YOUNGSTOWN

Down For The Get Down

Are you down for the get down? You are if you know what you want and won't be satisfied until you get it. Of course, that's never easy-just ask Youngstown. These three guys started with nothing but talent, struck solid gold with their whole lotta love songs debut, then stuck to their guns to create a new sound, a sound of their own. "Our first album was called Let's Roll, because we were like, 'Let's roll with this and see what happens,'" says Sam Lopez. "With Down For The Get Down, we're speaking our minds-and doing our music." Or as James Dallas succinctly puts it: "This album is us."

Yet what, exactly, is the Youngstown sound? It's pop with punch, a unique blend of harmony and attitude, sincere, sweet ballads and in-your-face bounce. "We look for the funk, the rock slant, the urban twist," Sammy explains. Down For The Get Down has pure lilting love songs like "Little Sister" and the shimmery "take-me-back" track "Every Single Thing" right alongside the bangin' "Machine," with its wailing axe-work, and the edgy, explosive "You Want What You Want." "Sugar" is croon-pop with more than a hint of crunch, "Dancefloor (Part II)" has a funky, get-your-groove-on feel and the sexy "Dancing Through the Night" wriggles with Latin-style rhythms, horns and guitars. Even earnest ballads like "Could You?" and the party perfect "So Tight" have the kind of energy that will trounce whatever preconceived notions you might have about male vocal groups-or, okay, we'll say it: boy bands.

"A lot of people, when they think of boy bands they think of people who don’t make their own decisions," explains Dallas. "We have the balladeer and the young rocker in us-and we're trying to be innovators. We're not fabricated, we follow no rules and we're not gonna have some 50-year-old in a suit telling us what people our age like to hear."

Plus, with Youngstown, the physical is nearly as essential as the musical-there ain't no groove without a move. "Dancing is a huge part of what we do-it's like sign language," says David "DC" Yeager. Adds Sammy: "The body is such a form of expression. You gotta use everything you've got."

Youngstown began developing their rule-breaking brand of R&B-hip-hop-rock-pop six years ago when they hooked up in the Ohio city they pay homage to in their name. If you know a little bit about the place, everything about the group-the men, their music and their message-makes sense. "Youngstown is a small city -the kind of place where you can be a good guy but you gotta learn to take care of yourself." Dallas explains.

Each incredible crooner brought his group dreams to the table-they'd all been actively singing, writing and playing since their early teens. They also brought diverse influences: Dallas dug rock and R&B, DC was into R&B and hip-hop, Sammy grew up on salsa-and all shared a common bond in classic pop. So, tossing Boyz II Men, AC/DC and Michael Jackson in the metaphoric blender, the guys got to jamming-and breaking ground. "We didn't start out with a multi million dollar manager who put us in front of everyone; we started out with a manager who worked for General Motors," laughs Dallas. "Word of mouth got us into studios, got us producers, got us a record deal."

But it was while touring for 1999's Let's Roll that Youngstown really came into their own. "We did a gang of shows between albums, and that's when we picked up that our intuition was right," Dallas says. "We started putting in more rock influences and edgier dance moves-stuff we thought our fans would like." Like? Try loooooove! Crowds went wild for Youngstown live, and the guys knew they could push the pop envelope on their next CD.

"With the new album, we want to catch everybody's ear," says DC. They'll do it, with ballads and beyond, tracks that'll woo the women and get guys singing along too, that'll make you wanna hit the floor and throw your hands in the air-or maybe even play a little air guitar. "We're down for everything; we're down for the fight," DC says. "We're gonna do everything we can to let you know where we're coming from."

So, yeah, being down for the get down is never easy-except now, when it comes to cool music, all you gotta do is get Youngstown. That's as down as it's gonna get!

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