The Bright Side is Chris Wilhelm (drums), Jonathan Mattera (guitar), Tom Churchill (bass), and Chris Belmonte (vocals & guitar). Their influences include, but are not limited to: Tom Waits, The Muppets, Neil Diamond, U2, Paula Abdul, Van Halen, and Willie Nelson. Belmonte, Churchill, & Mattera grew up together in the same suburban neighborhood and later met Wilhelm while they were in high school. The band formed in the Fall of 2000. Now, in their late 20’s with respectable jobs, wives (well, not more than one apiece) and or girlfriends; the Bright Side are ready to throw away their respectable jobs and become rock n roll gypsies before they hit the feared age of 30. (The Bright Side recognize that gypsies are a race of people, and that they could not actually become gypsies. The Bright Side is not sure, but doesn’t think you can convert to gypsyism. The Bright Side also don’t want to spend many years “gigging-out” in obscurity. They’d like to have a “whirlwind” rise to fame, where they make a lot of money quickly, almost too quickly. Spend that money recklessly, on fancy clothes, fast cars, and a ridiculously large entourage of people, then one of them would burn their girlfriend’s house to the ground and they would end up in bankruptcy court and on Behind the Music. Yeah, that’s what they want. That and a pet giraffe that they’d call “Mr. Neck”. If you can help The Bright Side in their whirlwind rise to fame, they’d be your best friend. The Bright Side also hope you like their first full-length album, “The Last Know User of The Telephone Booth.