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A Rockin' Christmas with Twelve Twenty-Four at the Levoy Theatre · Jersey Arts Podcast

• 0:03
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: This is Gina Marie Rodriguez and you're listening to the Jersey Arts Podcast.
• 0:07
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: It is my favorite season of the year and any chance that I get to talk about Christmas, I am going to, so I am thrilled that I was able to speak to a couple of the band members from the Rock Orchestra Twelve Twenty-Four.
• 0:20
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Known for their electrifying renditions of classic holiday music, Twelve Twenty-Four combines the festive spirit with high-energy rock performances that will leave audiences of all ages wanting more.
• 0:31
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: They are the longest-running trans-Siberian orchestra tribute band, having begun in 2002, over 20 years ago.
• 0:38
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: They will soon be thrilling audiences in Millville, new Jersey, jersey.
• 0:42
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: At the beautiful Levoy Theatre on December 15th, I was able to chat with drummer and vocalist Van White and vocalist Ekat Pereyra of Twelve Twenty- Four.
• 0:51
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Listen to hear us gush about Christmas rock music and more Well, I'm just going to say hello to you both again and I'm going to ask you to introduce yourselves and let our listeners know a little bit about who you are.
• 1:08
  Van White: Well, first of all, gina, thank you so much for this opportunity, you know, to just talk a little bit about the band.
• 1:14
  Van White: So my name is Van White.
• 1:16
  Van White: I am the drummer for Twelve Twenty-Four.
• 1:19
  Van White: And we do, we all kind of do things behind the scenes.
• 1:23
  Van White: I have a lot to do with the booking.
• 1:25
  Van White: Another guy is the one who does all the finances and stuff.
• 1:28
  Van White: He's not here, and then we have Ekat.
• 1:31
  Van White: She'll introduce herself in just a moment.
• 1:33
  Van White: Mainly, I'm the drummer and I'm the vocalist for one of the vocalists for Twelve Twenty-Four.
• 1:39
  Ekat Pereyra: Okay, and my name is Ekat.
• 1:40
  Ekat Pereyra: Thank you, of course, for having us as well.
• 1:42
  Ekat Pereyra: And I am the vocalist, one of the vocalists for the Twelve Twenty-Four band, and you know I try to help out little things here and there, like merchandise and assisting the rest of the crew members to if there's anything that needs to be done.
• 1:58
  Ekat Pereyra: I try to do the best that I can, but mainly my, my job for the band is I'm a vocal, a vocalist.
• 2:04
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm a singer.
• 2:04
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I love that.
• 2:05
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm so envious of singers because I love singing along to the car radio, you know, but it sounds like a cat is dying when I do it, so, oh, less fun.
• 2:15
  Ekat Pereyra: I don't believe that you're very sweet.
• 2:18
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So I'm a huge fan of Christmas right, and I know that you two love music.
• 2:22
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But since we're going to be talking about Christmas music in particular, I think I'd first love to hear about how you like to enjoy the holiday season when you're not making music, and what is it about the holidays that you love?
• 2:34
  Ekat Pereyra: So the holidays is just.
• 2:35
  Ekat Pereyra: It's such an inspiring season, I think, is just an opportunity to reflect and spend time with your family and, you know, reach out to your friends near and far.
• 2:47
  Ekat Pereyra: It's a season to be thankful and to be jolly and it's just such a happy time of the year.
• 2:56
  Ekat Pereyra: And for me I grew up in St Petersburg, russia, and, believe it or not, christmas, particularly on this time, december 25th, is not celebrated there, but the spirit is still there.
• 3:12
  Ekat Pereyra: We did New Year's, new Year's Eve and New Year's Day was the big time for us, so it still encompassed that whole spirit of the family and being together.
• 3:23
  Ekat Pereyra: And I think that's what the Christmas season is all about is just your loved ones, and you know those ones that are here and the ones that are not.
• 3:33
  Ekat Pereyra: You know you're reflecting and and thinking and you know just so grateful for what you, what you have, and that's that's what's important to me.
• 3:43
  Van White: I would say that I mean, who doesn't love Christmas?
• 3:46
  Van White: I'm sure there's a couple of people out there, but I mean Christmas is just the most magical time of year it's.
• 3:55
  Van White: I mean, besides calling it magic, I don't know what else to call it.
