Filter with Sponge Set for bergenPAC, 8/22

Bergen Performing Arts Center located at 30 North Van Brunt Street in Englewood, New Jersey presents Filter with special guest Sponge Friday, August 22nd at 7:00 PM. Tickets are available now at www.ticketmaster.com or Box Office at 201.227.1030.

Shoving a fist in the face of tradition has been Filter's modus operandi since the release of their self-produced debut album, Short Bus. The album's rough-around-the-edges production consisted of inebriated answering machine samples, lavish bass lines, and jagged guitars set to a backdrop of drum machines punctuated by the unfurling of Richard Patrick's vocal prowess and signature roar. Patrick, Filter's magnetic, profoundly intelligent nucleus and frontman jubilantly admits that his creative process is unorthodox, whether he's staring down and conquering new technology or coalescing with new bandmate and co-conspirator Jonny Radtke on Filter's current release, The Sun Comes Out Tonight.

Patrick believes in adapting and improvising in the name of achieving results, fully aware of what he's rebelling against. He addresses his unconventional methods with utmost conviction in his voice, "Let's break the rules, let's put a finger up to the establishment and do something wrong. If William Shakespeare was alive today, he'd be using a word processor. He'd be copying and pasting. Does that change things? Yeah, but at the same time, it's flexible and different. It has to be done." This perspective is evident on The Sun Comes Out Tonight's lead single, "What Do You Say," an explosive track featuring Patrick's rousing howl, hypnotic synthesizers, smoldering guitars, biting lyrics, and the triumphant resurrection of the pulsating drum machines that cemented Filter's reputation for delivering a distinctive sound unlike any other band in existence. Patrick laughs, "It's all drum machine, just like Short Bus! I like that we're getting away with something that's wrong. There's almost this notion that someone like Skrillex is less of a talent because his music centers around making a computer do incredible things. Music is an interpretive art form."

"The Only Way (Is The Wrong Way)" isn't merely a stand-out track from 2002 release The Amalgamut, it's an integral component of the career Patrick has fabricated with Filter as a truly capable multi-instrumentalist and vocalist hell-bent on releasing top-notch material and delivering electrifying, intense live performances. Patrick's many collaborations and side-projects have transcended the boundaries between rock, industrial, and electronic music by utilizing the talents of musicians Trent Reznor, Robert and Dean DeLeo, Ray Luzier, Josh Freese, John 5, The Crystal Method, Danny Lohner, Clayton Worbeck and Wes Borland.

Sponge has proven to be one of the Motor City's heaviest hitters after gaining international notoriety with their debut album "Rotting Piñata" (Sony). Emerging from Detroit with hits like "Plowed" and "Molly (16 Candles)" Sponge received massive airplay on radio stations from coast to coast and were in heavy rotation on MTV. Both "Plowed" and "Molly" hit #5 on Billboard's Modern Rock Charts, catapulting "Rotting Piñata" to Gold, and ultimately Platinum status.

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