Kean students find their way into the music industry
By Annalise Knudson
Striving to become a musician has proven to be difficult, and trying to land record deals and even get noticed or gain recognition is what every aspiring musician dreams of, but it all depends on how willing the musician is to make that dream come true.
Kean student Andre Brito, who is 21-years-old, smiled as he told the story of his journey to becoming the musician he is today and how he plans on making his dreams become a reality.
Brito said he never planned to become a musician. He played the piano as a child, but quit to pursue sports instead. It was only natural for him; after all, his dad was a professional soccer player in the United States.
It wasn’t until high school that Brito started to play guitar. He began after a sports injury kept him from following his love for soccer and baseball.
But once he picked up his acoustic guitar, Brito fell in love. However, Brito knew he had to pursue other things in life as well.
He studied at Kean University for two years as a Political Science major to become a lawyer, but decided the law professional wasn’t for him.
Then he started working in a hospital and decided to become a Biology major.
“Music wasn’t anything I was going to strive for,” Brito said.
A turning point came when his frient Ngubo Masongo, asked him to join a band in 2012.
So once again he switched majors. Now he’s a music major at Kean and really enjoys it.
As for that band he was asked to join? It’s still going two years later. Known as EVERYONE!, the group features Brito, Masongo, and two other members, all students at Kean University,.
They all have a mutual respect for each other and have come to develop a cloe relationship.
“Andre’s drive is incredible.” Masongo said. “His love for music can never be questioned. He’s always on top of things and his devotion to music has definitely played a role in how far we’ve come along as a band.”
They started out as a small band with covers of songs they created on their YouTube channel named youtube.com/every1official, which has eight videos.
One of the first covers the band took on was “A Team” by Ed Sheeran. For the 3-minute cover song, it took the band a total of 3 hours to put together. Brito said was worth every second.
The band started to gain recognition from Brito’s friend, fellow YouTuber, thecomputernerd01, who has over 1 million subscribers. Brito was proud to say that their video received over 3000 views over one night when his friend promoted the band on one of his YouTube videos.
“It’s a first come, first serve when it comes to YouTube,” Brito said.
With the added attention, the band gained confidence and began making more videos. Soon enough, they started to think about doing original music, including Brito’s singing in some of their songs.
Brito blushed at the thought of his own singing, never knowing anyone thought he was able to sing well, as he was never one to sing much around his house.
With three songs in mind and the help of their studio producer, the band recorded their songs as an EP.
Their songs were Waste Time, Tell Me (That You Love Me), and Brito’s favorite, Masterpiece. Copyrighting their EP and using Bandcamp, a website to promote music, they gained 1000 views along with handing out free CDs to friends at Kean, coworkers and family members. Their official Bandcamp website is everyoneofficial.bandcamp.com where fans can download the band’s songs.
After planning a photo shoot and writing a biography of the band, Brito was not embarrassed to admit he cried on the phone with the producer of Atlantic Records who asked to meet with the band to talk about their future.
The Vice President of Atlantic Records told the band “they have everything they need to succeed,” and the band is now currently recording a studio album including 10 songs, as well as a performance they headlined at Tammany Hall in New York on April 20th, 2014.
Brito continues to focus on his studies, while holding onto his dream to become a famous musician. With the support of his friends, family, and band members, Brito is striving to achieve his goals and ambitions in the music industry.