Ramapo Student Set To Play Bamboozle Music Festival

Bamboozle is . The three-day music festival is celebrating its tenth anniversary, and over 100 bands are slated to take the stage.

Saturday at 2:30 p.m., Audio Insight will take the ‘Saints and Sinners’ stage. The three-man progressive band is made up of Montclair State students Anthony Celi (lead guitar and vocals) and Mike Deverin (bass), and sophomore Dan Sullivan, who plays percussion.

After winning ‘The Break’ battle-of-the-bands-type contest for the second year in a row, Audio Insight is preparing for their second appearance at the major music festival.

“When we first started the band four or five years ago, we never for a second thought we’d one day be playing Bamboozle,” Sullivan, a music industry and production major at Ramapo, said. “To get the chance to do it twice is awesome. I used to be in the audience every year when I was younger. Now I’m on stage there, that’s awesome.”

Audio Insight, which is currently unsigned but has released an album and hopes to crank out a second this summer, will be playing alongside some internationally-known acts, like Bon Jovi, Foo Fighters, The All-American Rejects, Jimmy Eat World, and Brand New. The Jersey City-based band My Chemical Romance will also be at the show, taking the place of headliner Blink 182, who after drummer Travis Barker had an emergency tonsillectomy.

Playing alongside those bands “makes us a better band, I think,” Sullivan said. “I learned a lot last year, and this year there’s even more for us to learn in terms of performance and marketing and things like that. Plus, it’s Bamboozle, so it’s going to be a great time.”

Sullivan said he and his band mates hope to continue making music for a long time to come. “This is a forever dream for us, and I feel like we are definitely on the right track. Winning the chance to play Bamboozle again is a good feeling.”

The organizers of The Break Contest, which awarded about 45 bands the chance to play the festival alongside the over 100 other bands booked to play, agree with Sullivan. "The band gave a great performance and it's our pleasure to have them play the ten year anniversary of Bamboozle,” David Smith, Marketing Manager of The Break Contest and Vice President of LincStar Artist Development, said in a release. “We look forward to seeing their improved progress and development in the years to come."

To find out more about Audio Insight, visit the band’s website or Facebook page.

Get more information about Bamboozle 2012 here.

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