By Deaglan Howlett | Posted Thursday, June 7, 2018

For fans of: Bon Jovi, Paramore, Bleachers

Dan Amato and the Sentimental Gentlemen is a lively group that blends pop and rock in a way that is both captivating yet familiar. While the music is high energy and original, I hear traces of hometown hero Bruce Springsteen, and relatively newer acts like Paramore. This makes for an infectious sound, and their latest release, The Big Picture, is no exception.

Lead singer and guitarist, Dan Amato, was kind enough to answer some questions for me. Thanks again, Dan!

What were your influences for this release?

As for the rest of influences [not listed previously], we made a playlist noting specific songs that had the biggest impact.

Any stories about particular songs?

The interesting thing about this record in terms of stories is that I worked backward in a way. I had written 3 of the tracks scattered across the year that had all stemmed from a breakup. I figured I could do something more with them and make them more a part of a broader idea, in this case placing them into stages of a breakup: Shock, Anger, Spite, Sadness, Acceptance, and Hope.

Who did you record with?

We tracked, mixed & mastered one half of the album with Gintas Norvila at Grand Street Recording in Brooklyn, NY and the other half with Adam Vaccarelli at Retromedia Sound Studios in Red Bank, NJ.

What is your songwriting process?

I’m still slightly struggling to call myself a songwriter, so my process is pretty skewed. I’m super impatient, so I put everything into one song at a time -- whatever gets written gets recorded. It starts with a horribly sung voice memo on my phone, which then goes into a logic demo session, gets sent to the band, [we] practice it and sometimes play live first, straight to studio. For whatever reason, I’m only a perfectionist when it comes to writing because I’ve only written one song that has not been recorded.

Who plays what instrument?

I sing and play guitar (sometimes a little piano).
Nicole Govel does backup vocals.
JJ Fabricatore plays Saxophone.
Owen Flanagan plays Drums.
Jon Bass plays bass (funny enough).

Upcoming shows?

We’ve got our release show this Friday night, June 8th, at the Orange Lantern in my hometown of Paramus, NJ. [We're] playing The Chubby Pickle in Highlands, NJ on July 6th, The Soulsational Festival in Bayville, NJ on July 28th, another show at the Orange Lantern on August 11th, and more to be announced. Show dates will be added to our Facebook, Instagram and Spotify pages!

Make sure you listen to Dan Amato and the Sentimental Gentlemen's latest release and see them live!