Sterling Heart / As Yet Unbroken
Diamonds In The Rough
By: Bear Frazer
Last updated October 26th , 2009

Every week, 101D.com will highlight two new artists in our exclusive Diamonds In The Rough Series. This week, we proudly present Sterling Heart and As Yet Unbroken; two talented bands who are looking to make some noise in the music industry!


Sterling Heart
Representin' Lake Forest, California

Background Check: Dani Poppitt seems like a clever, witty, philosophical kind of gal - for a high school student, that is. In fact she tries proving it by elaborately describing how her band, Sterling Heart, came into existence. "In 1893, the sun found its place in the sky on a Wednesday," she begins. "Zeus struck us down from the heavens. We landed in a meadow surrounded by flowers and caterpillars. This meadow was located at the heart of Lake Forest." While this meeting appears more like an introduction for the Greek rendition of Lord Of The Rings, Poppitt launched Sterling Heart in 2008 and finalized the lineup this past April (also consisting of (guitarist Zach Cwieka, bassist Randy Fruchter, and drummer Dan Bruette). With a plethora of recordings already storming the Internet, these "cool kids" are looking to make Zeus proud. Whether Poppitt is involved in the future is another story. JK.  "We actually joke about replacing her a lot," Cwieka says, "because everyone knows without music, what is she going to sing to?"

The Goods: The melodic pop collective are still recording songs for their project Sterling Heart Flying Free. One of the records slated to appear on the offering, however, is "Sweet Arielle," a gentle little ditty that has easy flowing acoustic melodicism and rich content inspired by Poppit's baby sister. "She is a special needs, and when I was ten, I use to write songs about anything and everything," Poppitt explains. "I just happened to write one about her sister that turned out nicely.

Family Affair: Lots of kids have sibling rivalries and sometimes that feud often transcends into many different areas. In Poppitt's case, it crosses over into performance art. "At our last show, we covered a song from our singer's brother's band. His band is a heavy metal band and was playing right before us," Fruchter says. "In one of their songs, the singer's dad comes out in a costume and stirs up the crowd. [So] when we played, we had his mom come out in the same costume. It was the funniest thing ever." ~ Bear Frazer



As Yet Unbroken
Representin' Las Vegas, Nevada

Background Check: As Yet Unbroken began when three members were jokingly asked if they needed a "shitty drummer" during an art gallery show. Taking his modest offer into consideration, they told PJ to come by and start playing with them. "I lugged my drum kit out to Tim's house in North Las Vegas and nervously jammed with Tim, Mark and two young guitarists on some semi-metallic songs they'd been working on," he said. "Shockingly, they wanted me back." The three officially formed As Yet Unbroken in December 2007. Interestingly enough, the trio has played many local Vegas venues that continue to close. "We joke that we're cursed because a number of the places we've played have shut down immediately after playing there or even while we're just booked there," PJ explains. "Building good relationships with venues is an uphill battle as well."

The Goods: The three-piece self-produced "Almost Gone," their new EP which is available here. Recording took place in various settings and was transported electronically to the other members in the band. Describing the new technology that allows this as "like magic," the band has been able to construct songs much faster. "I played in bands long before the internet was widely used and let me tell you: It is so much easier to collaborate on ideas for songs when we can't get together," Pj said. For the song, "Bad Blood," the bass line was recorded at home. Once vocalist Tim had heard the line at home, he had vocals ready to go at the next practice.


Loving Elton John's Wardrobe: As Yet Unbroken stakes their reputation on bringing tons of energy into their live performances. They are currently attempting to snatch up Elton John's giant inflatable fruit from his Red Piano show that has now closed. "Most alternative rock bands are more concerned with technical precision these days and less concerned about presentation," he said. "Our show usually consists of Tim in a white tux, top hat and goggles going nuts; Me sticking out my tongue a lot; Mark grinning like a monkey and Rick avoiding projectiles, such as drum sticks." ~ Amanda Markell

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