• 3:59
  Van White: We'll get into some more details in a little bit, but I'm raising some teenage girls and it is just going through these periods with them is incredible to see the joy that they have on their faces and how much joy they give me.
• 4:16
  Van White: I mean I live my life for my kids.
• 4:19
  Van White: It's wonderful, and so Christmas is all about family.
• 4:23
  Van White: It's always been about family.
• 4:25
  Van White: Me growing up, I'm the youngest of five, so I remember sitting around the Christmas tree with my family and we all sang.
• 4:32
  Van White: That's where I got my start in music is singing with my family, so we would sing just about every Christmas carol that you know, in beautiful harmony and that's what I grew up immersed in, and so Christmas was very magical for me, even, you know, from a very young age.
• 4:53
  Van White: And then, you know, as I grew up and and you know, took the role of a father and and and that stuff, I mean it just continues being magical.
• 5:04
  Van White: And it's funny because my I know that my girls can sing, but they won't sing in front of me.
• 5:10
  Van White: Uh, I don't know if they're embarrassed or whatnot, but uh, it's kind of funny that that role is a little reverse there.
• 5:16
  Van White: But, um, it's still such a magical time to be able to, to share it with, um, my family, uh, and then to get to do something like this band and get to share that love of music and that feeling of Christmas and all of the magic that's involved in all of that, and we get to share it, and that's what makes this an incredible opportunity.
• 5:40
  Van White: So I mean, of course it makes it a busy time of year and you're running every day and you got to.
• 5:45
  Van White: You know you're running every day and you got all this stuff to do and it goes by in a flash.
• 5:49
  Van White: You know one minute it's, you know, november 26th, and the next minute it's January 1st, and it happens so quick.
• 5:57
  Van White: But we love it, we look forward to it, and you know your question was what is Christmas?
• 6:02
  Van White: To me, christmas is absolute magic.
• 6:04
  Van White: It's togetherness, it's community, it's giving, it's joyous, and what we get to do encompasses all of that and a lot more because I'm also a huge Christmas geek.
• 6:22
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Like this is my favorite season of the year.
• 6:25
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I watch all of my Christmas movies, starting, honestly, the day after Halloween.
• 6:29
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: That's what I'm getting started with.
• 6:32
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I am one of those, and same thing with Christmas music right, that starts as soon as November hits.
• 6:37
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm already in that mood.
• 6:38
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: There was a joke that I saw online and I actually I think it's kind of funny because it's true there are a lot of people out there who complain when some of us listen to Christmas music in November, right, like, wait until after Thanksgiving.
• 6:52
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But part of that is because Thanksgiving doesn't have the bangers that Christmas does.
• 6:57
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You know, like, christmas music is a very recognizable and you can.
• 7:03
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You can't dance to all of it, but you can really rock out to Christmas music and you guys are obviously, you know, a rock orchestra.
• 7:10
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So I, I love Christmas music, I love Christmas time and I'm curious how you found your way to this band, because Twelve Twenty-Four was founded in 2002, but you guys joined cat I guess you were in 2016 and then van 2017 so how?
• 7:29
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: how did you find yourselves here?
• 7:32
  Ekat Pereyra: sure.
• 7:32
  Ekat Pereyra: Well, I, it's actually really funny.
• 7:34
  Ekat Pereyra: I I have heard Twelve Twenty-Four in one of my children's high school at at some point a few years back, before I even, uh, auditioned for the band.
• 7:46
  Ekat Pereyra: And years passed by and just by chance, by a very small chance, I something just caught my eye on facebook.
• 7:54
  Ekat Pereyra: It says auditioning for this band, and I didn't put two and two together at that time that I've previously have seen them before, but but I said, well, why not?
• 8:05
  Ekat Pereyra: You know, I'd love to be part of a band that you know goes out and tours and it's Christmas and it looked fantastic.
• 8:11
  Ekat Pereyra: They had really cool advertisement out there for the auditions and I reached out and I have happened to have been, I believe, the very last audition, on the very last day, on the very last spot, and I went out there and I auditioned and I met the people that were involved with it and at that time it was, you know, lenny, who was one of the founders, and Jay, our musical director and the founder, and I became part of the team and I haven't looked back since.
• 8:47
  Ekat Pereyra: It's been amazing every single season.
• 8:51
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I love that.
