YouTube Sensation Hitting Huntington
/By Janee Law
jlaw@longislandergroup.com
Since their music videos hit stardom on internet video service YouTube, brothers Daniel, Fabian and Alejandro Manzano, of the band Boyce Avenue, have found success thanks to their pop-rock sound. After playing live in the United Kingdom and across the United States, the trio is set to hit Huntington, where they’ll play The Paramount on Sept. 30.
Brothers Daniel, Fabian and Alejandro Manzano, which make up the independent three-piece pop-rock band Boyce Avenue, are YouTube sensations, and have been touring across the world. On Sept. 30, they’re set to play The Paramount in downtown Huntington.
Singing together since they were kids, Daniel Manzano said he and his brothers performed together for the first time at a talent show during their time at Pine View High School in Sarasota, Florida. Manzano, who was 19 at the time, played the violin, while Fabian, then 17, played the guitar and Alejandro, then 13, sang and played the guitar.
“We pulled it off and it felt like this really big feat,” Manzano said in an interview last week. “I think, at that time, we knew that if we could do that, we could do anything. So, we just really started taking it more seriously and we’ve never stopped since.”
A few years later, in 2004, the brothers decided to form Boyce Avenue. Alejandro, now 29, is the lead vocalist, and plays both guitar and piano; Fabian, now 32, plays guitar and sings; and Manzano, now 35, handles bass, percussion and vocals.
Performing both covers and original music, Boyce Avenue filmed its first YouTube video in 2007. It was an acoustic cover of “Before It’s Too Late,” a song by the Goo Goo Dolls, which Manzano cited as one of the band’s musical influences, along with Coldplay, Oasis and John Mayer.
After the brothers posted their third video, they had gone “viral,” generating millions of views. Today, their YouTube channel has over 2.1 billion views, and more than 8.5 million subscribers, making Boyce Avenue the biggest independent band on the network.
For its debut album, “All We Have Left,” Boyce Avenue signed with Universal Republic Records. But the partnership didn’t work out, Manzano said, so the brothers bought back the album and released it themselves.
Since then, Boyce Avenue has released its music through its wholly-owned 3 Peace Records. The band has sold 10 million singles, and has had its songs streamed on the internet 500 million times. That makes 3 Peace Records one of the most successful independent labels in the world.
To find success as independents, is a great feeling, Manzano said. “It’s very liberating and it’s very rewarding.”
Boyce Avenue will bring the brothers to The Paramount next week, and Manzano said that, while they’ve played New York City several times, they’re excited to “tap into a whole different community, and a different vibe” in Huntington.
“We don’t know what to expect,” he said. “I think that’s part of the fun.”
The fun begins at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 30, with doors opening an hour before. Tickets are $20-$90 and are available at the box office, or at Paramountny.com.
