NEW YORK — A trio of middle school rockers has just unlocked a major record deal.
According to the New York Daily News, Brooklyn band Unlocking the Truth — two 13-year-olds and a 12-year-old — has signed to work with Sony Music.
The deal commits Sony to producing two of the band’s albums, with the option of creating an additional four. If all six albums are made, the three middle schoolers could earn up to $1.7 million.
Over the past two years, Unlocking the Truth — guitarist Malcolm Brickhouse, 13; bassist Alec Atkins, 13, and drummer Jarad Dawkins, 12 — has become one of Brooklyn’s hottest groups.
The major label love is just one part of a stellar year for the young band, which opened for Guns N’ Roses in June and happily shared photos of their crowdsurfing during a set at the Coachella music festival in April.
According to the Daily News, the band was discovered in New York’s Washington Square Park in 2012 by Eric Clapton’s drummer, Steve Jordan. From there, it’s played around the region, gaining recognition in The Village Voice and Vice magazine.
“What started out as play dates went to Times Square and now this. It’s been one great thing after another,” Jarad’s mother, Tabatha Dawkins, told the paper. Of the record deal, she added, “It’s so exciting. We’re jumping over the moon.”
The three metalheads aren’t leaving behind school for music. Tabatha Dawkins said they’ll be entering the eighth grade at different schools in Brooklyn next school year, and that education is still the top priority.
“Schoolwork comes first,” she said. “If their schoolwork is not done, they don’t play.”
