Ashlands Attic - "Remember When Rock Used to Roll?"

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Who are these guys?

There is an attic in Ashland, Massachusetts where you can regularly hear toe-tappin', finger-snappin', tunes being played, and this is where the band's story begins. Taking their name from the aforementioned room, Ashlands Attic is comprised of Joe Benatti on drums, Ben Larracey on guitar, Mark Lawton on bass, and Ryan McMullen on lead vocals and keyboard. Even though they all went to Fitchburg State College, they never collided musically until after they left and realized the real world is just not much fun without a little music. The band molds the sound created by classic influences like The Beatles and Queen with the modern sounds of Coldplay and Keane to create a delicious concoction of pop/rock music that is hard to get out of your head.

Ryan McMullen - (Red Tie) - Lead Vocals, Keys

Fav. Artists: The Beatles, Keane, & Pink Floyd

Fav. Movies: Lord of the Rings, Across the Universe, Wedding Crashers

Fav. Cereals: Frankenberry, Life, Rice Chex

Fav. Cartoon Characters: Mufasa (Lion King), Optimus Prime (Transformers), and Cobra Commander (GI JOE)

Fav. Sounds: Laughter, bagpipes, violins

Fav. Art Movements: Impressionism, The Renaissance, and Post-Impressionism

Fav. 80’s Songs: “Take on Me" - Aha, " Rio " - Duran Duran, "I Ran so far away" - Flock of Seagulls

Mark R. Lawton (Blue Tie) - Bass Guitar, Vocals

Fav. Artists: The Beatles, Rilo Kiley, & Nirvana

Fav. Movies: Little Miss Sunshine, A Christmas Story, & Toy Story

Fav. Cereals: Fruity Pebbles, Count Chocula, & Honey Bunches of Oats

Fav. Cartoon Characters: Milhous Van Houten (The Simpsons), Bobby Generic (Bobby’s World), & Fozzie Bear (Muppet Babies)

Fav. Sounds: Laughter, “D” chord, & thunder claps

Fav. Art Movements: Surrealism, Pop Art, Post Impressionism

Fav. 80’s Songs: “Walkin’ On Sunshine,” by Katrina & The Waves, “Our House,” by Madness, & “Down Under," by Men At Work

Mark's Story

I was in my first band in High School and we called ourselves “First Time Failure,” which was built upon the influences of Nirvana, Silverchair, and more grunge-like bands. It consisted of a bassist, me, a drummer, and the front man who sang and played guitar. We lasted about a year producing a short six-song demo and playing a Battle of the Bands at the Worcester Palladium. When college came, like most things, the band parted ways. It wasn't until after college where I found my true musical calling at an Attic in Ashland, MA .

I stumbled upon the band when my girlfriend found out that her brother, Ryan, was starting a new band with his friends and they needed a bassist. I tried out for them and decided that it wasn't for me when I had some differences with thier guitarist. Upon hearing that the band had decided to let that guitarist go, I came right back and became an official Attic Dweller.

Music has always been a pivotal part of life. I could not see the point in living without a great soundtrack to tell your story. No matter what kind of life one has led, there will have always been music playing behind it. It has always been a dream of mine to be playing the music that affected at least one person the same way The Beatles affected me. I am addicted to music and nothing’s going to change my world.

Ben Larracey (Green Tie) - Electric Guitar, Vocals

Fav. Artists: Pink Floyd, The Beatles, & Dave Matthews Band

Fav. Movies: "Indiana Jones & The Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Dumb & Dumber," and "Goodfellas"

Fav. Cereals: Lucky Charms, Frosted Flakes, Honey Nut Cheerio's

Fav. Cartoon Characters: Peter & Stewey Griffin (Family Guy) & Eric Cartman (South Park)

Fav. Sounds: Waves at the beach, Amajor Chord, and Amajor Chord at the Beach

Fav. Art Movements: Chinese Water Colors, Surrealism, & whatever category Edward Hopper belongs to (Realism).

Fav. 80’s Songs: " In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins, "Nothin' But a Good Time" by Poison, & "Where The Streets Have No Names," By U2

Ben's Story

I met Ryan and Joe in college, but ironically music was never a big part of our friendship. It wasn’t until after college that we discovered we all had the same passion for making music. Our goal was simple- to make Rock 'N' Rollfun again. After going through a few musicians that didn’t fit our sound, Mark magically walked into our lives, and Ashlands Attic was born.