• 8:52
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I love that you were the last person that they saw and finally, it was like this one that is our girl.
• 9:00
  Van White: I believe that she's quite a find.
• 9:03
  Van White: Let me tell you, she's quite a find.
• 9:06
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Well, I was listening to your music earlier and I love your voice and, like I said, I'm always envious of vocalists, but you have such a beautiful, lovely, soft tone.
• 9:15
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm terrible at describing what is in my head, so forgive me, I'm like it just sounds pretty.
• 9:20
  Ekat Pereyra: I don't know how to say that.
• 9:21
  Ekat Pereyra: Oh, thank you, I really appreciate it.
• 9:23
  Ekat Pereyra: Thank you.
• 9:24
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Of course, Dan your turn, though.
• 9:26
  Van White: All right.
• 9:27
  Van White: So my story goes back a little bit further.
• 9:30
  Van White: So I mean, way back in the mid 90s, I was playing in a band called Free Fall here in Scranton area and we traveled around.
• 9:40
  Van White: The band did pretty good for itself and we had a pretty good following.
• 9:44
  Van White: Well, one of the guys that loved that band back in the day happens to be 1224's musical director, jay Santos.
• 9:51
  Van White: So I knew Jay.
• 9:54
  Van White: I've known him since the 90s I couldn't even tell you exactly when, but I've known him for that long and then they formed the band in 2002.
• 10:02
  Van White: And in 2008, they needed a new guitar player.
• 10:09
  Van White: So in 2008, I was playing with Mr Kevin Riley, who ended up auditioning for, and successfully entered, Twelve Twenty-Four in 2008.
• 10:21
  Van White: So now I was associated with two different band members uh, in in that band, uh, and I knew of some of the other guys in the band too.
• 10:27
  Van White: You know, musical circles are kind of small sometimes.
• 10:30
  Van White: Even though you can travel in big areas and do different things, sometimes those musical musical circles still remain small.
• 10:36
  Van White: So I played with one guy.
• 10:38
  Van White: I knew another one as a friend and in 2017, when they decided they needed a drummer, I'm honestly the lucky guy that got a phone call and I'm honored that that call.
• 10:51
  Van White: I had no idea that that phone call was going to come that day, but I got a phone call, I went out and I had wings and some adult beverages with Kevin, my buddy, and he said you know, we'd like you to come and play.
• 11:05
  Van White: And so I got my drums, took them up there, played and I mean it was funny because at that time I didn't know is this an audition, is this a practice?
• 11:16
  Van White: I really I had no idea, but when I played with them, I mean I was over the moon, was like I I mean I'm a pretty much a rock and roll drummer.
• 11:26
  Van White: Uh, I love my.
• 11:27
  Van White: Some my favorite bands are like pink floyd and rage against the machine.
• 11:31
  Van White: So I love the, the groove and the power of rage against the machine and I love the harmonies and the feeling of pink floyd.
• 11:38
  Van White: And when you play in this band you get all of that and more so.
• 11:44
  Van White: It was like fireworks going off in my head and I loved it.
• 11:48
  Van White: But again, at the time I didn't know what it was.
• 11:51
  Van White: And then, about two weeks later, I got a phone call and they set up a practice schedule with me and the rest is history.
• 11:58
  Van White: That was 2017.
• 12:00
  Van White: And here we are in 24.
• 12:02
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: That's fantastic.
• 12:03
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But when you say that they they sent a practice schedule, was that your acceptance?
• 12:07
  Van White: And that's how yeah, that's how I found out.
• 12:10
  Van White: I showed up for practice, for the first practice, and that's you know.
• 12:14
  Van White: Okay, I guess Am I in the band?
• 12:16
  Van White: Did I make it?
• 12:16
  Van White: Yes, Van.
• 12:18
  Ekat Pereyra: Yeah, the band.
• 12:19
  Van White: So that's pretty much how it happened.
• 12:20
  Van White: That's amazing.
• 12:21
  Ekat Pereyra: And we and when we went to practice and we're like, oh, hello she didn't know like, oh hi, we didn't know and we were like, oh, that's, that's awesome, here's this new member and uh hello let's do this.
• 12:35
  Van White: It was awesome cat showed up to practice and there was a new drummer sitting there, so that was fun though it was a great surprise and Van does a fantastic job.
