Life on the road can be tough for a musician, but having friends and family around always makes things easier.
Joey Beretta of the pop-rock band Dinner and a Suit can certainly attest to that.
Beretta, along with his cousin Jonathan Capeci , Anthony Genca and Drew Scheuer , are the four members of the up-and-coming group set to play the Student Programming Association ’s free Noontime Concert Series today in the first-floor lounge of the HUB-Robeson Center .
“We’re all really great friends and we have tons of fun,” Beretta said of touring with his band mates. “We have tons of support from our family, which is the main reason that we are able to keep doing this.”
The band, which has been influenced by groups like Switchfoot , Coldplay , and Sleeping at Last , has spent a long time working toward the success that they are having now.
The band first started to gain recognition on YouTube, where it was able to build a fan base by recording covers, Alex Mohler , the group’s manager, said. Beretta, Capeci and Genca then moved to Nashville to pursue their music careers more fully, Beretta said. The move inspired their latest album called “Since Our Departure .”
“It’s an album about leaving your home and not being sure what’s going to happen and if it’s going to work out,” Beretta said. “It’s about doing whatever you can to make your dream come true.”
Since relocating to Nashville, Dinner and a Suit has garnered national attention. Last spring, mtvU chose the group’s single “Too Late ” as its Freshmen Video of the Week , Mohler said. MTV has also used several of the group’s songs in popular shows, like “The Real World” and “Jersey Shore.”
“The MTV exposure has certainly helped with the mass appeal, but really a lot of what the band does when it’s on tour is really connecting one person at a time,” Mohler said. “The fan base is really growing in both ways, on a global scale and by the people that the band meets in every city.”
The band considers creating and maintaining relationships with fans both in person and through social media to be “of the utmost importance,” Beretta said.
Mike Nunez (senior- engineering science), the Noontime Series chair for SPA, said that today’s concert is a good fit for groups looking to engage fans.
“A lot of times people who sit in the lounge for a show will go up to the artist afterwards,” Nunez said. “If a band is looking to build its fan base one person at a time, this is a great place to do it.”
Beretta says that connecting with people, whether they be family, friends or fans is the most rewarding part of what he does.
“Music is something that everyone can relate to and enjoy, and it is awesome to experience that with other people.”