Joe Benatti (Orange Tie) - Drums

Fav. Artists: Sublime, The Beatles, and anything fast, energetic, and melodic is what I grew up on.

Fav. Movies: Fight Club, American Beauty, Dumb & Dumber

Fav. Cereals: Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Reeses Puffs, Cheerios

Fav. Cartoon Characters: Homer J. Simpson (The Simpsons), Ralph Wiggum (The Simpsons), Peter Griffin (Family Guy)

Fav. Sounds: The Ocean, The static sound when you put the needle on a record before the song plays, and bells that ring whenever an angel gets its wings.

Fav. Art Movements: Surrealism, Rennaisance, Post-Impressionism

Fav. 80’s Songs: "Pictures of You" - The Cure, "Under the Milkyway" - The Church, "I Melt with you" - Modern English

Joe's Story

The Gods then decided to collide, forming "Ashlands Attic". With a collective goal of having a good time and bringing others along with us, we ask you to listen to our songs for when "life gets in the way". Whether this means getting back on your feet after a hard breakup, work issues, problems at home...is really none of our business. All we ask is that you come on out to a show, have a great time, and don't yell "Free Bird!"Click here to add text.

Ryan's Story

Behind the Beatles would be bands like – Coldplay, Pink Floyd, The Who, Keane, The Clash, Blink 182, Boston , Chicago , Fountains of Wayne, and Fastball. I was involved with another band named Aralis, at the beginning of Ashlands Attic. It was a much harder band than the Attic; in fact it was Led Zepplin-esque. My desire to play good, old-fashioned rock n' roll was bubbling in my soul. Therefore, I left Aralis, and it just so happened that my friend, Ben Larracey, shared a similar interest in the same type of music. Hence, Ashlands Attic was born. We enrolled the help of our friend Joe Benatti to play on drums, and we had to work through two more members to find, by chance, our bassist, Mark Lawton. He had begun dating my sister, and after a succesful tryout, he joined the band and things just clicked magically. Ever since then the four of us have been rocking out in the Attic, making feel good music for everyone to have a good time with. ick here to add text.

Ryan Ben Mark Joe

I was born on May 12th ready to sing and write songs. Music takes me to another place, whether it be: Jazz, Rock, Pop, or Soul, I am constantly listening. Every time I hear a singer in the right pitch and key, swooning over lyrics I am hooked. My biggest influences would have to be the Beatles. Their music is the soundtrack to life, and I especially resonate with their tunes. re to add text.

I was born on a cold day in January on the 17th. Of course, they were all cold in that month. I grew up in the small town of Hudson , Ma with my older brother and sisters with loving parents. My first introduction to music came when my brother played The Beatles album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album. And from then on-whatever album my brother played-I listened. It was albums like Sgt. Peppers (along with The Beatles entire library), Nirvana’s “Nevermind,” Green Day’s “Dookie,” and The Who’s “Tommy,” that gave me a foundation in life from which I wanted to explore deeper. Growing up I only got into music more buying a cheap $50 “Gilb” acoustic guitar and trying to teach myself how to play it. Professional lessons came soon after that.

I was born on March 26th and grew up in the small town of Ashland, MA. My introduction to music came from my brother giving me crash courses on Led Zeppelin, and from watching “Goodfellas,” which is filled with great Eric Clapton tunes. With Zeppelin and Clapton as my foundation, I began my studies in CLASSIC ROCK! But it wasn’t until I stumbled upon the music of Pink Floyd that I decided I wanted to play music.

On September 17th, 1983, I was born with an instant love for music. I didn't pick up a pair of drumsticks until senior year of high school when I bought a drumset out of the blue. Having played here and there at friends houses, the drums didn't see much use until college, where I met Ryan. Being too poor for lessons, I proceeded to teach myself to play to the best of my ability. The two of us, with a couple of friends formed the rock band "Entropy". Soon afterwards, we formed "The New Class", more of a pop-punk type band. Having lived in the same suite at school with Ben, we never really clicked musically until recently. And Mark...well, was mysteriously never seen on the Fitchburg State campus by any of us throughout our entire stay there.

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