• 12:47
  Ekat Pereyra: I mean, he took this to another level, so we're so super excited he's part of our team.
• 12:54
  Van White: I love it.
• 12:54
  Van White: I'm happy to.
• 12:55
  Van White: I'm happy I got that phone call.
• 12:58
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I love that.
• 12:59
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm fascinated Well, I'm fascinated by music in general, especially because I'm not skilled at it myself, but drummers especially because this is going to sound so stupid as someone who isn't a musician speaking to musicians.
• 13:10
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But the idea of doing two different things with your hands at the same time, my brain can't process it.
• 13:17
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I tried to take piano lessons when I was younger and my teacher kept screaming at me because I could not get my left hand to do something different than my right hand.
• 13:25
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: The same thing was happening with both fingers.
• 13:29
  Ekat Pereyra: I'm like that's.
• 13:30
  Ekat Pereyra: I don't think that's how this is supposed to work.
• 13:31
  Ekat Pereyra: Van actually, van actually does four different things at the same time.
• 13:33
  Ekat Pereyra: It's two different feet, two different hands, it's all different doing different things.
• 13:37
  Ekat Pereyra: I've seen it and I don't know how that works either.
• 13:42
  Ekat Pereyra: I cannot follow that, but it's pretty amazing.
• 13:44
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Are you also singing while you're drumming, or is that a separate Yep?
• 13:50
  Van White: Yeah, I was.
• 13:51
  Van White: I mean, all right, so that that's really simple actually, and to me it's really simple.
• 13:56
  Van White: Anyway, that goes back to me singing them Christmas songs with my family.
• 13:59
  Van White: I was a singer long before I was a drummer.
• 14:03
  Van White: Becoming a drummer is a funny story.
• 14:05
  Van White: It's a.
• 14:05
  Van White: It's uh.
• 14:05
  Van White: Actually I became a drummer over a card game, but uh, it's a, it's a great story.
• 14:10
  Van White: I think I have it in some in my information somewhere.
• 14:12
  Van White: But anyways, I was a singer long before I was a drummer and when I finally became a drummer, singing was already very natural to me.
• 14:20
  Van White: So the the addition of doing the both of them at the same time, thankfully was never really difficult for me personally.
• 14:28
  Van White: That's just how I think of other people go how do you do that?
• 14:30
  Van White: And I said I have no idea, I really have no idea, I just do it, it's magic.
• 14:35
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: It's magic.
• 14:36
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: It's magic that you have all year long.
• 14:37
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I love it.
• 14:37
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: To be honest with you, it's a gift from God.
• 14:40
  Van White: That's Christmas magic, that you have all year long I love it.
• 14:42
  Van White: To be honest with you, it's a gift from God.
• 14:43
  Van White: That's the best I could say about it.
• 14:45
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Yeah, that's.
• 14:45
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I mean, it really is a talent and I.
• 14:48
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: It's great to hear you say that it's easy, but I promise you it's not easy.
• 14:51
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Twelve Twenty-Four, obviously the date is Christmas Eve.
• 14:58
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Is that the origin of the name of the band or is there more to it?
• 15:02
  Van White: than that, well, being a Trans-Siberian Orchestra tribute band, one of their absolutely key songs is Christmas Eve, Sarajevo, and in that title it's Twelve Twenty-Four.
• 15:16
  Van White: So it's kind of named after that song.
• 15:19
  Van White: Of course it's named after Christmas Eve, and it just seemed like a good fit to just tell the story of what this band is in one phrase.
• 15:29
  Van White: So we play a lot of Trans-Siberian Orchestra music.
• 15:32
  Van White: We're a Christmas band.
• 15:33
  Van White: What better says that than Twelve Twenty-Four?
• 15:37
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I love it and you are, I believe, longest running tribute band for the trans Siberian orchestra.
• 15:43
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Is that correct?
• 15:44
  Van White: That's correct.
• 15:45
  Ekat Pereyra: We are the nations.
• 15:46
  Van White: Go ahead, Kat you go.
• 15:47
  Ekat Pereyra: Oh no, I was just going to say that it's uh.
• 15:49
  Ekat Pereyra: We're the original and longest running tribute band to trans Siberian orchestra.
• 15:54
  Ekat Pereyra: So I believe, van, correct me if I'm wrong.
• 15:57
  Ekat Pereyra: Uh, correct me if I'm wrong Trans-Serbian Orchestra started in 2000?
