J-14 is scouting out the hottest music around... and this week's pick is A+ Dropouts!
Here are five things you need to know about the A+ Dropouts, whose EP No Time for Goodbyes is out soon!
1. Originally from Washington D.C., pop-punk band A+ Dropouts consists of 14-year-old lead singer and guitarist Cheska Zaide, 15-year-old guitarist Lucas, 14-year-old bassist Evan, and 14-year-old drummer Liam. Their band name fits the group perfectly -- describing where they're at both in their career and as teenagers. "All of us are good in school and we liked the idea of the added word dropouts as a connotation to the fact that we are 'students by day and rockers by night'," Cheska tells J-14. How do they balance? "We have practice generally on Fridays and Sundays during the school year with gigs on weekends and squeezed into our vacation time," she explains. "It's always a bit hard, but we always make it work in the end."
2. Some of Cheska's musical inspirations consists of fellow rockers No Doubt's Gwen Stefani and Paramore's Hayley Williams along with newcomer Tonight Alive. "Also recently I've been inspired by Tonight Alive to write more complicated guitar parts that sound awesome!" she says. "I would totally love to work with these bands in the future!"
3. According to Cheska, one career highlight has been opening up for Forever The Sickest Kids. "I felt like I was on top of the world. To have the support of knowing that Jonathan Cook asked for us to open for them was incredible. I treated that performance like my first big break," she recalls. "It gave me a little taste of what being a rockstar is like -- all access backstage pass -- and every time I feel like this whole music thing is just too much, I think of that performance and realize that with hard work, it's all gonna pay off."
4. A+ Dropouts are getting ready to be a part of the LIV5 Event, a string of concerts, in the Philippines with Forever The Sickest Kids, The Ready Set, The Summer Set, and A Rocket to the Moon! "I'm extremely excited to play in front of so many people and it's such a huge opportunity to play with such awesome bands," she tells J-14.
5. Their latest single, "On Your Own", is a different take on a painful breakup. "It's basically a spin off of every other break up song, only instead of having a depressed mood, this one is about being happy for the opportunity to move forward," Cheska tells J-14.
Check the music video for "On Your Own" below and be sure to let us know what you think!
Photo: Robert Kazandjian
