Pitt Musician Spotlight: The Balcony Scene takes Altar Bar

A Google search of “The Balcony Scene” will likely result in anything from Pierce the Veil lyrics to “Romeo and Juliet” references. But after a bit of scrolling, you’ll run into an up-and-coming Pittsburgh band currently making its way through several local venues and breaking into the scene with a fresh sound.

Band manager and drummer Joe Aravich, a senior marketing major at Pitt, considers the band’s sound to be something totally untapped by local bands.

“We don’t really fit into any particular genre,” Aravich said. “If you had to classify it, it would be a mix between Ed Sheeran, The Goo Goo Dolls and The Maine.”

The Balcony Scene started in their hometown of DuBois, Pa., after performing together for the first time in a battle of the bands competition, which they won. Now, the band cultivates their sound by performing in venues around Pittsburgh, including The Altar Bar and Mr. Smalls. Their upcoming show will be their most high-profile yet.

The Balcony Scene is opening for Hawthorne Heights and The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus tonight at The Altar Bar.

“They weren’t going to use any local bands at first,” Aravich said. “So to get booked for a gig like this is pretty big for us.”

The band performs original songs, five of which they released on an EP entitled Ambitions, available on Spotify and iTunes, which was released last December.

“People have never listened to our music and said, ‘Oh this is okay.’ We’ve always gotten reactions like, ‘Oh this is different, this is cool,’” Aravich said. “We hope that with time, we’ll be touring and doing this for a living. Because when it comes down to it, that’s the dream.”

Aravich weighed in on The Pitt News’s standardized survey for student musicians.

Favorite Oakland pizza shop: Easily Antoon’s, even though they don’t have ranch.

Biggest musical inspiration: Showmanship-wise — All Time Low. Writing-wise — The Cab.

Favorite movie with “The Rock”: “The Pacifier.” No, wait, that’s Vin Diesel. Um. The one where he’s a tooth fairy or something.

Favorite Pittsburgh venue: Anywhere we can play house shows.

Favorite place to go for inspiration: Solo walks through Schenley Park (you can catch him there this coming Tuesday shaking off pre-show jitters)

Academic building you’d hold a concert in: Cathedral of Learning — it just has that cool factor.