The Replicants return to Nardi's stage, where it all began

Photo by Jack Reynolds
The Replicants fuel the dance floor with
the latest feel-good tunes.

The Replicants, a nine-piece cover band whose members hail from all over New Jersey as well as Arkansas and North Carolina, had the Nardi’s crowd letting loose from beginning to end on Friday evening. As more and more party-goers stepped off the bright-pink Nardi’s bus to enter the nightclub, the music – a mix of rock, funk and hip hop with modern dance and house influences – seemed to get louder and the dance moves a bit wilder. People dressed in their best summer evening wear, including slinky summer dresses and good, old-fashioned Hawaiian shirts, were seen dancing to the music underneath the revolving lights with glow sticks in their hands, as others busted out their most laughable moves, which of course included the sprinkler.

Music sets incorporated songs from “Bulletproof” by La Roux and “Treasure” by Bruno Mars to Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” and Earth, Wind and Fire’s “September.”

“For us, it’s trying to take those songs that you hear every day on the radio driving everywhere because it’s what people in the clubs want to hear, and then changing it up a little bit, adding our own flair, putting horns to it, and just kind of making the tunes our own,” said Frank Scillieri, the band’s saxophonist and one of many vocalists, who helped start the band about three years ago. “It’s a really important method that this band uses to learn music and progress. We’re replicating music,” he added, referring to the band’s name.

Photo by Jack Reynolds
Bill Jarvis lays it down during a trumpet solo.

The group’s other members, all of whom studied music, include Jill Ramme and Shawn Harris on vocals, Bill Jarvis on trumpet, guitarist Henry Heinitsh, D’Arcey Ciccone on bass and vocals, drummer Ray Carega, Will Dougherty on keys and Johnny “Bonez” on percussion, who plays when he can.

The group relished the night where they had played their first shore gig, during the summer of 2011. Performances at The Sea Shell and other local scenes quickly followed.

“We’ve played all over, but for the summertime, we’ve kind of used LBI as a little home base. We love playing here. The people are so friendly,” said Jarvis.

“I like playing down here specifically because most of the people appreciate the groove. They just feel it,” added Carega.

The group was especially thankful to be helping the area return to normal after Superstorm Sandy.

“It was really cool to get the phone call from these clubs right after the storm had happened and get involved in being down here playing as these businesses were trying to reopen and grow,” said Scillieri. “The fact that we’re even here this summer at all is amazing to me. It’s awesome to see how people will work together from all facets from business to music to everything else to help each other out and to make things happen.”

“This is a legitimate live music community, and live music is a way that you can really touch people on a personal level as a performer. We really get the opportunity to do that at a place like this,” added Heinitsh.

Though all of the band members have second jobs, they tend to think of their music as another full-time occupation, putting just as much effort and time into playing as they do anything else, from carpentry to teaching.

“It’s cool to be playing with the same people all the time. A lot of us play gigs where we’ll get called in for something on a Friday night, and it’s a bunch of people that we don’t know or never met; you kind of have to feel them out while you’re playing in front of people,” said Carega. “We’re lucky enough to play together all the time, so we know how each other plays, and we have a cohesiveness that’s already there. So when we’re in the pocket, it always feels real nice. It’s good to know your musicians like you know your friends. This is clearly a job, and we’re up there entertaining, but we’re a family. We hang out during the week,” he added.

The group was recently asked to be the house band for the New York Giants and will begin performing at the Bud Light Party Plaza at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford during all 2014 home games. They had performed during pregames for the Giants and the Jets in previous years.

Shore-goers can see The Replicants perform their last summer gig at The Sea Shell on Friday, Aug. 30, from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. For more information, visit http://thereplicantsband.com/index.html.

— Kelley Anne Essinger

This article was published in The SandPaper.