Sidereal

From Jacksonville Beach comes the pop-reggae band, Sidereal. Friday night’s show was nothing short of good vibes, a large crowd and yet another awesome event to be held at Freebird Live. After seeing Sidereal perform for the first time at the Void Music Issue release party, I was excited to see what they had in store for their own show. You can’t go wrong with live reggae, and Sidereal did not disappoint.

void sidereal 4

To start the night off was Hours Eastly, Cloud 9 and Resinated. From doors opening at 8 p.m., there was already a line outside of Freebird and a steady crowd for all of the opening acts.

Sidereal’s music got you swaying to the beat with some of their hottest songs, “Find a Beach” and, “Before I Go.” Looking around, everyone had smiles on their faces, enjoying the easy-feeling show on stage. One of the things I really enjoy about going to concerts is to see how the band makes a connection with the audience. It was easy to tell that Sidereal was stoked to be performing, with the excitement they showed before and after each song they played. There is just something about seeing artists that truly want to put on a show for you that makes the performance all the better. Along with the good music, Freebird is always a prime venue in Jacksonville Beach. The large lower area in front of the stage, the upper level with a balcony, and two bars, make for a hot spot to put on a show. Sidereal had a huge turnout of fans, but Freebird was still comfortable to move around in.

Sidereal formed in 2009, with Colin Paterson on the guitar and vocals, Luke Costas on the saxophone and keyboard, Niko Costas on the drums and Kevin Beaugrand on the bass. They have shared the stage with many acts including the Dirty Heads, Matisyahu and Less than Jake. Winning the title of the One Spark Jurors Award 2014, Sidereal was presented with $10,000 in prize money to use towards their effort to provide musical equipment to citizens of disadvantaged communities. Chosen first out of more than 60 applicants, Sidereal was named “Best Creator” in the music category. They are currently touring around Florida through August. - Sara Shapiro

Sidereal are the winners of The One Spark Music Jurors Award at the One Spark Festival held in Jacksonville, FL, this year. With their "Sidereal 2014 Takeover" project they've convinced the music category jury and have won $10,000 in prize money. I've talked to them about their One Spark participation, their project and what they would recommend One Spark Berlin candidates ...

50K MUSIC: First please tell us a bit about the band? Where do you come from? Who are the guys behind Sidereal? What are your (musical) roots?
Sidereal: The band consists of Lukas (Sax, Keys, Ukulele, Vocals) and Niko Costas (Drums), Colin Paterson (Vocals / Guitar), and Kevin Beaugrand (Bass). The four grew up in the little town of Fruit Cove, FL directly between Jacksonville and St. Augustine and are now based in the great city of Jacksonville Beach!

Lukas started playing piano at the age of 3, quickly moving into saxophone in the middle school band. Soon after, he picked up the guitar and started teaching himself how to sing. Niko (I) began playing drums at the age of 6, taking lessons for over ten years. Participating in band throughout schooling, where Kevin and Niko first started jamming in their middle school jazz band. Kevin first picked up the trombone in the middle school band and soon after became a affluent bassist studying briefly at the Miami Dade College of Jazz. Colin is completely self taught, singing and dancing from birth. In high school, he picked up a guitar and started to jam with Kevin.

50K MUSIC: You were among the creators at this year's One Spark Festival in Jacksonville. What were your reasons to take part?
Sidereal: We had heard of the event in years past, but had not been in town to participate. We were looking forward to seeing the community come together for an event supporting so many different creative minds. We truly didn't know what to expect coming into it, and winning didn't even cross our mind.

50K MUSIC: How would you describe this crowd funding experience?
Sidereal: As a band, we encounter so many of our friends and colleagues using things like KickStarter and IndieGoGo which are web crowd funding experiences. We viewed the event as an in-person version, so we were able to apply similar strategies.

50K MUSIC: What have you raised funds for at One Spark?
Sidereal: We raised the funds to move forward with our international music relief project. We will be heading to Central America after the new year to distribute arts, crafts and musical equipment to a few villages in Costa Rica and Nicaragua to help provide a creative outlet for those in less fortunate situations.

50K MUSIC: At the end of the festival you were the lucky winners of the One Spark Music Jury Award. How did this feel like?
Sidereal: Unreal. We were in complete awe walking across that stage, and even for weeks after.

50K MUSIC: Do you think it's crucial for musicians to commit themselves for the socially disadvantaged or for social issues in general?
Sidereal: It's important to stick to some kind of cause, whether it be for people, the community your involved in, or the places you visit. You want to give back and do what you can with the talents and opportunities you've been given through music. We've been lucky enough to do both, getting involved with different community events supporting autism and cancer awareness as well as pursue our project abroad.

50K MUSIC: What would you recommend musicians who think about applying for One Spark Berlin?
Sidereal: Be creative! Don't be afraid to step outside of your shell and find new ways to get yourself, your music and project in front of people.