• 16:01
  Ekat Pereyra: .
• 16:02
  Van White: They started, they played their first shows in 99.
• 16:04
  Van White: They played their first shows in 99.
• 16:06
  Van White: And this band started in 2002.
• 16:08
  Ekat Pereyra: So shortly after them is when it took off.
• 16:11
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Wow, thank you so much for that correction.
• 16:13
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm impressed To start in 2002, and we are currently speaking to each other in 2024, that's some longevity there.
• 16:23
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: There are plenty of bands who break up long before that, so to go for 20 plus years is really a feat.
• 16:31
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You know a testament, and I know that the two of you necessarily have not been with the band for 20 years, but still you are a part of this legacy and that's something to be proud of.
• 16:40
  Van White: And you know, hanging out with, like being a part of it, with those guys that have been in it for for 22 years, and to still see the passion.
• 16:50
  Van White: Like our musical director, jay he, just he has this, this intuition about what's going to come across great to an audience.
• 17:00
  Van White: I'm going to put this song in front of that song.
• 17:03
  Van White: I'm going to do this song in here.
• 17:04
  Van White: Let's do a version of this or let's do this song.
• 17:07
  Van White: We'll cut it and we'll move this one over here.
• 17:09
  Van White: He has a really, really incredible I don't know what the right word is just an intuition about what's going to work and he's been doing it for 22 years.
• 17:22
  Van White: And to see him work every year, uh, and to, you know, watch that process and like sometimes I'll, I'll have an idea and, and he loves when other people have input you know we can throw some ideas and stuff in but just to see the passion that he still has, even when we're playing on stage and he does this thing, where he it's he kind of directs the band.
• 17:47
  Van White: I mean, he's the music director, so there's some times in the show here he will direct the band and to still see how he does it and the passion that he has in doing it and the results that it gets you I mean our audience goes on an emotional, incredible emotional ride and sometimes those emotions are very high and excited and sometimes those emotions are beautiful and, you know, tear inducing and so and it goes back and forth, and how he does it and how he weaves that web.
• 18:22
  Van White: He's been doing it for 20, 22 years, so I mean he's he's obviously good at it and I give him all the credit in the world.
• 18:30
  Van White: I mean the, the shows that he puts together, that we all get to perform together, are an incredible thing to be a part of.
• 18:39
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: He has that vision.
• 18:41
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: He does.
• 18:42
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: That's amazing.
• 18:43
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Your fearless leader.
• 18:45
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Is it fair to call him your fearless leader?
• 18:47
  Van White: Yeah, I would agree with that.
• 18:49
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Yes, Good, good, I'm going to ask this question, even though I feel guilty every time I ask a musician this question.
• 18:55
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But do you have a favorite song that you like to perform?
• 18:59
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I know you know they're all your babies, but is there one that you really love to perform?
• 19:23
  Ekat Pereyra: I'd start and I have to say that, since I believe from the, I believe from the very maybe second season, that I, that I have been with the band, we did the rendition of All Holy Night.
• 19:29
  Ekat Pereyra: That's an original rendition of the song and of course it starts off slow and it just grows into this rock ballad and you could just imagine All Holy Night.
• 19:37
  Ekat Pereyra: You're reaching that peak and I think, for me, every season that I perform that song, it's one of the highlight of my night.
• 19:46
  Ekat Pereyra: It's just such a powerful message.
• 19:50
  Ekat Pereyra: The truth of Christmas is right there in that song and every word and I could feel the audience.
• 19:58
  Ekat Pereyra: You could probably drop a pin, and I could feel the audience, you could probably drop a pin, and it just sends such a powerful emotion into the audience and I receive it back from them and so to me that's the most magical I would say part of the whole evening is that particular song and think no matter how many times, every single season, that song is being performed, it never gets old, it never gets uh, repetitious, it just it's.
• 20:29
  Ekat Pereyra: It comes out, you know, new and powerful every, every, every time we, we perform that song.
• 20:35
  Ekat Pereyra: So to me, a holy night is the one I got chills just hearing you talk about that.
• 20:40
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: That's also one of my favorite songs to listen to, of course it.
• 20:43
  Van White: I mean it's difficult for me to pick one.
• 20:45
  Van White: I I do have one in mind, but what I love about the band is that there's so many different kinds of music wrapped up within one show.
