Local band may be on the road to the big time

By Michael Picarella pic@theacorn.com

A local band has been rewarded with quite a following and hopes for record deal, according to band member and Calabasas resident Rod Nelson, 22.

The band, Quick6X (pronounced Quick Six), is a pop rock group who could be compared to the band Sugar Cult. Quick6x is made up of three members who’ve been together for about two years. Nelson plays the bass guitar and provides backup vocals. His stepbrother, Vince Juhl, 20, is also from Calabasas and is the band’s lead singer and a guitar player, and Aaron Jaeger, 21, of Northridge is the drummer.

"We’ve played pretty much everywhere in Hollywood and most of the popular places in the (San Fernando) Valley," Nelson said.

Quick6X isn’t due to play any shows for a while, except for performances scheduled at some high schools, according to Nelson.

"We play at a lot of high schools—like Calabasas High School—to try and build up our fan base," Nelson said. With a large enough fan base, Quick6x could be on its way to accomplishing the big dream.

"Our ultimate goal is to get a record deal," Nelson said. "We have a manager and we have a lawyer now, and we’re currently working on a publishing deal and a distribution deal. And we’re recording a full CD. We’re just about finished with that. We just need to get the CD distributed and then we’ll try to get a record deal."

The band members are confident that they’ll succeed in reaching their goal.

"We’ve played a lot of shows and we write pretty good songs, and so our manager climbed on board when he heard the songs and the same with our lawyer," Nelson said.

"We hope to be touring soon," said Juhl. "Our manager has been meeting with different record labels, and so hopefully we’ll continue to build up our fan base this school year and hopefully we’ll get on a tour with a major label."

Jaeger said he feels fortunate to be a part of such a great band.

"We’ve lucked out, met the right people, we’ve had some great shows, and we’re having a great time," the drummer said.

Nelson and Juhl wrote songs and played together for about five years before they became part of Quick6x.

"I was in a couple of bands earlier, but I really wanted to get into a band that I clicked with," Jaeger said. "(Rod and Vince) were friends with my ex-girlfriend—she was my girlfriend at the time—and so we met and we played. The first time we played, we knew instantly that it was working and we were writing songs quickly after."

Finding venues wasn’t overly difficult, according to Nelson. "We have a pretty big fan base and we can bring people to our shows," the bass player said. Finding time to rehearse, he said, can be a problem.

"We have a nice studio in our garage so that we can practice playing at our house. But for disturbing the peace we were taken to court by our neighbors, and so we can only practice two days a week here at bad times—when we either have school or work," Nelson said. "So we basically don’t get to practice at our house. We basically practice 11 to 1 at night at a rehearsal studio. It makes it a little harder to practice."

Juhl said building the band has been hard work, but it’s been a great time, too. Jaeger and Nelson agreed.

"Playing on stage is incredible," Nelson said. "Nothing is better than that—entertaining people and having people like your songs and having people appreciate what you’re trying to say to them. As far as music goes, we’ve always loved music, and to be able to play it and to play it together—there’s nothing better than that."

Juhl said he enjoys the interaction between a band and its audience.

"I like how different songs and different types of music can inspire people and put them in different types of moods," the singer said. "I like the songwriters who can make you feel what they were feeling when they were writing the song and you know exactly what they mean."

To learn more about Quick6x, visit the band’s website at www.quicksixmusic.com. It will list upcoming performance information, CD news and more.