (listen to 2007's "The Walk") ... and, unlike, say, Oasis' Gallagher boys, the Hanson brothers got along with one another.

The Sierotas are a tight-knit family, and the siblings' teamwork has fueled Echosmith's rise to the top.

"They're my best friends," Sydney said of her three brothers. "We were always taught, since day one, that we had to be best friends, anyway, whether we were or not.

"And that actually worked out in our favor. We were taught that we're going to be stuck together forever, so we had no choice but to be friends. I'm really thankful that that was the way, because if we weren't best friends, I don't know if this would be possible."

The Sierotas grew up in a musical household and naturally gravitated to their respective instruments. When the foursome began performing as a band, Echosmith was born, and became the platform for the siblings' songs.

The foursome shared writing credits on the 12-track "Talking Dreams" album.

Sydney said going through life experiences with her brothers made Echosmith "more united." That helped the band craft cohesive songs.

 "We grew up having the same morals and beliefs, and wanting the same message to be put out into the world," Sydney said. "That has really helped our writing process, because I feel like a lot of bands struggle with that, because there's a lot of people who don't agree."

"I'm really fortunate to have my brothers in the band with me, and to write with, and that we agree on most things," she added. "It's a really great process and it's really cool having to write everything together."

"Talking Dreams" pays homage to '80s pop-rock and showcases Echosmith's talent, namely Sydney's voice. She said the album aptly represents the band.

In June, the band released "Acoustic Dreams," a five-song EP that put a new spin on four "Talking Dreams" songs, and offered one new tune, "Terminal."

Mindful of their band's second season on the Warped Tour, "We wanted to have something else for the people who already have the album, because it's really awesome to see how many people are bringing their albums that they already bought for us to sign here," Sydney said.

Echosmith's work will be on display locally when the Warped Tour visits Darien Lake Tuesday. A slew of acts are slated to perform, including Cute Is What We Aim For and Yellowcard

"I really love it," Sydney said of the tour. "I think it's a really great idea. There's a hundred bands on the tour, so you're bound to have people who don't know you watching your set."

"It's a really great community here," she noted.

Sydney said Echosmith's live show is pretty straightforward.

"We like to have fun," she said. "I think that's the best way to describe our show. There's a lot of different styles on the tour. There's the people who go crazy and end up in the crowd and are throwing their stuff everywhere, and that kind of stuff. That's not exactly our style."

The Warped Tour continues into August. Sydney said traveling and performing with her siblings has been "a really good experience, and we're just having a lot of fun.

"We just consider it family road trips - it's a lot of them. A road trip that never ends!"

Visit http://www.darienlake.com/concert-vans.php for tickets to watch the Warped Tour at Darien Lake.

To learn more about Echosmith, or to order "Talking Dreams" and "Acoustic Dreams," visit the band's official site, http://www.echosmith.com/.

•Follow Joshua Maloni on Twitter @joshuamaloni.

Echosmith 

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