The heavy metal band "Unlocking the Truth" has just signed a record deal with Sony potentially worth $1.7 million. So what? Bands get record deals all the time. Well, there's something unique about this one.
Say hello to "Unlocking the Truth." While most kids are probably concentrating on other things like homework or curfews in eighth grade, Brooklyn's Malcolm Brickhouse and Alec Atkins, both 13, and Jarad Dawkins who's only 12, are doing this: (Via Getty Images)
The trio partly owes their recent success to the power of the Internet, where a video of them playing in Times Square went viral with 1.5 million views. (Via YouTube / Tracey Brickhouse, Fuel10988)
That was enough, writes the New York Post, to attract the attention of a Sony exec, who called the band's manager Alan Sacks after seeing the video.
According to the Post, Sacks says the boys have a chance of becoming the new face of rock. Why? "Because they're unique — black artists excelling in heavy metal, a genre typically dominated by white musicians."
And having a Grammy Award-winning artist as a producer probably doesn't hurt either.
A profile piece done by Spin says Steve Jordan, who's worked with Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton and Bruce Springsteen, became the band's producer after he happened upon them playing in Washington Square.
"I read my horoscope that day and it said something really fantastic is going to happen to you today. So ... I hear this music, and as I get closer, I see these kids playing, and they are playing metal and it's got this extra groove to it. And it was incredible." (Via Spin)
The group has been doing fine with sponsors too, appearing in an ad for Beats by Dre, a behind the scenes video by Verizon, and a Christmas ad for Cole Haan. (Via YouTube / ALLSAINTS)
Unlocking the Truth is currently on the nationwide Vans Warped Tour and will be releasing a book about their rise to success due out around Christmas.
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