So, Who Did Hal Jordan Dress Up as For Halloween? [BUFFALO BAND OF THE WEEK]

Hey guys! Hal Jordan consists of six members total, but only five of us play on stage. The five of us that play are singer Gabe Bermingham; two guitarists, Ricky Coomer and Ian Gartley; drummer Sebastian Cichon and bassist Brad Gottorff. However, Joe Sansone is also in the band; he plays the roles of stand-in bassist when needed, back-up vocals and all-around hype-man.

We think the best way to describe our sound is pop-punk. We write songs that are upbeat and energetic. We all like to dance around like fools when listening to music, so we decided to write songs that let us do that when we play live. We can get real crazy on stage, bumping into each other and tripping over equipment, but it's all about making music that gets us amped up!Listing our influences would fill pages and pages. We all grew up listening to music since birth, probably. That's a lot of time, but a few of the bigger names out there are The Wonder Years, Leftover Crack, Four Year Strong and Bon Jovi. But we take influences from everything: Ian even listens to 50 Cent on a regular basis, and who doesn't take influences from Backstreet Boys and Salt n Pepa?

Listen to our song "Champ's Cuddlin' With Jesus Now":

If you could create your dream tour, which bands would you bring along with you and why?

We like to dream big. We always said if Bon Jovi called us back, then we'd really be making it as a band. But all jokes aside, a dream tour would be to take our best friends in all the local bands and see the country. Playing with the big names would be memorable and amazing, but we've made friends with some of the greatest people here in Buffalo. Seeing the country with bands like Run the Coast, Sunset Wakeup, The Home Crowd, Thrown Under the Bus and Dangerfield would really make our lives.

You guys have the craziest song titles: "Brotanks vs Skins: Ultimate Kickball Edition," "We've Been Tellin Em For 10 Years Gary!" and "Champs' Cuddlin' With Jesus Now," for example. Where do titles like these come from?!

Ha! Naming our songs is the hardest part to writing for us. We sit around and toss names back and forth for hours on end and never make any decisions. But in the end, all of our titles have something to do with our everyday lives. They encompass events and jokes that we have all been a part of. For example, our EP Connectichuck, released on September 14, is titled after Ricky "Chuck" Coomer's move to Connecticut for eight months; we have made our own kickball league during the summer based on one epic game where we played Brotanks vs. Skins.

What did Hal Jordan do for Halloween? Did you dress in individual or group themed costumes?

Every year, we have a huge costume party at Brad's house for Halloween. We didn't coordinate costumes for Halloween this year, but we have been known to dress up for holiday shows. Last year's Christmas show was was costume mandatory, where Ian was Santa and Gabe was Santa's little helper. We have a Thanksgiving show coming up this year on November 25 at Broadway Joe's, and we may just get a little festive for that one, too..You'll have to come find out.

What's next for Hal Jordan? Where are you performing next?

We are currently working with bands from Pittsburgh and Cincinnati to do some touring in the spring. But other than that, we are working on our winter plans. We've been wanting to do more writing, so who knows. We might go back into the studio for more songs.

In the meantime, you can see us in our video for "Brotanks vs Skins: Ultimate Kickball Edition".

Look for us on YouTube and Bandcamp to purchase or download our music!

Hey, local bands: Want to be featured as our Buffalo Band of the Week? Local music aficionados, got a band you want to nominate? Email angela[dot]stefano[at]townsquaremedia[dot]com with their name!

Jack FM’s Buffalo Band of the Week is sponsored by Headspace Glass and Gifts.