'Reality Addiction' creates light rock sound

By Sarah Morrison
The Jewish State

Dustin Widofsky had a goal in mind when he started his music career a few short years ago.

"Music is one of the only things that I can connect to and understand," the Highland Park native said. "I want to express myself. I want to make people think about things that they usually wouldn't think about. I want to do for others what other musicians have done for me: to help people think, connect, and understand."

Dustin found musical partners in his high school friend Ben Antelis and college roommate Max Green. With the addition of Ben's friend Robby Tal in 2006, Reality Addiction was born.

Armed with a will to bring their talents to the world, the four friends blended together to create a light rock sound. And it's a sound that people love: with over 35,000 MySpace music plays, concerts at famous venues like The Stone Pony and The Living Room, and the chance to open up for famous acts such as Evan and Jaron and The Moshav Band, the sky isn't even the limit for these four.

The success only continued on June 19, when the band released their self-titled EP in their guitarist's backyard in Deal. Close to 100 people came to rock out to Reality Addiction's new tracks and hang out with the band.

"The cops came in twice to check on the noise level," Widofsky said with a laugh. "Considering Deal is hard to get to, a lot of people came to support us. There was live music, there was a barbeque, and we sold lots of our CD's."

Widofsky was certain that he would be involved with music all his life even as a little child. Despite not being interested in classical viola training, he studied the sound of the musicians who had the biggest impact on his life, which include Eric Clapton and John Mayer. His ability to write clever lyrics and come up with melodies literally had everyone around him singing.

Antelis also came from a very musical background. His father was the bassist for guitarist Yossi Piamenta, which left Antelis no stranger to music growing up. He took drum lessons from musicians who played with famous names such as Jason Mraz and John Mayer. With these influences, Ben rapidly developed a mastering of the drums and a unique sense of professionalism which made him the producer on most of Reality Addiction's songs.

"He's a musical genius," Widofsky said about his musical partner and friend. "He helps shape songs into things that we didn't know we wanted. He'll produce it and make it a marketable and incredible song."

Max Green began to study piano in Toronto, Ontario, at a very young age. He trained at the Suzuki School of Music. He frequently found himself listening to the piano parts of Billy Joel songs and figuring out how to play the melodies. After mastering many classical pieces, he began to focus more on modern piano and began training with the piano giant Gershon Wachtel.

"I met Max through a friend when I spent a year in Israel," Widofsky said. "He was exactly what we wanted."

Although there were three talented musicians in their loop, Reality Addiction felt that something was still missing. Antelis had a friend who was classically trained in guitar and piano that he could not stop raving about. After Dustin and Max heard him play, there was no question that Robby Tal would be the Reality Addiction lead guitarist.

"He's absolutely incredible," Widofsky said. "He adds a lot to our sound."

Reality Addiction has played many shows for many fans. They played in Israel several times, opening for The Moshav Band.

"The Moshav band really liked us," Widofsky said. "They told us how they usually dislike their opening bands, but they got really into us!"

They also won Battle of the Bands in Staten Island while playing under the name City Across The Street. Through this contest, they won recording time at the College of Staten Island and were interviewed on CSI's radio show.

In addition to those achievements, Reality Addiction has played to audiences at The Stone Pony at the New Jersey shore, Googie's Lounge, The Living Room, and Lion's Den in New York City. They also played at the Schottenstein Cultural Center with famous Jewish pop act Evan And Jaron.

Reality Addiction aren't slowly seeping onto the music scene. They're spilling out uncontrollably onto stages and iPods across the N.Y./N.J. area.

"We have several reviews in online magazines," Widofsky said. "That's our primary focus right now. We're not a jam band. We're out to write commercial songs; to write what the public will listen to without being musically constrained. Right now, we're hard at work making press kits to send to record companies and magazines."

"We've gotten comments from fans about how the music inspires them," Widofsky said.

That's exactly what Reality Addiction set out to do.