Since their grand opening in September, Music Farm of Columbia has slowly gained status with more relevant acts, but bringing the American rock band Of A Revolution, or O.A.R., to their stage is definitely a milestone.
Since 1996, O.A.R. has grown together as a group, gradually building their way to mainstream success. Over the years they’ve topped the Billboard charts, along with reaching Top 40 with their 2008 single “Shattered (Turn the Car Around).”
Four years after the band got together, Jerry DePizzo joined O.A.R. bringing rhythm guitar, saxophone and backing vocals to the band’s sound. Meeting singer Marc Roberge at Ohio State during freshman orientation lead to DePizzo’s career with the band.
“We were buddies first,” DePizzo said. “I was a musician, they had a band and then it just started from there.”
Since getting together in high school, O.A.R. has followed the reggae mentality that inspired the band and their name.
“That was the origin of the name Of A Revolution,” DePizzo said. “It’s something that spoke to the power of music and the ability to connect with people and really change things.”
You’ve probably never seen an advertisement for O.A.R.’s music, and there’s a reason for that. The band’s sound hasn’t always fit on the radio, but that never kept people from coming out to see them play. According to DePizzo, word of mouth works wonders.
“Nothing competes with having songs that people connect with, and that goes for anybody,” he said.
During the age of Napster, not every group was thrilled about the idea of file sharing, but O.A.R. viewed it as a blessing — the Internet was the most effective way to reach a new, nationwide audience.
It’s been nearly 20 years since their start, and just because they’ve managed to sell out Madison Square Garden doesn’t mean O.A.R.’s journey to stardom was simple.
After plenty of hard work the group has turned Of A Revolution into a name that came with more than a one-hit-wonder. Even though the group has gained around 500 thousand likes on Facebook, they still take it one day at a time.
“I think it’s very difficult to have a career and sustain a career in the music business. I try to do everything and take any opportunity I can that comes our way because it could really end tomorrow, honestly,” DePizzo said. “You never know — it’s a very fickle business.”
Aside from staying humble in the industry, O.A.R. doesn’t view giving back as just a priority — it’s a necessity. Throughout their career, the band has played countless charity events in addition to an affiliation with Heard the World foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Paralyzed Veterans of America and more.
“[Philanthropy] is a moral obligation that I know we have,” DePizzo said. “We try to find different ways to do that.”
After building a career around consistent touring, O.A.R. is known best with fans as a great live show. While studio albums bring a radio feel to the music, there’s something about concert recordings that appeal to the fan base.
“If we tweak the old material enough, we would put out a live record. Our audience always responded to that,” DePizzo said. “We’ve done five and I’m sure there’s going to be a sixth at some point as well.”
Next Monday, November 17, O.A.R. is set to take the stage at Music Farm along with Andy Grammer who performed on campus last semester courtesy of Carolina Productions. They may have sold out some of America’s biggest concert stages, but that doesn’t mean they’re too good for a midsized venue.
“Music Farm (of Charleston) was a venue that we’ve played at several different stages in our career,” DePizzo said. "That’s the cool thing about rock 'n' roll — we can still go to places like Columbia, but then go out and play sold out concerts at Red Rocks.”
After performing live shows together for 18 years, it raises the question, what makes it all worth while? Aside from wanting to be a musician all along, DePizzo has to hand it to the thrill of performing.
“Being on stage for two hours a night makes everything worth it,” he said. “I love going out there and playing in front of people who love entertaining. I love the fact that what I do for a living is what people consider being their break from what they do for a living.”