“Just be yourself and do what you do best.”
That’s the message Malcolm Brickhouse, Jarad Dawkins and Alec Atkins hope you take away after listening to their band, Unlocking the Truth. The three African-American tweens (Alec and Malcom are 12, Jarad is 11 and all are in grade 7) from Brooklyn, NY aren’t rap fans—they love heavy metal music. And they don’t care that it isn’t the music of choice among their friends–the guys have loved metal ever since first hearing it back when they were little kids. By the time the boys were six, they’d formed their first group. It wasn’t long lived, but lasted long enough for the trio to realize they wanted to form their own group and get more serious about writing songs and performing.
Soon they were playing in parks and and on the streets around their hometown—and people started taking notice. I mean, it’s always hard to walk by a cute kid band playing outside the subway, but when they’re playing something unexpected, you’re more likely to stop and take a listen. At least I am. Soon people started posting Unlocking The Truth videos to YouTube—and the views went up and up and up. A one minute clip of the band performing part of the Star Spangled Banner quickly racked up more than a million views. And this original song, “Monster,” is closing in on 200-thousand clicks.
Last summer, Unlocking The Truth hit another milestone when they played the Afropunk fest in Brooklyn, sharing the bill with Jada Pinkett Smith‘s band Wicked Wisdom, ?uestlove, and Chuck D & DJ Lord, among others. Add all their ages together and they still are younger than most of the weekend’s other headline acts!
According to their website, Unlocking The Truth is back in the studio, working on albums number 3 and 4 (!) of original material. Their dream for the future? To become one of the world’s best heavy metal bands.
Unlocking The Truth – Malcolm Brickhouse & Jarad Dawkins from The Avant/Garde Diaries on Vimeo.
