hearts and sounds · niagara falls, canada
With a combination of compelling melodies, rich vocals and outstanding musicianship, minus the angst, Hearts and Sounds have emerged as a fresh, new face in the Canadian music scene.
Hailing from Niagara Falls, Canada a town that gave rise to such bands as The Trews and Honeymoon Suite, band members Frank Pietrangelo (Vocals), Paul Gigliotti (Guitars), Justin Richard (Bass) and Brett Bendo (Drums) combine to produce an engaging blend of musicality. Emulating the sounds of bands like Coldplay and U2 mixed with their own unique flavor, Hearts and Sounds have honed themselves into a strong and exciting musical talent.
Started by Frank Pietrangelo in 2001 as the cover band The Madhatters, and playing for many years around Niagara and Toronto, the band saw a few member changes before ultimately discovering the proper combination of musicians that would inspire the creation of Hearts and Sounds. With this new strong, cohesive unit, Hearts and Sounds began to pursue more lucrative opportunities, landing opening slots for acts such as Collective Soul, Smashmouth and Usher, opening for crowds as large as 25,000 people.
2009 saw their biggest show yet. A fan of Hearts and Sounds, Joe D'Urso, head of the Light of Day Foundation, personally asked the band to be part of the bill for the fundraising concert that year. On that same bill was super-rocker Bruce Springsteen. The band was awed when Bruce asked them to join him on stage to help perform the song Pink Cadillac.
'We were absolutely thrilled,’ Frank remembers, ‘to be sharing the stage with such a massive legend. It was the highlight of our career.' The band were so well received that they were once again asked to return to play the fundraising show in 2011.
Hearts and Sounds would go on to play many more large shows, at home and across the border, even being invited to play such legendary venues as New York City‘s ‘Arlene’s Grocery’ and ‘The Stone Pony.’
New recording opportunities soon began to arise, and in 2010 Dave Rave, formerly of Teenage Head fame, approached Hearts and Sounds to be his studio band on the album 'Live With What You Know' which garnered great success in the U.S. and Europe. This led to the band appearing in three of his music videos as well as Dave co-writing one of the band’s original songs.
In 2011 Hearts and Sounds would gather in the studio to record their first, full-length, self-titled CD. Paul Gigliotti, formerly of the Warner Music recording act 'Wave' stepped in to produce the album and has since joined as the bands lead guitar player. With its release, it wouldn't take long for the album to gain in popularity with the opening track 'Blue' earning regular rotation and regular requests on 91.7 Giant FM and 105.1 The River.
Most recently the band's song 'Falling Down' was selected to appear in Canada's first 3D feature film 'Dead Before Dawn' starring Christopher Lloyd and Rossif Sutherland, Kiefer Sutherland’s younger sibling.
Members
Frank Pietrangelo, Vocals
Paul Gigliotti, Guitar
Justin Richard, Bass
Brett Bendo, Drums
