The Witzard

FRND CRCL, L-R: Zac Johnson, Nick Johnson, and Aaron Smith (CREDIT: Jesse Joseph) Hailing from Vineland/Cedarville, New Jersey, FRND CRCL's members are, as frontman/guitarist Zac Johnson's Twitter handle proclaims, tried and true @SuburbanKing(s)_. I've known and have quite unique relationships with each of FRND CRCL's three current members: drummer Aaron Smith and I worked together at our local Shop Rite grocery store for at least 5-6 years and, then, for a couple more at the County Administration building until a couple months ago when my department moved out and into a different location. I went all through high school with newest member, bassist, and Zac's older brother, Nick, and we shared a mutual FR(IE)ND C(I)RCL(E). Now, I only recently met Zac at a FRND CRCL gig a couple months ago, but we've been messaging back-and-forth on social media for a year or so now. Also, I've driven by Zac & Nick's dad's Christmas tree farm in Hopewell/Uppe...

FRND CRCL recently leveled up from a four-piece to a two-piece consisting of vocalist/guitarist Zac Johnson and drummer/back-up vocalist Aaron Smith. Johnson & Smith hail from Hopewell & Millville, New Jersey and are part of a Punk band that bears resemblance and influence to the explosive Pop-punk bands of the early 2000's, as well as modern Punk Rock & Indie Rock. Founded in 2016, FRND CRCL has released two full-length albums, an EP, and multiple well-recieved singles to date. One of FRND CRCL's latets singles, "Complications," landed on multiple editorial playlists, including Spotify's New Punk Tracks and Apple Music's Rise & Grind. FRND CRCL have toured in direct support of Goalkeeper and have hosted their own headlining mini-weekender tours in both October 2021 and February 2022. FRND CRCL have now returned with their latest single and first as a two-piece, "47." FRND CRCL's "47" is an upbeat, high-energy Pop-pu...

New Jersey-based Pop-Punk/Alternative band FRND CRCL have returned with their first single of 2019. "Famous" follows FRND CRCL 's self-released 2018 EP, Promstarr. FRND CRCL 's current line-up consists of Zac Johnson, Adam Skirvin, Dom Giacalone & Aaron Smith ; oddly enough, I actually, used to work with Aaron at Shop Rite and went all through high school with Zac's older brother, Nick. FRND CRCL readily list blink-182, Green Day, Sum 41, Weezer, Good Charlotte, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Beatles, Post Malone, Foo Fighters, Pinegrove, Moose Blood, You Me at Six, and My Chemical Romance amongst their "Artists We Also Like" on Facebook . FRND CRCL 's "Famous" music video was premiered late last week at Minnesota-based Ghost Killer Entertainment . "Famous" features Adam Skirvin & Zac Johnson sharing vocal duties à la blink-182's Mark Hoppus & Tom DeLonge juxtaposed against a stark peach-colored background. FRND...

FRND CRCL are a Vineland, New Jersey -based Pop-Punk/Rap-Rock band consisting of vocalist/guitarist/piano player Zac Johnson , vocalist and bassist Adam Skirvin , guitarist Dom Giacalone , and drummer Aaron Smith . Full disclosure: I actually, used to work with Aaron at Shop Rite until about three years ago and I went to high school with a couple of his band mates' older siblings, as well. It's great to see FRND CRCL getting some well-deserved attention and success on a local level and it appears as though the South Jersey Punk/Hardcore scene I used to be a part of is back on the rise! Oddly enough, FRND CRCL are influenced by a lot of the same bands—both local and mainstream—my friends and I used to listen to while we were skateboarding or attending local shows all around South/Central Jersey back in the early 2000's, including: Blink-182 , All Time Low, and Green Day , as well as Eminem , Mac Miller, Beastie Boys , and The Dirty Heads. FRND CRCL initially for...