{"id":7328,"date":"2014-07-09T17:35:11","date_gmt":"2014-07-09T21:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=7328"},"modified":"2014-07-09T17:35:11","modified_gmt":"2014-07-09T21:35:11","slug":"rocking-aurora-music-teachers-could-be-the-next-big-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/rocking-aurora-music-teachers-could-be-the-next-big-thing\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocking Aurora music teachers could be \u201cThe Next Big Thing\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

By day, they teach local kids at Aurora\u2019s Piano Studio; by night, however, they turn to rock and (with your help) could be \u201cThe Next Big Thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

James Bunker, Zack Wojtala, Chris O\u2019Heir, and Nick Hunt are \u201cThe Fiscals\u201d, who were recently named Top 20 finalists in the \u201cThe Next Big Thing\u201d, a contest hosted by radio station 102.1 \u201cthe edge\u201d showcasing up and coming bands. <\/p>\n

Making the Top 20 was a surprise for the band, who weren\u2019t even aware their manager had entered them in the competition in the first place, but they couldn\u2019t be happier with the result.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we have a similar sound to what \u2018the edge\u2019 is looking for,\u201d says Wojtala. \u201cWe\u2019re a very rock-based band with pop hooks and I think that is something which resonates with \u2018the edge.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

With their early roots in a hip hop duo formed by Wojtala and Bunker, they shifted gears when joined by O\u2019Heir and Hunt. Wojtala and Hunt both teach at The Piano Studio and share a love of inspiring creativity in their students.<\/p>\n

\u201cChris and I have both tried to influence our students to get creative and by playing in the band ourselves, I think we put ourselves there as good role models for getting out there, making up a band and jamming with our friends,\u201d he says. \u201cThat is something that has always been important to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

After studying jazz at York University, Wojtala says he developed a love of incorporating different chords and rhythms into his work. Applying the principles of jazz to rock is something he has always enjoyed and is how he defines his own style of music \u2013 upbeat and uplifting. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe like to keep it very rhythmic and keep people\u2019s heads bobbing and making sure they are having a good time, but we also have underlying lyrics that might have some deep meaning,\u201d he says. \u201cJames puts a lot of heart into his lyrics and some of my lyrics like to tell stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up listening to a lot of Queen, James listened to a lot of Depeche Mode and New Order, and Chris has always been into the punk scene. We all agree on bands like Blink 182. Our influences are all coming from different areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although making it into the Top 20 was something of a surprise, they hope the unexpected accolade will help them perform with bands they love, but, in the end, they just want to connect with an audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is all about connections \u2013 even if we become good friends in just a fan to band relationship,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

To listen to The Fiscals, visit www.the-fiscals.com. To cast your vote for The Next Big Thing, head over to www.edge.ca\/contest\/3748.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By day, they teach local kids at Aurora\u2019s Piano Studio; by night, however, they turn to rock and (with your help) could be \u201cThe Next Big Thing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-1Uc","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 11:04:04","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7328\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}