ABOUT
Performing all over the midwest LOUDERNOW will bring you back to the glory days of skinny jeans, studded belts, eyeliner, band shirts, vans, and screaming along to all of your favorite emo and pop-punk songs. The scene is back.
LOUDERNOW is:
Kyle Dee
Keaton O'Brien
Matt Balhan
Dan Zemanek
Steve Zywica
Who is LOUDERNOW?
LOUDERNOW is a five-piece emo & pop-punk cover band hailing from Chicago, IL. Five friends from some of Chicagoland's staple throwback pop-punk and emo original bands decided it was time to take back to the stage and reunited as LOUDERNOW. The band featured alumni from The Frantic, A Kidnap In Color, The Fastest Kid Alive, Me, The Mirror, Face the Fire, and Arsenal Arcaya. Though the band has changed over the years; the mission statement has always been the same, close friends from established original bands celebrating their love for the emo & pop-punk artists who helped shape who they are today as both people and musicians.
What makes LOUDERNOW different from other similar cover bands?
LOUDERNOW understands its audience. LOUDERNOW is composed of musicians who have toured with and performed alongside many and most of the artists that the band covers. Most recently LOUDERNOW had the honor of performing alongside Chicago native's Fall Out Boy, Alkaline Trio, and The Academy Is at their 2023 performance at Wrigley Field.
With collective decades of experience, performing across the country on nationwide tours, Vans Warped Tour, and being currently active in celebrated emo and pop-punk original bands, no one understands how to engage and connect with their fan base quite like LOUDERNOW.
KYLE DEE
Kyle can be found front and center stage showcasing soaring vocals, endless charisma, and engaging his audience in a way that leaves them screaming every last word!
Often recognized from countless performances including Vans Warped Tour, headlining slots on various national tours, and shows all around the country, some consider Kyle to be a founding father of Chicagoland’s pop-punk scene.
Aside from swinging microphones and stealing hearts with LOUDERNOW; you can also catch him on the road and topping the charts with his original band MAKEOUT, whose noteworthy single "Crazy" just hit 20 million plays. Being the constant creative that Kyle is, you can expect to hear new music from him regularly and keep an eye out for upcoming MAKEOUT releases!
Kyle also earned notoriety from his celebrated history as a founding member of the Chicago based punk rock band, The Frantic, in which he toured nationwide several times over as well as earning his "golden ticket" on American Idol.
Kyle is also an accomplished writer with many credits to his name both commercially and as a ghost writer as well. As such an accomplished vocalist/artist, Kyle shines just as bright as a performer making him the perfect frontman for LOUDERNOW.
DAN ZEMANEK
In his twenty-plus career in the music industry, Dan's accomplishments are nothing short of lengthy. While performing as the bassist in LOUDERNOW, many do not know that Dan's primary instrument has always been guitar and vocals.
Dan is an accomplished songwriter with hundreds of songs that have allowed him to tour across the country, earn worldwide commercial success, and even land a record deal with Sony BMG Music Entertainment.
Dan was also an intergral part of the song writing team at Banshee Music. Working alongside Joel Wanasek of JTW Studios, Edsel of DOPE, and Jordan Lee (formerly of Soil), the group composed a multitude of songs, some of which even became a few NFL entrance themes.
Currently employed by APM Music, Dan has thousands of commercialized placements on television, radio, and digital media outlets. His songs have been featured on USA, FOX, NBC, ESPN, CW, WWE, NFL, NHL, MLB, PGA, Q101, XM Radio, and dozens more in over 200 countries across the globe.
Dan is currently actively writing and releasing music with his original bands Silverside and Me, The Mirror as well as producing/songwriting for other artists occupationally. There is nowhere else on this planet better suited for Dan than when he is creating music and performing for others.
MATT BALHAN
With two decades of perfecting his craft, to simply state that Matt is extremely talented would be an understatement to his abilities on the guitar. Passed down from his father, Matt began playing guitar at the young age of 15. He later went on to major in guitar at Millikin University while additionally studying performance and the music arts.
Matt is also a founding member of Face the Fire, a melodic metal hybrid infused with roots from punk rock and emo influence. While co-writing and recording alongside Jose Urquirez of 3 Years Hollow and Morgan Rose of Sevendust; Face The Fire has several releases and has found great success in the active rock community performing alongside Story of the Year, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Red, Saliva, Through Fire, and dozens more. Additionally, the band captured regular air time on Q-Rock and Q101 and were frequent resident performers at House of Blues, Bottom Lounge, and many of Chicagoland’s premier concert venues.
You can catch Matt showing off those same guitar skills at Emo Nights with LOUDERNOW as he tears through guitar solos from “Welcome Home” by Coheed and Cambria, “Thank You for the Venom” by My Chemical Romance, and many more. It is a spectacle to see!
KEATON O'BREIN
Keaton fell in love with music at a very young age and started learning guitar shortly thereafter. Inspired by many of the artists he listened to he formed his own original band called Arsel Arcaya.
Arsel Arcaya was a post-hardcore, math/experiment rock, screamo project infused with emo undertones and soaring vocals. Critics have compared the band to its hardcore peers Dance Gavin Dance, Circa Survive, Emaroa, The Fall of Troy, and more.
The band pioneered the Chicagoland post hardcore scene especially at a time when there were not many artists in the genre locally. The band took to stages across the midwest and Keaton quickly got recognized for his soaring vocals and incredible vocal register.
So much so, that in 2008, when members of For All We Know, Broadway, and We Are Defiance were creating a new group, Keaton and another vocalist were the band’s final choices. The band ultimately chose the other vocalist who was Kellin Quinn and the band is now known today as Sleeping with Sirens.
Keaton went on to be a founding member of LOUDERNOW and now gets to share his weekends singing his heart out for his fans!
STEVE ZYWICA
Growing up with an older brother who also played drums, Steve had a natural calling to percussion from an early age. While focalizing in jazz and drumline in highschool, it wasn’t long before Steve was captivated by the sounds of punk rock and emo artists.
Steve played in a few different bands until 2009 when he connected with Dan Zemanek, ironically never having met, lived only a few blocks from each other. The two went on to perform in Me, The Mirror, Silverside, and eventually became founding members of LOUDERNOW.
In addition, Steve is also a valued part the Drum Forge and Unstoppable Recording Machine team. Working alongside Joey Sturgis, Joel Wanasek, and Billy Decker; Steve has helped create thousands of digital drum samples, recording plugins, and digital audio products.
Aside from being recognized as one of Chicagoland’s top tier drummers, Steve is also an accomplished photographer and videographer. He has gone on to open his own digital creation company, SteveZywica.com, you will find he has hundreds of clients from Chicagoland’s music and performance art’s scene.
Steve can be found most Saturday nights flipping sticks and slamming the drums to all your favorite emo and pop punk bangers with LOUDERNOW!
Want the whole story?
Learn more about LOUDERNOW and how the band came to be through a short biography of the band's history.
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