“We’re just four college kids that want to play some music in their spare time,” sophomore Frank Spatoliatore said of his band, Blue Ride. “We just want to write original music and have fun.”
Spatoliatore is joined by peers JP Tampe, Jack Turula and Tony Wright. Together they are the band Blue Ride.
“All of us have different tastes,” Tampe, the band’s lead vocalist, said. “[And] if you dissect our songs, we each individually put our own spin on them.”
At the band’s first gig in December of 2023, it was immediately evident that each band member embodied a different genre of music. Wright, the drummer, is reminiscent of Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee, with his wild hair and musical technique. Turula’s riff skills are akin to those of Queen’s Brian May. Tampe sings Dr. Dog’s “Where’d All The Time Go?” in a style that would make Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder proud, and Spatoliatore’s bass lines feel straight-off a record by The Cure. Nobody stands out, in the best way, and that is the way Blue Ride wants it.
“Everyone’s given a chance to be their own front man,” Tampe said.
“Look at The Beatles,” Wright said. “You need all of them.”
Blue Ride rejects the John Lennon solo career attitude of “I don’t believe in Beatles / I just believe in me” and embraces musical collaboration, cooperation and concord.
Blue Ride’s practice room is the embodiment of creativity and spontaneity. The room, cluttered with instruments and sound equipment, matches the eclectic personality that each member brings. The mess—the mélange of artistry, musical interest and technique—just makes sense.
Blue Ride prides itself on being vehemently not a cover band. Currently, the members are transitioning away from covering Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and challenging themselves to write original music.
Their debut single, “Lovesick,” sounds like something Patrick Verona and Kat Stratford would vibe to in Ten Things I Hate About You – think “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer meets the Goo Goo Dolls or Snow Patrol. A perfect blend of tradition and innovation, it is progressive, yet reserved. The band will play it live at its next gig on Friday, Feb. 23 at the Rusty Nail in Ardmore.
“Lovesick” is an homage to the original name of the band. For a period of nine months, Blue Ride was nameless, and the members toyed with different ideas like Faith and Reason (a nod to the freshmen Communitas group at Villanova) and Lovesick.
“It was too emo-sounding,” Tampe said. “I didn’t want us to be associated with a certain type of thing.”
It wasn’t until this last summer that Wright suggested Quiet Ride.
“Then ‘Blue’ just came to mind because of Villanova,” Tampe said.
Whether or not the “Blue” signifies the feeling or the colors of the institution that brought these four men together, this group is untethered by genre conventions and enthusiastic about where this “Blue Ride” takes them.
