- November 15, 2024
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It all began with a bunch of childhood friends playing the Rock Band guitar video game. After creating dozens of songs and recently releasing a CD, The NED is no longer playing the sound of famous bands; they’re trying to become one of them.
Joe Gardella (drummer), Aaron Bowser (bass), Trace George and Ashton Kuehne (guitarists), all Flagler Palm Coast graduates (except Bowser, who will be graduating this year), have known each other since elementary school, some even before school, and Gardella believes their longevity together is the reason behind their chemistry.
“We get along with each other so well that we’re able to work off of each other, trust each other and be comfortable with each other,” he said. “We learned to play at the same time, so we never tried to outshine each other. It was always more of a ‘Hey, look at what I got,’ and ‘Oh, that sounds so cool. How did you do that?’ And then we learn it and play it together.”
One day while playing Rock Band and carelessly joking around with their instruments, Gardella realized that Kuehne had developed a talent for the guitar on the video game, so he proposed that he learn the real guitar, saying to him that they were similar.
“I also said to him, ‘Instead of playing Rock Band, do you want to write a real song?’” Gardella said. “And he said yes. So, we tried, and it sounded terrible until we kept making enough noise. Then, it began to sound good.”
The group’s first song they wrote was “Kiki steals the pretzels” after an incident where his dog, Kiki, would jump on a stand and steal his pretzels as they practiced.
The Ned has also come up with its own genre “Rug Rat,” which they define as a little of everything.
“We’re not going to be labeled as a type of band, because we’re just having fun and doing what we want,” Gardella said. “We call our genre that because we’re a Rug Rats generation. We’re everything swept up under the rug. It’s metal. It’s punk. It’s rock. It’s everything.”
The band has performed at many venues in and around the area, including DeLand and Daytona’s Original Music Showcases, as well as in the Flagler Beach Fabulous Fourth parade on a moving float, in which they received second place in the parade’s contest. They recently opened up for Ghost in the Attic.
“We’re looking forward to touring and playing with other bands and just having fun,” Gardella said. “The thing that we want to show is that people can do this too. Come have fun with us. We’re doing what we always wanted to do in life. We’re trying to share the message that you should do what you want to do in life because your life is way too short to be doing something you don’t want to do, just to play it safe and be miserable.”
To purchase their CD: Go to http://thened.bandcamp.com/releases. For more information about the band, call 931-3485 or email [email protected].
