Atomic Beauty, with Montclair’s Nick Van Leer on drums and Jake Miller on bass, won first place in the Stone Pony Rock To The Top competition on Sunday, April 24, beating out over 50 other bands.
“I feel super elated and surprised, it’s a good feeling,” says Van Leer, 21. “We worked very hard to make it happen.” Adds Miller: “It makes me feel really excited.”
Van Leer, 21, a 2013 Montclair High School graduate, and Miller, 18, a MHS senior, got their starts at the Montclair School of Rock. The duo started Atomic Beauty about a year ago with lead guitarist Nick Vallese, 22, and vocalist Vanessa Milanesi, 22, of Upper Saddle River.
“It’s truly amazing to me how far we’ve gotten in a year,” says Miller, “and it makes me happy to be a part of it.”
The first-place win has earned the band the opening spot for a major show at the popular NJ shore spot Stone Pony Summer Stage in Asbury Park this summer, and $2,500 cash.
The upbeat rock band, which performs its own material, is opening for Sebastian Bach on Friday, May 20 at the Starland Ballroom.