Telling On Trixie
Telling On Trixie is an up and coming New York City rock band created from such a partnership of opposites- the introverted guitarist and the extroverted lead singer who bring out the best in one another to create something bigger than themselves. On their self-titled, debut album, you can hear the seamless result of two very different people joining together to create music with skill and passion – and it’s music that is already substantially impacting listeners. The debut album is in rotation on hundreds of stations nationwide, ranking as high as #2 on several stations’ College Music Journal Top 30 charts. Among the first to spin the album was Jonathan Clarke of Q104.3 in New York, KWSS FM in Phoenix and Mondo Blu in Spain. Several nationwide festival, club and college dates are scheduled to support their debut release, including the Cincinnati Midpoint Music Festival and Red Gorilla during SXSW 2008. Within 6 months, Budweiser had named Telling on Trixie a Premiere Band, featuring them on Budweiser.com.
Telling On Trixie is born from the partnership of lead singer Derek Nicoletto and guitarist Brad Small. Derek is the self-described “loudmouth” of the partnership, the one out front, promoting the band any way he can. Brad is the more introverted of the two, the one who keeps Derek’s flights of fancy grounded, the one who can talk about musical gear for hours, the one who’s guitar sets the musical tone for the band. But to simply label Derek as “loud” and Brad as “quiet” does not sufficiently tell the story. As Derek explains, “I look to Brad to keep me in check. I tend to go overboard and run myself down. He's really calm and can take things over while I recuperate. Also, sometimes it's better for him to talk to our bandmates in rehearsals because I tend to get in the way with ‘constant yapping.’”
Derek grew up in a musical environment – his Dad was the drummer in the Turtles (“Happy Together”), but Derek shunned his father’s music and recalls fondly his first musical duet; singing the Barbara Streisand/Donna Summer disco classic, “Enough Is Enough” with his mother. (Derek sang the Streisand part.) Brad grew up in a different environment (his father was a financial advisor), but he too fell deeply in love with music (the first music he remembers impacting him was the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack and Kiss), with the Beatles, Stevie Wonder and Jimi Hendrix becoming musical touchstones for him.
Derek and Brad’s partnership had its first experience in the band funk/jam based Trixie’s Itch. In 2006, Derek and Brad began in a new direction. Excited with the songs they were writing, they sent demos in to Jamie Siegel (Taking Back Sunday, Joss Stone, Lauryn Hill). Siegel immediately saw the potential in the songs, and late in 2006, the band commenced to record. Since then, the songs have been heard everywhere from extreme sports websites to MTV. Their exposure blossomed with their first video, for “Halfway Back to Sane,” featuring America’s Next Top Model star Jade Cole. The video has gotten over 8,000 views in less than three weeks and has been placed in music video programming worldwide.
From the first notes of “Halfway Back To Sane,” Telling On Trixie’s music has an inherent sense of drama and is playing for big stakes. Derek’s vocals are shot through with passion and purpose, and Brad’s guitar sound is full of power, while providing the melodic structure for the songs. There is something anthemic in songs like “Orion’s Light,” but there is also a sense of melancholy which keeps the songs grounded in what’s real. After awarding Honorable Mentions for “Orion’s Light” and “Angels Fall,” Billboard Magazine’s Songwriting Panel said of Telling on Trixie, “Interesting themes and catchy grooves…the talent is obvious.”