AGE: “30-SOMETHING” BATTING AVERAGE: .301HOMETOWN: TOWACO, NJ INFLUENCES: KAREN CARPENTER, RINGOSTARR, STEVE SMITH CURRENT RELEASE: FROM THE GROUND UP

DRUMS: SLINGERLAND HEADS: REMO CYMBALS: SABIANSTICKS: PRO-MARK HARDWARE: PEARL

VITALS ALL GEARED UP1. 2.

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n a slightly differentworld, Dena Tauriellowould be playing softballright now, and youcertainly wouldn’t bereading about her. A

four-year-scholarship softball playerat Penn State, the drumming bug bitTauriello at age eight when she metKaren Carpenter. It was a chanceencounter, and a life-changing one atthat. “Oh my god, it was obviouslylife-altering because she inspired meso much. My parents had beenlistening to their music and I got intoit. I loved her voice and I loved hermusic and I found out she was adrummer when I got to see her inconcert. My dad finagled a way to getus backstage and I got to meet herbriefly. It was unbelievable. She did asolo piece during the concert, andjust watching her on stage playing,gushing, smiling, having a great time,and being amazing at what she did, Idecided that’s what I wanted to do.”

As a young girl, Tauriello raidedher parents’ kitchen drawers in searchof a suitable makeshift drum set. “Idid the pots-and-pans thing. I drovemy parents crazy. We had this onelittle drawer [where], for whateverreason, my mom had chopsticks andall kinds of random stuff. I’d grabchopsticks and I’d take out pots and

pans, lay them on the living roomfloor and wail on them.”

After cutting her teeth on the potsand pans, she moved on to arelatively quiet practice pad for ayear. Tauriello graduated to a properdrum set when her parents gifted herwith some vintage Slingerlands.Although she tended to put off herlessons, she would play along torecords by Tom Petty And TheHeartbreakers, The Beatles, Rush,and Billy Joel. By age 12, she was inher first band, and while in juniorhigh school, got her first taste ofrecording in a studio. “We laid downmaybe four originals and did somegigs and made a little bit of money.Not much, but it was experience.Then I went off to college and thatwas that.”

Tauriello headed off to collegewithout her drums, and drummingslipped into the back of her mind.She would briefly reunite with her kitthe few times she visited homeduring the school year, but wouldn’tplay with any regularity until shegraduated, when a neighbor asked ifshe was interested in doing a churchtheater show. She did the gig, butdrumming again took a backseat toother priorities. “It left myconsciousness for a while. I don’tknow why I allowed that to happen,

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We weren’tgoing to be a band

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but it just happened. I was focusing onwhat I could do with my degree and how Icould make money and that kind of stuff.”Tauriello took a coaching job at her oldhigh school, and it could’ve been the endof her story. Nevertheless, the drummingbug’s bite mark would not go away.

“A year later, an old high school friendasked me to audition for her cover band, soI went down and got the gig. That startedthe snowball back into music – one thingled to another, other opportunities, otheroriginal bands. I started working in NewYork City and in New Jersey. I met a lot ofpeople and got a lot more exposure andmore opportunity and eventually met thegirls in Antigone Rising.”

Tauriello auditioned for AntigoneRising in September 1998 and became an

official member in early 1999. Whenvocalist Cassidy joined later that year, theband had locked its lineup into place, buthadn’t yet committed to doing music fulltime. “When I first joined the band, I wasstill working at a music store and then Ishifted to a corporate gig for about twoyears,” Tauriello explains. “I was atPrudential and there was some overlap withtouring and my day job. I scaled back andapplied for an alternate work schedule, as Ilike to call it, which is basically a part-timearrangement. I had a little bit of time offand I would work my days off around anylong weekends, because at first we were justdoing some college gigs or stuff that wasout of the area on weekends. Eventually, Imade a decision and stopped working atPrudential because I wanted to do music.”

Ultimately, the entire band decided todrop everything and pursue music as a full-time gig. “Cassidy was a firm believer in‘leap and the net will appear.’ We weren’tgoing to be a band until we made ourselvesa band, so everybody quit their jobs and webought a van even before we had a stringof gigs. We decided to invest in that andkind of make it happen.”

As determined as Tauriello was to makeit, the change from a steady paycheck andbenefits to driving endlessly in a van acrossthe country was not easy. There is never aguarantee that there will be light at the endof the tunnel. “There’s no formula. It’s sosubjective and it’s a little scary. You justnever know what’s going to happen. You’releft hanging a lot month-to-month. Youdon’t know what you’re making and you’re

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Transcription by Anthony Geluso

“

”

AntigoneRising

INSIDE TRACKS

FROM THE GROUND UPLava

3.

