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Arts & Entertainment

Rockers From Fox Lane Are On The Rise

Band Ten Feet Deep consists of four Fox Lane alumni.

Ten Feet Deep, a pop-rock band consisting of four Fox Lane graduates, tore the roof off of a popular Connecticut drinking hole on a recent Friday night. Tigin, a restaurant and pub located in downtown Stamford, set the stage for the rising stars.

The Tigin show went on for over two hours and TFD played an assortment of cover tunes and original pieces. One thing that can be said about the TFD members — they do not lack energy. The four rocked Tigin and left pub-goers cheering for more. They have also done recent charitable concerts at two other Stamford venues. Two days after Tigin, TFD performed at Route 22 Bar & Restaurant to help Haiti, and did another Haitian relief benefit on Feb. 27 at The Rack N Roll Cafe.

The band, conceived at Fox Lane High School, consists of four local members: Alexander Craig, Brendan Ryan, Peter Chema, and Michael Leff.

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While Ten Feet Deep was formed in high school, the members were friends long before they started creating music. Leff and Ryan have been close since they met on the baseball field in Bedford Village Little League. Ryan started playing guitar at an early age, and later on when he would hang out with his friends he often brought his guitar along.

When the four bandmates first started hanging out together they would just mess around making music, but the more they hung out, the better they got. Chema was a guitarist, too, but he learned bass for the sake of developing the band. Leff, the drummer, would bang his drumsticks on many household items before obtaining a real drum set. Their first show was in front of friends and family in the deep end of a 10-foot swimming pool, and so Ten Feet Deep was born.

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The members got some early respect while still in high school, when they opened up for Justin Timberlake and Avril Lavigne at the Hammerstein Ballroom for Teen People's "What's Next" concert. Like most high school rock bands, the project got put on hold while the members attended different colleges. But while most acts seem to dissipate when members are separated, Ten Feet Deep, with its member all having graduated from their respective colleges, reunited, produced an album and are on their way to musical stardom.

In the fall of last year, TFD won 95.9 THE FOX's "Battle of Bands" competition, "Unplugged in the Plaza," and $1,000 for its performance at the Stamford Town Center. Competing against five other bands, the quartet performed a 25-minute set that included a rendition of Credence Clearwater Rival's "Fortunate Son" as well as an original song entitled "Melinda."

"People really like our version of Credence's Fortunate Son," drummer Michael Leff said. "We put our own spin on it." Leff said that TFD's style stems from The Beatles, The Allman Brothers, Cake, Weezer, The Beach Boys, and Justin Timberlake.

"We love being creative, and the four of us work together very well," Leff said. "We try not to take it too seriously, adding humor to songs, and really just enjoying the reactions from people during live shows. We love playing for a live audience."

TFD has played many gigs in and around New York City at places like The Bitter End. The members have also played in Boston and the casino Mohegan Sun.

When asked about finding adequate time to rehearse, Chema said, "We've been playing so much lately, promoting the new album. Playing live has become our rehearsals." Chema added: "We really want this album to take off, but it's not easy and requires a lot of hard work."

But hard work and determination are not the only ingredients that drive Ten Feet Deep. "Our biggest fans are our parents," Leff explained. "It's been that way since the beginning. They've always had faith in us and never miss a show."

A local music producer has also helped TFD get its album together. John Lissaur, a famous composer, musician, and film scorer who works and resides in Katonah, let the band use his studio to polish some of its work.

Learn more about the band here, including upcoming concerts, and look for the band on Facebook and iTunes. 

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