Mahwah Native's Metal Band To Perform At Major Music Festival

MAHWAH, NJ — As a high schooler, Matt Baker, of Mahwah, often tinkered around with sounds and beats on his computer to meld new music, all while fantasizing about guitar-shredding on stage one day for his own metal band.

Now, only a few years later, Baker's rock dreams are coming true, as he and his progressive metal band, "Among The Stars," are set to join the lineup at a major music festival called Inkcarceration this weekend in Mansfield, Ohio, where they are performing on the same stage as popular bands such as Falling in Reverse, Breaking Benjamin and Evanescence.

Baker had the idea for the band his high school junior year, naming it "Among the Stars" because of a space obsession he had since he was a kid. Although, he said it also, unintentionally, refers to a lyric from a song by one of his favorite progressive metal bands, The Contortionist, that says, "We are among the stars."

He struggled throughout high school and college to find band members who could commit the time, yet he never stopped writing and mixing his own music. Eventually, he found another guitarist, and then a drummer, a bassist and a powerhouse vocalist to form a five-piece band that is now playing its fourth gig on an Ohio stage, its biggest music venue yet.

"I found the other band members, and they are extremely committed in every capacity. I hope this current iteration of the band is the last one, because it is perfect," Baker said, adding that he has lost band members who dropped out because of other obligations. "Now, the band and I are full steam ahead."

Baker's band was selected to play the festival by other students in a three-semester education program at Berklee Popular Music Institute, from which he just graduated with a degree in music in contemporary writing and production. BPMI sends up-and-coming artists to perform at top festivals and prepares them for the festival stage.

Performing live, typically for half-hour sets, "Among the Stars" tries to set a mood and create an atmosphere that an audience will respond to, Baker said.

"The show is written to make you feel as though you are drifting off into space," he said. "And we add transitions and orchestral samples to create a sense of depth and space."

He, and the four band members, have been rehearsing and writing, and hope to release their first EP soon on all platforms; the band's first single, "Gnosis," is now streaming.

"We are performing and writing and not stopping, and we are looking forward to the future," Baker said. "'Among the Stars' has been my baby since high school, and my goal is to keep it alive as long as I can."