Tiverton Band Charge the Atlantic Hopes to Make Big Noise

A young funk rock band based in Tiverton is hoping to brings its music to the masses.

Charge the Atlantic is a four-piece band made up of Peter Racine Jr. (drums), Kyle Barboza (bass), Michael William (guitar), and Patrick Krystman (lead vocalist and guitarist). Greg France and Marc Flemming also help out with songwriting and recording. All six members were born and raised in Tiverton.

“We all just love music,” Racine said. “It started in elementary school. All of our parents were really into music. We were all in school bands and it took off from there. Me and my Pat started making music a couple of years ago. We really officially came together five or six months ago though.” 

As the band has started to grow musically and gain fans, its members decided to begin recording. Racine said the group recorded a two-song demo and got good feedback on how it sounded and how they could grow. The two-song demo can be heard on the band's Facebook page.

Charge the Atlantic's members say they now hope to continue to expand their skills and bring their music to listeners all over, not just in the Tiverton area.

“It’s really fun, but time-consuming," Racine admitted. "The most difficult part would be like outsmarting the system. John Mayer said the public is dumb but they are actually smarter than you are. Trying to figure out what the people want but not selling out completely isn’t easy. It’s hard to find equilibrium and balance between the two.” 

Charge the Atlantic played five shows over the summer.

“It’s weird, as of right now it’s just friends and friends of friends," Racine said. "Hopefully it will keep growing ... It’s cool to look out and see people you’ve grown up with enjoying your music.  It makes you feel good about what you’re doing. Rewarding is the best word for it.”

Charge the Atlantic's fan-base may be small for now, but they are very energetic. Racine said it's the band's hope that fans cane come out, dance and have a good time.

"We want them to be shocked and keep them on their toes," he said.    

While the band hopes to get gigs all over, it does plan to play several charity events around Tiverton. According to the group's Facebook page, one such performance was at the Tiverton Boosters Night at Sakonnet Vineyards in October. Giving back to their community is one of the members' goals.

So what does the future hold for Charge the Atlantic? 

The group continues to play local shows, including one last week in Fall River, but also plans to record their debut EP and finish building a website.

“We want people to know that we are loving small town guys and want people to be a part of it," Racine said. "We want to make music for ourselves and everything else involved.”