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Charlotte Magazine Jan. 2002
What surprised the teen members of justincase most about landing a major record deal wasn't that it happened, but that it happened so soon.
"We didn't know anyone would see an interest that quickly," says Hannah Tosco, fifteen, one-third of the Charlotte pop-rock outfit. "Maybe a week, a month, but not the day after [our audition]."
While most adolescents are presently occupied with exams, college, and first loves, Hannah and her brothers, Justin, eighteen, and Nick, sixteen, are finalizing a six-album deal with Maverick, the record label owned by Madonna.
Originally a five-piece group called Simon Pure, the band got its start during Friday night jam sessions at the Tosco house. As the band began to show promise, the two non-Tosco members, unwilling to sacrifice their teenage years for the slim chance of making it big, left the group. The remaining band mates approached their parents. "They asked us to support them as a band," father and manager John Tosco says. "We said, You can do music as a hobby, but you can't become professional musicians and still do sports.'"
For Nick and Hannah, who play drums and bass, respectively, the decision to focus on music was an easy one. "Basketball and football were fun, but music has always been number one," Nick says. Justin wrestled with giving up a promising high-school basketball career but ultimately followed his muse as well.
The band released its debut LP, "Upstart," in 1999. The independently produced disc brings a raw, alterna-rock feel to rollicking songs such as "I Can See the Death in You" and "The Key." The latter track was a finalist for a Teen People songwriting award and showcased the band's strengths: the energetic blast of Nick's drums, the assured punk thump of Hannah's bass, and Justin's 1970s-inspired guitar playing and vocals. After listening to the album, record execs flew the band out to Los Angeles for an audition this fall and made a quick offer. The band hoped to record their new album before Christmas and to release it in early 2002.
As in any family, the Tosco kids experience their share of sibling rivalry, which is only exacerbated by long hours of practicing, recording, and performing.
"How do we reconcile it? I don't know," Justin says. His eyes widen in a moment of sincerity. "I guess it's the music."