62 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • FEBRUARY 26, 2015 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com DESIGNER SUNGLASSES STARTING AT $29 ONSITE DOCTORS • EYE EXAMS • CONTACTS • 1 HOUR SERVICE • VISION PLANS ACCEPTED • SUNGLASSES • LOWEST PRICES 2 PAIR OF EYEGLASSES QC QC QC $99 Includes: EYE EXAM, Frames & Lenses Select frames with clear plastic, single vision lenses+/- 4 sph., 2 cyl. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Offer ends: 3/21/15 NO-LINE BIFOCAL EYEGLASSES $99 Includes: EYE EXAM, No-Line Bifocal Lenses & Frame Select frame with select clear plastic no-line bifocal lenses +/- 4 sph., 2 cyl up to 2.50 add. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Offer ends: 3/21/15 BAY TERRACE SHOPPING CENTER 211-51 26 AVENUE • BAYSIDE, NY 11360 718.631.3699 *FREE with the purchase of glasses. Contact Lens Exam and EYE EXAM tting add’l. *See store for details. QC FLEX SPENDING Use it or lose it! DISPOSABLE CONTACTS $159 Includes: •EYE EXAM •4 Boxes of Lenses Contact Lens Fitting additional. Clear Soft contacts brand clear spherical lenses.Not Valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer ends: 3/21/15 DESIGNER SUNGLASSES QC st $29 of the 2013 THE QUEENS QueensCourier.com Place WINTER SAVINGS STARTING AT All clearance items are fi nal. Some restrictions apply. See store for details. In Stock items only. Offer ends: 3/21/15 buzz Astoria residents vie for win in national music competition BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO [email protected]/@aaltamirano28 Two brothers, who now call Astoria home, are hoping their band wins the grand prize in the national “Get Out of the Garage” competition in Brooklyn on Feb. 28 — and they’ll be carrying with them the memory of a bandmate who lost his life to cancer. Nate and Ben McCarthy, originally from Nyack, started the band Regret the Hour in 2011 after years of being surrounded by music in their home and wanting to start their own group. The brothers, who sing and play guitar, formed the band while in high school with drummer and vocalist Anders Fleming and bassist Jesse Yanko. While fi nishing up the recording of their fi rst album in 2012 called “Better Days,” which Ben calls a “DIY project,” 16-year-old Yanko died after a long battle with cancer. The album was later released in 2013. “I think it just feels gratifying to be here right now and done all of this after that. I know that’s something that Yanko would have wanted,” Ben said about the band’s decision to move forward after questioning what to do next. “I think the album is a big part of the history of the band and you can hear it in the songs.” The group later started playing at bars in Nyack and didn’t make the move to bigger venues, such as the Mercury Lounge and Knitting Factory, until Nate and Ben decided to head to Astoria as they attended Hunter College. Regret the Hour, which has released three EPs along with their fi rst album, will now take the stage on Feb. 28 with four other independent bands for the second annual Get Out of the Garage competition fi nals, presented by Guitar Center and Converse. The artist discovery program, which started in October and includes bands from across the country, offers an opportunity for musicians to launch their careers. Out of more than 8,000 submissions, fi ve bands were chosen – including Regret the Hour. Part of the process to choose the fi nalists was based on how many people watched a music video on the Get Out of the Garage offi cial website for each band. “It feels pretty awesome,” Ben said about being chosen. “We couldn’t have done it without all the people that helped us out, that watched the video and shared it.” The grand prize winner of the competition will earn a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, studio recording time, a music video, $25,000 in cash, new gear and more. Regret the Hour plans to perform two songs during the fi nale, one from the album they recorded with Yanko and another from their new album, which is in the process of being completed. Ben added that although they are nervous about the big performance, they are excited about getting as far as they have on their own. They are not backed by a record label and they don’t even have a manager, so they’ve had to book every performance themselves. After the competition, the band plans to continue working on their new album and they hope to have it released by late summer. “We are defi nitely pretty excited for this new album we are working on. It really represents the band,” Ben said. “We’re just really excited to get it fi nished and get it out there.” For more information on Get Out of the Garage, visit getoutofthegarage.revimage.com, and for information on Regret the Hour, visit regretthehourmusic.com or www.facebook.com/regretthehour. Photos courtesy of Regret the Hour
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