• 20:56
  Van White: For example, we play some stuff that is very intricate to play, both on drums and guitar, and all the other you know instruments where there's a you know it's very intricate, so you've got to be really tightened together and, um, you know there's so much going on with you know with the drums and you know I'm, you know, spinning around and hitting this and doing all of this stuff and and obviously those songs are a lot of fun for me to to play and perform.
• 21:22
  Van White: Then on the other side of the spectrum is like the rock ballad type stuff that, like that e-cat mentioned, and I I love the power in in playing very simply, you know, just just your basic beat, like I'll give you an example like a journey Faithfully would be a song that comes to mind that's similar.
• 21:42
  Van White: I love to perform that song and some, but the power that's behind it is intoxicating.
• 21:48
  Van White: So I love playing that style of song as well.
• 22:08
  Van White: But if I had to pick one song that I love to perform, I sing backups and harmony on a lot of songs, but the one song that I sing the lead on I sing the lead on this Christmas Day and I love to perform it, I love to sing it, I love to play it, I play it and sing it at the same time and the rest of the band comes in with these incredible harmonies and there's incredible guitar solo and there's actually, I think, two solos in it and there's audience participation and that song has everything you want in one song.
• 22:45
  Van White: So I would call it this Christmas Day is my favorite song that I enjoy to perform.
• 22:52
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I love both of those Great choices, guys.
• 22:54
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I approve.
• 22:55
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Not that you need my approval, I like both.
• 22:58
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But I wanted to talk about the Lavoie Theater, of course, because this is Jersey Arts, after all.
• 23:05
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So you've played the Lavoie before.
• 23:07
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Are you excited to come back?
• 23:09
  Van White: Absolutely.
• 23:10
  Van White: We played the Lavoie last in 2019.
• 23:14
  Van White: And so we're due we're overdue to come back.
• 23:17
  Van White: When I refer to the Lavoie, I refer to it as the mighty Lavoie.
• 23:23
  Van White: That place is not only a beautiful theater I mean, it is absolutely one of the most stunning theaters that we play in.
• 23:32
  Van White: But the people there and even like, even so, we'll get done playing and we'll jump across the street over to the irish bar across the street, we'll sit in there and and, and you know we've been involved with their, their music and I mean we've just had a great time.
• 23:49
  Van White: That town has been wonderful to us.
• 23:51
  Van White: So it's not only the theater, it's the town, it's the area, it's the people.
• 23:55
  Van White: And you know we've been away since 2019 and we are super, super excited to come back to the mighty lavoie theater.
• 24:04
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: That's so good to hear, and I agree, that is such a stunning theater.
• 24:08
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I mean, the house there is just gorgeous.
• 24:11
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But I'm sure that Millville is very excited to have you back.
• 24:14
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You guys offer meet and greets after every show, right?
• 24:22
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Sure, specifically, this is a family event, so I'm wondering how kids react, or if there's anything.
• 24:30
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Have you ever met a child who said I want to do what you do?
• 24:38
  Ekat Pereyra: I'm just curious about those fan interactions and those stories.
• 24:41
  Ekat Pereyra: Well, we talked about the band being around for such a long time and how you mentioned that that's quite a great feat, because you know, such a long time for a band to be together.
• 24:48
  Ekat Pereyra: Well, in this case, there's not only a band being together, but there are some fans that have been there from the very beginning and this is their family tradition to come out and see us every single year.
• 24:59
  Ekat Pereyra: And the most amazing thing that you hear um at at meet and greet is I've been coming to see you for over 20 years, or I have been coming to see you every single year.
• 25:10
  Ekat Pereyra: My Christmas does not start until we see you guys.
• 25:14
  Ekat Pereyra: So to see that level of commitment and you know friendship, it's just amazing.
• 25:22
  Ekat Pereyra: You know to be part of it and to be able to provide that emotion and that feeling and that start of the season to our fans is quite fantastic.
• 25:34
  Ekat Pereyra: It's just something that cannot be described in words.
• 25:38
  Ekat Pereyra: Sometimes it's overwhelming, that's so sweet.
• 25:42
  Van White: I find that what I love about the people that come to see us.
• 25:46
  Van White: Well, first of all, 22 years Now, we're getting the fans' children, we're getting another generation coming to see us, so that's incredible as well.
