Hyperactive has Memorial Day weekend crowd 'ready to go'

The crowd was ready to party when Hyperactive took the stage at The Sea Shell in Beach Haven on Saturday night, May 24, during Memorial Day weekend. The seven-piece band, complete with a horn section, hit the stage with its signature punk and ska twist on energetic songs the whole crowd can enjoy from Eminem’s “8 Mile” and Jay-Z’s “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” to “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” by Stevie Wonder and “Valerie,” originally recorded by Amy Winehouse.

Singing along to the music with drinks in hand, almost everyone in the crowd could be seen letting loose. Even the security guards were found dancing to the music.

Photo by Jack Reynolds
Hyperactive has the crowd amped up.

The audience “is pretty alive and ready to go, which is awesome,” Joe Bembry, Hyperactive’s lead singer and guitarist, told The SandPaper after the first set.

Dedicated to having a good time, bassist Mark Dileo said the band plays “great songs and great music with energy. We’re really defending the music at all costs. We’re not diluting it, or watering it down, or just going through the motions. We’re really getting to the essence of the songs that we pick out to play and replicating what really makes them go.

“We’re a dance band. There are a million great songs out there that you could play, but most of them are not dance songs,” he added. “If you’re going to be playing in a club, in an environment where people are supposed to dance, you have to play songs that make people want to get up and move. We look for those songs that just get people out on the dance floor.”

Originally a cover band known as The Extremes in the 1990s, the band has had a lot of experience figuring out what people like to hear most.

The only original members left in the band, Bembry and Dileo said they started out playing punk and ska music from Fishbone and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Jane’s Addiction and Violent Femmes. Over the years, they have played at local venues from The Marlin and The Ketch to Joe Pop’s and The Sea Shell.

“If there’s any home base for us, it’s been the Jersey Shore, without a doubt, and Long Beach Island in particular,” said Dileo. “We’re pretty loyal

Photo by Jack Reynolds
Lead singer Joe Bembry belts it out
while Mark Dileo lays it down on bass.

to The Shell, so that’s the only place on the Island that we play. The Shell treats us great. It’s a really nice club. If you play too many places, it kind of dilutes the band. We don’t want it to get old,” he added.

After a few years as a cover band, they added a horn section and changed their name to Hyperactive, which was inspired by the Thomas Dolby song, and really captured the essence of their stage presence, they said. The band also self-produced a number of original albums.

“We were really focused on trying to get a record deal, and we got really close a couple of times, but it never actually came through. When that let down, I think that’s when the old Hyperactive kind of dissolved,” said Dileo.

After the group split up, Dileo and Bembry found new members to keep the cover band alive. That includes Mike Beach on guitar, Vince Bergamo on keyboard, Tony Onofrietti on drums, Doug DeHays on saxophone and John Martin on trumpet. The newer members have been playing together for the past 10 to 15 years and are dedicated “to giving a good performance” using a “complete spectrum of musical taste.”

“We mix it up, but we try to stay current. We try to stay relevant with the new stuff, too,” said Dileo. “Having a lot of instrumentation gives us latitude to fool around with the arrangements a little bit and add horns to songs where maybe there weren’t horns originally. Not a lot of bands have horn sections these days.”

“We’re serious about giving a good performance, but we’re here to have fun,” added DeHays. “We do what we do. If we like it, we play it. If we don’t, we don’t because it doesn’t make sense for us, even if it’s hot. That’s the fun thing about this, for sure. We’re not worried about getting into the next hottest club.”

“It’s an eclectic set. We’re not influenced by what other bands are playing,” he stated. “Nobody covers Fishbone, Jay-Z, Stevie Wonder, Led Zeppelin and Rage Against the Machine all in one set, and plays it well.”

Hyperactive will return to The Shell, starting at 11 p.m., on July 5 and Aug. 9 and 30. They will also be performing by the pool at 4:30 p.m. on July 19.

For more information, visit hyperactivemusic.com.

— Kelley Anne Essinger

This article was published in The SandPaper.