50K MUSIC: Back to the music, what are your plans for the next few months?
Sidereal: We will be touring the southeastern United States, recording and preparing for our venture to Central America! - 50k Music Mag

Local band Sidereal’s recently released EP Third Time’s the Charm debuted #1 on the iTunes Reggae Album Chart.

You might have heard of them from One Spark, where they were chosen out of 60 bands for “Best Creator” in the music category. They were awarded $10,000 in prize money and entry to compete at One Spark Berlin, the crowdfunding event expanded in Europe, in September.

In the meantime, they’re still playing in the Jacksonville area. Their next show is at Freebird Live at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, July 18. Reggae bands Hours Eastly, Cloud 9, and Resinated will also be performing. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.

The band consists of Colin Peterson, Kevin Beaugrand, and brothers Niko and Lukas Costas. They all grew up together in the Mandarin area and have been performing for the past five years.

Spinnaker got the chance to sit down with Niko Costas for an interview.

Spinnaker: Is this your first time headlining?

Niko Costas: No, it’s probably like our seventh.

S: When would you guys say you started to get big?

NC: We’ve been headlining shows since we started, but they were never you know–the
shows have been getting bigger. The last show we did was awesome. We’re getting closer and closer to selling Freebird out which is kind of our goal right now for Jacksonville. I would say this year was a pretty big step with One Spark.

S: What’s your main goal other than selling out Freebird?

NC: Right now we’re just trying to get our market history for when we’re touring more up to par. We’re doing these same kind of headlining shows around the state and throughout the southeast. Our goal is to try and build that up into a sustainable touring circuit.

S: If you guys could play with any band what would it be?

NC: That’s a tough one. If it were our genre, I think I would wanna play with Rebelution just because they’re crushing everything right now.

S: You guys are playing Freebird Friday, do you have any big concerts coming up after that? Or is this the big one?

NC: It’s the big one in town. We’ll be playing Blackwater Music Festival. Then the next thing in town, we’re doing the Connection Festival with Less Than Jake.

S: What are you most excited about for you guys as a band?

NC: How things have progressed. It’s been cool to see something that we started five years ago now grow into something that people have come to love. Especially around here, it’s cool. Just having the hometown and having support from people. - Saphara Harrell

1. How would you best describe your music?
Pop-Reggae / Rock. The music steps outside the traditional reggae or rock realm, bringing in a wide variety of instrumentation (Sax, Ukulele, Keys, Melodica, triple vocal harmonies). We strive to write music that will be stuck in your head for days, and keep you moving through your day.

2. Who do you idolize in music history?
Between the four of us some of our biggest idols would be, BB King, Frank Sinatra, Les Claypool and Sting.

3. If your band got one tour, what massive band bill from any era would you want to be on, and if you were huge who would you take along locally to open for you?
We’d love to go on tour with a combination of The Police, Bob Marley, with some rock flare from Led Zeppelin with us opening up the night! We’d have to take along our boys, Resinated who always crush it!

4. Goal in the next few years?
To continue seeing growth in our fan base near and far. We hope to build on our tours overseas to continue being able to travel the world, see new faces and experience different cultures. In the next two years we hope to be consistently touring and supporting some of our influences in the reggae / rock scene (Rebelution, Iration, etc).

5. Who would you compare your band’s persona to in professional sports?
We would say the USA international soccer team. In years past, people have written them off (and may not even realized they existed) until this most recent World Cup where they gained the support of the entire country. We’ve seen a similar burst of support in our great home state of Florida! - Axis Magazine

The stars have aligned and the timing is prime.

And yes, I mean the timing is prime for this far out, contemporary band – Sidereal, a young and fresh Reggae/Pop Rock band based out of Jacksonville Beach, Fl. The group, gains its sounds due to inspirations from the likes of 311, Jack Johnson and Bob Marley, to say the least. The group consists of four members featuring Colin Paterson on vocals and guitar, Kevin Beaugrand on bass, Niko Costas on drums and Lukas Costas on sax, keyboard, vocals, ukulele and melodica. We here at The Orlando Blog received the opportunity to sit down and get to know Sidereal Music a little better.

In the last year Sidereal has played in front of sold out venues!

First things first, What is Sidereal?

The band defines itself as constantly on the go, striving to improve from the last project and maturing and growing as well as bonding as a team. Niko Costas explains the group as “seeking what is next” and defining their style of music as their “own feel.” Enmeshed with the threads of their inspirations they bring together melodies that create a unique and funky sound.

How was the band formed?

Lukas’s passion for music and instruments inspired the band and when he finally convinced his older brother, Niko to play drums for the band and his childhood neighbor Kevin along with his previous bandmate Colin to join the vision, they created Sidereal. The band is based off their mutual passion for versatile sounds.