• 25:55
  Van White: But when you look out at one of our audiences, you know you have people in there in their seventies all the way down to people bringing very young children.
• 26:06
  Van White: And what's great about this music and in this show is that we can make every, all of them happy.
• 26:15
  Van White: You know when, when, whether you're two or 92, this show has something for you, and that's one of the things that I've always loved.
• 26:24
  Van White: I mean especially, I love, you know, when somebody brings their kids up to you and and you know we have a big light show and there's all this stuff going on, and so when a kid you know a young child sees that stuff, it's really amazing to them.
• 26:36
  Van White: And then when somebody gets a chance to come up and say I love meeting new people and the children, this band makes ourselves as available as we could be.
• 26:48
  Van White: So as soon as we're done performing, we try to, you know, scooch our way out to the front of the theaters and it's really a thank you to everybody we want to say thank you to each and every person that was in that theater.
• 26:59
  Van White: It's not even about a meet and greet, it's not about us.
• 27:01
  Van White: It's about us thanking them.
• 27:02
  Van White: Thank you so much for being here, for being a part of it.
• 27:06
  Van White: But when I meet a child in that environment, you know they'll always come up and they got why.
• 27:13
  Van White: You know big, wide eyes and stuff, and uh, I just try and and just be human and be thankful and be humble and I, you know, I offered hey, man, you want a drum stick.
• 27:22
  Van White: You know, hey, you come on up, I'll show you the drum set.
• 27:25
  Van White: You know, I'll bring a kid up and show, show them the drum set and and just try to give, to give them as good of an experience as all of us can.
• 27:35
  Van White: And I really think that that's fundamental in this band is just how thankful we are to our audience and we try to give back as much as we can.
• 27:46
  Ekat Pereyra: One of my dearest friends brought their grandchildren to the concerts and that was their very first rock concert and I know they have one of your drumsticks and they will probably never forget it.
• 27:57
  Ekat Pereyra: Um, they were so excited that was adorable.
• 28:02
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I love this so much.
• 28:03
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I love that this is for so many people, like you said, their holiday tradition.
• 28:08
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Christmas doesn't start until they come see Twelve Twenty-Four.
• 28:11
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: That's wonderful.
• 28:12
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm excited.
• 28:14
  Ekat Pereyra: Maybe I have a new holiday tradition, I don't know I would love to have you part of our holiday tradition absolutely, but do I get a drumstick?
• 28:23
  Van White: is the question of course, you could either have a new one, one or one of the ones I beat up.
• 28:29
  Van White: You can do your choice.
• 28:30
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I was going to say do you just keep a bunch of extra ones around just to hand out to people?
• 28:35
  Van White: I actually, literally just the other day, I got my new packs of drumsticks for this year, so I should be good for the year.
• 28:42
  Van White: I've got plenty, so we'll see.
• 28:45
  Van White: We'll see how it goes, but I've got a whole bag full of them.
• 28:49
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I love it.
• 28:49
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: That's fantastic.
• 28:50
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm so happy that I got a chance to talk to you both.
• 28:53
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You're both absolutely wonderful people, and I can only imagine that the rest of the band is just as wonderful if you're a family.
• 28:58
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So thank you so much for taking the time.
• 29:01
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I appreciate it, gina, thank you for this opportunity.
• 29:05
  Van White: We really appreciate it.
• 29:06
  Van White: And if I could say, like, if somebody has no idea, hey, who is Twelve Twenty-Four?
• 29:17
  Van White: Who's tso?
• 29:17
  Van White: I don't know who tso?
• 29:18
  Van White: Who are these guys?
• 29:18
  Van White: So if, if, if somebody comes up and says I have no idea who these, what this band does, I would say to them we are primarily a rock and roll band.
• 29:22
  Van White: Like you're gonna feel that kick drum, you're gonna you're gonna feel those guitars, you're gonna feel that bass.
• 29:28
  Van White: I mean it's I won't say it's loud, but it's powerful.
• 29:32
  Van White: It's like we're a rock and roll band.
• 29:34
  Van White: And then when you have all of the other bells and whistles, that we have the incredible vocalists, we have a violin section when you put that stuff in, it just comes together in an incredible package.
• 29:46
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: That is an uplifting Christmas show that's going to leave you very, very excited 1224 will bring their rock orchestra to the Levoy Theatre in Millville on Sunday, December 15th, at 7 pm.
