Reverse Order band member John Russo talks about the early days and current tour in exclusive interview

Reverse Order, a band known for reaching the finals in “America’s Got Talent” show, just finished a tour in the US. In an exclusive interview with International Business Times, Australia lead vocalist John Russo spoke about the band’s journey so far and their charity endeavor that seeks to stop bullying and suicides.

Reverse Order was formed in 2008 by John and Cruise Russo and a few friends. The three members of the band at the moment are John Russo, Cruise Russo at the drums and Drew Katsock playing the guitar.

“When we first started performing, we played local talent shows, battle of the bands, and school dances. It was a bit hard getting shows at first because we were too young to perform at a lot of the venues in the NY/NJ/PA area, and when we did finally have an opportunity it was always ‘You have to bring this many people if you want to play.’ We worked incredibly hard to create a fanbase for the band by performing wherever possible, and promoting outside local and major concerts,” John Russo said.

In 2010, Andrew Katsock joined the band. Katsock was one of the first members that had the same passion for music as the founding members, according to Russo. In the early days all three members were prepared to work on their music with a “starving musician” tag. The band members gave up high paying jobs, bought equipment instead of a nice car, and missed out on a lot of things that the other teenagers were doing.

“As soon as Cruise graduated college, Andrew and I decided to leave physical college and take classes online so that we could start touring full time,” Russo said.

“We just finished up a 4 month national tour across the U.S. Our first show of the tour was with Gin Blossoms at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, New Jersey. The rest of the tour was a mix of our anti-bullying initiative, Reverse The Trend, during the day, and venue performances at night. It was a great tour with many incredible shows!” Russo said.

Reverse Order not only has a fan base in the US, but also abroad. The band members are consciously working to promote their music overseas.

“We have been fortunate enough to tour in Russia and perform in Mexico. Performing internationally has been some of Reverse Order’s best touring experiences, and we can’t wait to do it again!” Russo said.

Music, however, is not the sole interest of the band. They have also been involved in charity endeavors like the “Reverse The Trend” initiative.

“Reverse The Trend is an anti-bullying, suicide prevention nonprofit founded by the members of Reverse Order. With Reverse The Trend we perform concerts in schools and speak to the students about overcoming bullying and pursuing their passions using our own personal experiences as examples,” Russo said.

Reverse The Trend was invited to be a part of this summer’s Van’s Warped Tour, which is a summer music festival that goes to 41 cities in 50 days. “Reverse The Trend will be at 10 of those cities in the Midwest and on the West Coast. If you are planning on attending, stop by our tent and hang out with us!” Russo said.