In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, fourth-year, CoPA and vocal jazz student A.J. Vargas created his band “bellerose” with fellow classmate second-year jazz guitar and contemporary music student, Joshua Szeimberg and their friends Sam Martinez and Patrick Goodsier.
From left: Sam Martinez, A.J. Vargas, Joshua Szeimberg, and Patrick Goodsier of bellerose
When A.J. Vargas and Patrick Goodsier were constantly together because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they never imagined that they would form a band. However, in response to the global crisis, a bond was created among the four men through music. The genre-defying New York/New Jersey-based band, bellerose, is made up of lead singer A.J. Vargas, guitarist Patrick Goodsier, bassist Joshua Szeimberg, and drummer Sam Martinez.
“Everybody came together to write really cool music. Yeah, the chemistry did come very quick” said A.J. Vargas.
Vargas is a fourth-year vocal jazz student at the College of Performing Arts at the New School. When he was 15, Vargas loved the band Twenty One Pilots, and their song “We Don’t Believe What’s on TV,” sparked an interest in him. He picked up the ukulele, then moved on to the guitar, and decided that he was going to become a musician. While he was sheltering indoors during the pandemic in 2020, he got an electric guitar and began writing music, along with his high school friend Patrick Goodsier. Music also interested Goodsier when he was 15 and he began to play the guitar. “I was just sad,” Goodsier remembered, “I didn’t have any friends and I thought I wasn’t good at anything. So, I’m gonna get good at this.” His inspirations include John Mayer and John Shantae of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
“I want to make a living playing guitar,” said guitarist Patrick Goodsier. “End of story.”
Once Vargas and Goodsier laid the foundation for bellerose, they asked Joshua Szeimberg, a second-year jazz guitar, and contemporary music student, to play the bass. Szeimberg found inspiration in his dad: Although not a musician, Zeimberg’s father would listen to rock, grunge, nu-metal, and even blues in the car. “When I was probably nine, I was like, ‘Yea, I want to be Jimi Hendrix. I want to learn how to play guitar’” Zeimberg remembered. His parents believed his love for music was just a phase; little did they know that he would become a freelance musician.
“We all listen to a whole bunch of different music. So, I guess that’s why there’s a lot of influences in what we play,” said Joshua Szeimberg, bassist.
Since Szeimberg and Vargas are students, they have to juggle school and the band. Szeimberg doesn’t think that school in itself is difficult, rather it’s having to be his own manager. “Just being on top of your stuff and being your own secretary can be difficult,” he said. “Because it’s like, with the band, we’ll get a lot of DMs and emails, for different shows or different things and it’s hard to be able to coordinate it.” He continued, “Vargas is just waiting to graduate so he can focus on his career, and I am not letting anything stress me out with school because I have to worry about my career more. To me, that’s more important than a degree.”
“My dad was a pastor at this church, and he needed a drummer. So, I hopped on drums, and just did it,” said drummer, Sam Martinez.
It took the trio a while to find a drummer. However, Vargas knew of someone who would be a perfect fit, but he was already in a band. Vargas recalls being nervous to ask Martinez to be the drummer, but he readily agreed. Similar to Szeimberg, Martinez’s dad was a big inspiration for him: His father was a pastor at a church, and when Martinez was 12 years old, he filled in as a drummer for the church choir. “When I was growing up, I think when I was eight, he bought me my first guitar and started teaching me,” Martinez said. His dad would also play a lot of rock, salsa, and blues. Although his first instrument was the guitar, Martinez started playing the drums at the age of 12. He was also inspired by Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham, who made him want to learn more of the instrument.
They see themselves as “Indie-Pop Rock,” but are not tied to that description. “We’re not just pop, but we’re not really indie, but we’re also not rock. So, it’s a combination of all three,” explained Vargas. When Vargas writes a song, it comes out sounding like his specific sound. Then, Vargas passes it down to Goodsier for his input. As soon as Goodsier gets a hold of it, the song morphs to include his own inspirations.“When Josh lays down bass, [it] sounds like something else. Then Sam plays drums and it’s a whole different song. We go through like 10 different genres,” Vargas says.
prince charming – bellerose (Audio Video)
bellerose’s debut single “Prince Charming” was released in May 2021.
The band debuted with their single “prince charming”, in May. They then released their single “gold” in June, before dropping their 6 song EP, blossom, in July. They start their EP with “prince charming”, a song to get over your ex to, with Vargas’ strong vocals and Goodsier’s powerful guitar riff. While “gold” has an upbeat beach feel, that makes you want to fall in love. Their song “the one that i loved” puts aside the rock and has their listeners wallow in their sorrows to the gentle melody. Song, “peace” starts off soft and beachy but evolves into an aggressive rock song. Whereas, “pebble” has a sexy, feel-good, rock vibe. The EP ends with “tell me” a moody song, to get you in your feels.
As far as the writing process goes, the group is more in sync. “I’ll come up with, or Patrick will come up with, chords for a song that we like. Then I’ll write the lyrics.” Vargas explains, “Once the lyrics and chords are done, Patrick usually writes a guitar riff over it, then I bring it to Josh and Sam, and they add their flavor to it.” They produce their music in Martinez’s room in New Jersey. Crammed in a small space, with their instruments and equipment creates a more intimate atmosphere to make music.
Since they are still a new band, they have only performed a few times. However, they all believe that their best performance was their first, in the Manhattan nightclub, East Berlin. “I think that the September show in East Berlin was really great and fun,” Vargas notes. “Yeah, I think we sounded really good.” Their much anticipated, upcoming performance is in Debonair Music Hall in Teaneck, New Jersey on October 16.
From left: A.J. Vargas, Joshua Szeimberg, Patrick Goodsier, Sam Martinez of bellerose.
The band hopes to be able to tour and make a living off of their music. Goodsier believes that as a musician he can gain experience. When he was a child, Goodsier wanted to be a pilot. He wanted to go to different places and experience other’s lifestyles. He thinks he could do that by being a touring musician. Vargas feels the same way: “Yeah, I want the band to be able to go on tours. And I want to be able to live off of being a touring musician and a recording musician.” It is clear that this group of 4 is ambitious, and developed the strength to form a band during a pandemic. A time where musicians were hit hard due to not being able to perform and where practice had to be held off. However, bellerose was successful, they found a way to cope with the adversity through music.
bellerose’s latest EP, “blossom” is available to listen to on all streaming platforms.