• 29:58
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: For more information, be sure to visit levoynet.
• 30:01
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: If you liked this episode, be sure to review, subscribe and tell your friends.
• 30:07
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: A transcript of this podcast, links relevant to the story and more about the arts in New Jersey can be found at jerseyartscom.
• 30:14
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: The Jersey Arts Podcast is presented by Art Pride New Jersey, advancing a state of creativity since 1986.
• 30:20
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: The show was co-founded by and currently supported by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
• 30:29
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: This episode was hosted, edited and produced by me, Gina Marie Rodriguez.
• 30:34
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Executive producers are Jim Atkinson and Isaac Cernadiez, and my thanks to Van White and Ika Pereira of 1224 for speaking with me today.
• 30:42
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm Gina Marie Rodriguez for the Jersey Arts Podcast and, as a special holiday treat from Jersey Arts to you, I will leave you with the full song this Christmas Day by Twelve Twenty-Four, with Van White on drums and vocals.
• 30:55
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Thanks for listening and happy holidays piano solo.
• 31:26
  So tell me, christmas, are we wise To believe in things we never see, our prayers just wishes in disguise?
• 31:43
  And are these wishes being granted me?
• 31:51
  For now I see the answer ring To every prayer.
• 32:01
  I pray.
• 32:03
  He's coming home this Christmas day.
• 32:11
  So tell me, scranton, are we kind?
• 32:27
  Tell me, scranton, are we kind, more this day than any other day, or is it only in our minds and must believe when you have gone away?
• 32:51
  It's different.
• 32:52
  Now it's changed somehow, and now you're here to stay.
• 33:07
  She's coming home this Christmas day.
• 33:10
  Now that once the world doesn't seem the same, and in a single night, you know it all has changed.
• 33:35
  Everything is now as it should be.
• 33:39
  I have the ornaments, I have the purgatory, I have a string of lights.
• 33:44
  I have a chance to see Everything that my heart thought could be.
• 33:49
  For all the dreams, you were the first I knew, and every other one was a charade of you.
• 33:57
  You stayed close when I was far away.
• 34:01
  And in the darkest nights you always were the star who always took me in, no matter who we are.
• 34:07
  So she's coming home this Christmas day.
• 34:10
  Oh yeah, she's coming home this Christmas day.
• 34:22
  Sing it.
• 34:55
  Merry Christmas, merry Merry Christmas, merry Christmas, merry Merry Christmas, merry Christmas, merry Merry Christmas, now Merry Christmas now Merry Christmas, merry Merry Christmas, merry Christmas, merry Merry Christmas, merry Christmas, merry Merry Christmas, merry Christmas.
• 35:11
  Have a Merry Christmas now.
• 35:12
  Have a Merry Christmas now.
• 35:14
  Merry Christmas, merry Merry Christmas, merry Christmas, merry Merry Christmas, merry Christmas.
• 35:20
  Have a Merry Christmas now.
• 35:21
  Have a Merry Christmas now.
• 35:25
  Merry Christmas, merry Merry Christmas, merry Christmas, merry Merry Christmas, merry Christmas.
• 35:28
  Have a Merry Christmas now.
• 35:29
  Merry Christmas, merry Merry Christmas, merry Christmas, merry Merry Christmas, merry Christmas.
• 35:32
  Have a Merry Christmas now.
• 35:35
  Get your hands up.
• 35:36
  Merry Christmas, merry, merry Christmas, merry Christmas.
• 35:40
  Merry, merry Christmas.
• 35:41
  Merry Christmas.
• 35:42
  Have a Merry Christmas now.
• 35:44
  Have a Merry Christmas now.
• 35:46
  Merry Christmas, merry Merry Christmas, merry Christmas, merry Merry Christmas, merry Christmas.
• 35:49
  Have a Merry Christmas now.
• 35:49
  Merry Christmas, merry Merry Christmas, merry Christmas, merry Merry Christmas, merry Christmas.
• 35:53
  Have a Merry Christmas now.
• 35:56
  Oh, she's coming home.
• 35:58
  She's coming home.
• 36:00
  She's coming home to find she's coming home.
• 36:08
  She's coming home, she's coming home, she's coming home.
• 36:27
  This Christmas Day.