Dena Tauriello lays down a very meaty groove through the guitar solo at the end of this track –solid and right in the pocket!

TAURIELLO CONTINUEDTAURIELLO CONTINUED

Recorded in the best of two worlds – a studioon their home turf in New York, with a liveaudience gathered around – Antigone Rising’sdebut is a pristine capture of the band’s greateststrength: live performance. These five womenconnect to the lineage of Bon Jovi, SouthsideJohnny, and Springsteen in that their songs aremini-epics, delivered with brio. But perhapsbecause of this intimate setting, theirperformance is also understated: their singing isspirited but cleanly harmonized, guitars nevercrank to the threshold of distortion, and DenaTauriello’s drumming doesn’t so much drive themusic as cruise along with it. The emphasis onthe lead vocal keeps tempos in a lyric-friendly

medium range, with silence often used as aframe to highlight one or another part of thewords. This leads Tauriello to keep parts basicand volume down; on “Happy Home” she evenplays brushes, in effect accompanying the moreprominent pulse that someone keeps ontambourine, and on “Longshot” she sits outentirely. (Guest percussionist Nir Zidkyahu’scongas stand out clearly in this muted mix.) Theoverall effect is compelling, thanks mostobviously to the material and to the passion oflead singer Cassidy, but there’s much to be saidas well for drummers like Tauriello, who knowthat a light sprinkle can nourish more than evena blizzard of beats. – Robert L. Doerschuk

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VIBEkind of hand to mouth for much of thetime. It gets a little scary but when youbelieve in what you’re doing, it’s easier topersevere. I always believed in this band.”

Jason Flom, founder and president ofLava Records, also believed. He saw theband play at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NewJersey and signed them to a record contractthe very next day. Antigone Rising wasselected as the band to kick off a jointventure between Lava and Starbucks called“Hear Music Debut” that was createdspecifically to introduce new anddeveloping artists. The album would beavailable exclusively at Starbucks and theband was ready to break through. The nextstep was to record their live album, FromThe Ground Up, which was built from theground up in a very short time.

“It came together so quickly, we got thecall from management in mid-January[2005] and didn’t have much time torehearse and get it up and running. Wehired a percussionist [Nir Zidkyahu] and apianist to come in and play with us to giveit a little more texture. It really was a lot ofwork and not a lot of time. Right when itwas time to record it, we weren’t supertight and super polished. We were a littleraw still, which is good because you getthe really nice moments. I think it wasexactly right.”

The normally unflappable Tauriello wassweating bullets before the show, and forgood reason. A bad show could have dealta harsh blow to her career. “It wasextremely nerve-racking and was easily themost nervous I’ve ever been during a show;and I typically don’t rattle during a show.All I needed to see was the label’s reaction.They were sitting next to the Starbuckspeople, and everyone was sort of holdingtheir breath to make sure everybody washappy because we didn’t really get anyinput on preference of songs. They wantedit unplugged and acoustic in nature andwe’re a rock band so that was a bit of achallenge. Inherently, some of what we dois singer-songwriter, really mellow,beautiful ballads, but that’s not all we are.To make a show around that, but still tipoff that we’re a rock band, was a bit ofchallenge. We were a little nervous andwanted to make sure everybody was happy.When we saw Jason backstage he said, ‘Ohmy god, that was amazing!’ and we werevery happy.”

Having a record deal on a major labelhas allowed Tauriello to breathe a little

easier, and she’s thankful for the supportthe band has received. She also knows thisis only one stop on the long road tosuccess. “It feels more secure than it everhas because you have a whole staff ofpeople who are pushing for you andworking their butts off to try to make thishappen as best as it can. There’s comfortand security in knowing that, but it’s stillas subjective as before we had the recorddeal. It’s still scary as it was, but it’s nice tohave that support.”

In a way, Tauriello’s life has come full

circle. She once was a little girl affected bythe magic Karen Carpenter created, andnow she’s taking on a bit of the influencerrole. “We did a show last summer when wewere on tour with Dave Matthews Band.We were on a side stage, but it was nicebecause we had a nice cross-section ofpeople seeing us. There was a cute little girlwho was no more than seven or eight whoasked me to sign a pair of sticks for her. Ialways think of Karen in those momentsand how cool it is to hopefully inspirepeople who want to do it.” �

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