Originally forming in May 2009, the band struggled to hold practices due to the members simultaneously attending the University of North Florida, the University of Central Florida, and the University of Florida. Now, that they have grown together, it has become less difficult to work together and gain a greater grasp on the sycophancy of the band.

Life experiences inspire their music and the writing. Growing up in musically inclined households, the band members discussed being influenced from genres such as ska, hip hop, pop and even a little country. Check out this clip of Sidereal “Find a Beach” from Third Time’s the Charm EP - The Orlando Blog

The five-day One Spark festival wrapped up on Sunday, crowning its winners for the crowd funding prizes. More than 120,000 votes were cast for a portion of the $200,000 crowd fund.

More than 600 creators participated and competed, and the total estimated attendance for the event was 260,000 people.

There was a lot of excitement in Hemming Plaza because there was a lot of money on the line. Five first-place winners were decided by the public's vote and five winners in the jurored portion.

Nearly $12,000 was awarded to Theatre on a Mission. Sidereal 2014 Takeover brought in $10,000. Farm to Truck won almost $2,500.

“I'm ecstatic right now. It's still all setting in," said Niko Costas, band member of Sidereal 2014 Takeover.

“We are so excited," sith Chelsey Cain, with Theatre on a Mission.

“We are super excited, super excited," said Ellen Hiser and Brett Swearingen, creators for Farm To Truck.

Excited was the word Sunday night for the winners who took home a chunk of money to fund their One Spark idea.

Farm to Truck is a creator with the North Florida School of Special Education, a small school in Arlington for students with intellectual disabilities.

“We're here today we are going to start a food truck that is going to allow our students going through the horticulture training and culinary arts training to get paid jobs out in the community on our truck and bring all of this awesome healthy food that we create and bring it out to everyone in Jacksonville," said Swearingen.

Sidereal 2014 Takeover is a Jacksonville-based band for the last four years. Costas says they plan on using its money to help spread creativity in Central America.

“We're basically going to be bringing art, crafts supplies as long as -- music supplies, going into local villages for about three to five days in each of the villages and providing a creative outlet for all of those kids to carry with them for the rest of their lives, leaving supplies down there for them to go back and our hope is to kind of do that every year as a part of our tour with our new releases," said Costas. - Channel 4 News Jax

Formed in 2009 out of a garage band jam session, Sidereal has gained popularity in the past 4 years. What makes Sidereal so interesting is that they are all working college students just like us, but they are fulfilling their passion of music and making it known.

Sidereal has come a long way since playing their first show at a small dive bar in Jacksonville.

“The place was a shit hole,” Band member Lukas Costas said. “There were probably 20 people there and 10 were friends of mine.”

Now Sidereal travels the nation, recently returning to Florida after starting a nation wide tour in Jacksonville Beach and reaching all the way to the House of Blues in Los Angeles, California. Quite far-fetched from a shit hole, huh? - Ignite UF

Sidereal is a band based out of Jacksonville that plays regularly at High Dive in downtown Gainesville. Costas, who plays pretty much everything, is a UF student who tours with his band when he’s not working on getting his degree. Though their band formed in 2009, they’ve played with groups like Pepper, The Expendables and Less Than Jake.

Now, I’m not saying Gators don’t like music, because every college kid likes music. Every single Southwest gym junkie has their headphones in, as well as the kids at the library. However, we should acknowledge the music scene isn’t exactly what we’ve claimed it is.

This past weekend, being a music junkie myself, I went to both Zed’s Dead and Less Than Jake featuring Ballyhoo! and Sidereal. While both concerts were amazing and on complete opposite ends of the musical spectrum, I couldn’t help but notice Zed’s Dead had ten times as many people than Less Than Jake did.

The Reggae/Rock scene, consisting of bands such as Slightly Stoopid, Iration, Rebelution and Pepper, seems big, but when you look at artists like Kenny Chesney, he sells out massive arenas. Costas explained, “No band in our genre sells out arenas.”

This might seem discouraging to someone trying to make it in the music world, but Sidereal isn’t discouraged. Their sound is defined by their capacity to take risks in all different types of genres.

“We don’t limit ourselves. As long as we, collectively as a group, think it’s good, we’ll play it.”

Sidereal’s faith in their ability to make it out of a small town and tour across the country shows that we, too, have a part to play in this. - gainesvillescene.com

. . .Back at Wall Street Plaza was the Jacksonville based Sidereal. The band has been generating a lot of buzz lately and it was easy to see why. The band’s pop/reggae musical blend had many in the crowd dancing to the music. - examiner.com

Prize money will fund international community arts project

Jacksonville, FL April 16, 2014 – Florida ­based reggae rock band Sidereal aims to spread their creative vision and help improve worldwide access to music and the arts with their newest project, “The Sidereal 2014 Takeover.” Recent winners of The One Spark Music Jurors Award at the One Spark 2014 event held in Jacksonville, FL, Sidereal was presented with $10,000 in prize money to use toward their effort to provide musical equipment and art supplies to citizens of disadvantaged communities. The initial phase of “The Sidereal 2014 Takeover” will bring the band to Central America in the company of a shipping container filled with musical instruments and equipment, as well as supplies supporting other arts and crafts. The materials are to be distributed to local communities across the region to provide their
citizens an outlet for expressing their artistic passions. “We are looking forward to inspiring communities near and far, to feel and spread the love, joy, and fulfillment that art and music bring to us,” says Lukas Costas, sax/keys player for Sidereal.
Sidereal was chosen first out of more than 60 applicants by the One Spark 2014 Jurors as the “Best Creator” in the Music category. In addition to the prize money to support their project, the band was awarded entry and airfare to showcase their music at One Spark Berlin (Germany) in September, 2014. While in Germany Sidereal will lay the foundation for further expansion of their project.
Jurors for the Music category consisted of Jack Deyoung (Dalton Agency), Blaza Duval (BMI Songwriter, Makin’ It Magazine Jr. A&R), and Ron Cook (Program Director for the Entertainment Business and Innovation and Entrepreneurship Master of Science degree programs at Full Sail University).
Sidereal recently released their new EP, “Third Time’s the Charm” which debuted at #1, ahead of the late Bob Marley, on the iTunes Reggae Album chart. The album was also featured on the front page of iTunes as one of the “Top Album’s Under $8” next to Bruno Mars, Maroon 5, John Mayer, and others.
Sidereal is officially Killen It! - Killen Media

Sidereal are the winners of The One Spark Music Jurors Award at the One Spark Festival held in Jacksonville, FL, this year. With their "Sidereal 2014 Takeover" project they've convinced the music category jury and have won $10,000 in prize money. I've talked to them about their One Spark participation, their project and what they would recommend One Spark Berlin candidates ...

50K MUSIC: First please tell us a bit about the band? Where do you come from? Who are the guys behind Sidereal? What are your (musical) roots?
Sidereal: The band consists of Lukas (Sax, Keys, Ukulele, Vocals) and Niko Costas (Drums), Colin Paterson (Vocals / Guitar), and Kevin Beaugrand (Bass). The four grew up in the little town of Fruit Cove, FL directly between Jacksonville and St. Augustine and are now based in the great city of Jacksonville Beach!

Lukas started playing piano at the age of 3, quickly moving into saxophone in the middle school band. Soon after, he picked up the guitar and started teaching himself how to sing. Niko (I) began playing drums at the age of 6, taking lessons for over ten years. Participating in band throughout schooling, where Kevin and Niko first started jamming in their middle school jazz band. Kevin first picked up the trombone in the middle school band and soon after became a affluent bassist studying briefly at the Miami Dade College of Jazz. Colin is completely self taught, singing and dancing from birth. In high school, he picked up a guitar and started to jam with Kevin.

50K MUSIC: You were among the creators at this year's One Spark Festival in Jacksonville. What were your reasons to take part?
Sidereal: We had heard of the event in years past, but had not been in town to participate. We were looking forward to seeing the community come together for an event supporting so many different creative minds. We truly didn't know what to expect coming into it, and winning didn't even cross our mind.



50K MUSIC: How would you describe this crowd funding experience?
Sidereal: As a band, we encounter so many of our friends and colleagues using things like KickStarter and IndieGoGo which are web crowd funding experiences. We viewed the event as an in-person version, so we were able to apply similar strategies.

50K MUSIC: What have you raised funds for at One Spark?
Sidereal: We raised the funds to move forward with our international music relief project. We will be heading to Central America after the new year to distribute arts, crafts and musical equipment to a few villages in Costa Rica and Nicaragua to help provide a creative outlet for those in less fortunate situations.

50K MUSIC: At the end of the festival you were the lucky winners of the One Spark Music Jury Award. How did this feel like?
Sidereal: Unreal. We were in complete awe walking across that stage, and even for weeks after.

50K MUSIC: Do you think it's crucial for musicians to commit themselves for the socially disadvantaged or for social issues in general?
Sidereal: It's important to stick to some kind of cause, whether it be for people, the community your involved in, or the places you visit. You want to give back and do what you can with the talents and opportunities you've been given through music. We've been lucky enough to do both, getting involved with different community events supporting autism and cancer awareness as well as pursue our project abroad.

50K MUSIC: What would you recommend musicians who think about applying for One Spark Berlin?
Sidereal: Be creative! Don't be afraid to step outside of your shell and find new ways to get yourself, your music and project in front of people.

50K MUSIC: Back to the music, what are your plans for the next few months?
Sidereal: We will be touring the southeastern United States, recording and preparing for our venture to Central America! - Mario