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C-C divers Tosto, Andaloro pool talents
 JAY CAPERS Billy Andaloro, singing, and Alex Tosto, on drums, are senior divers for the Churchville-Chili swimming team. Their band, Universal Mind, has enjoyed success performing at Charlotte's Penny Arcade. Rock on
The name: Universal Mind is a song by Liquid Tension Experiment -- a 1998 collaboration by drummer Mike Portnoy and guitarist John Petrucci from Dream Theater, with two musicians from King Crimson.
Influence: While Universal Mind is a Creed/Godsmack tribute band, the group is also fans of Dream Theater. They play a Dream Theater medley during their shows.
About Alex: 3rd year diving at Churchville-Chili ... 8th in Class B sectionals last year ... Favorite dive, back dive in pike position ... Favorite drummer (Portnoy) and guitarist (Petrucci).
About Billy: 4th year diving at C-C... . 6th in s ectionals last year ... Favorite dive, 21/2 front tuck ... Favorite songs to perform, Creed's ''What If'' and Godsmack's ''Bad Religion.'' |
Democrat and Chronicle
(Friday, February 1, 2002) -- There is only one thing that takes Alex Tosto and Billy Andaloro higher than their diving careers for the Churchville-Chili swim team.
That is rocking on stage with their group, Universal Mind, a heavy metal tribute band that covers songs by Creed and Godsmack and has performed at the Penny Arcade.
"It's such a rush, like the best time of my life," says lead singer Andaloro.
"When you're up there and you actually see people wanting to hear you play, it makes you feel good," says Tosto, Universal Mind's drummer. "It's cool. It's a rush. It gets you going."
Universal Mind, which includes Tosto's older brother Al and bassist Dan Caparco, really got going last year.
Tosto's older brothers, Al and Adam, play guitar and had jammed in their parents' basement, which has an insulated ceiling. Alex started playing drums after receiving his first set around age 8 as a gift from his father, Al. Alex also dabbled with guitar.
Two years ago at a school talent show at Churchville-Chili, Tosto had his own band and asked Andaloro, an elementary school friend whom he reconnected with as a freshman, to try singing. Andaloro had been in chorus, so he figured, "Why not?"
The song they performed that day was Creed's hit, "Higher." But they were beaten out by Tosto's brother Al's band for first place.
Last year, they joined forces and Universal Mind was born. "We just decided: Let's actually do this (right)," Tosto recalls.
Universal Mind won that same talent show last year, playing a Creed medley featuring the song, "My Own Prison."
They performed so well at the Arcade in an All-Ages session -- when teen bands are invited to the Charlotte club for a taste of performing live -- that before their set was over a manager asked them to come back again.
Universal Mind opened up for a few other tribute bands before headlining its own show. Band members have done that a few times and hope to land another gig in the spring.
"They're young but they're talented," said Michael Messina, a bartender at the Arcade who has seen a few Universal Mind shows. "They drew a pretty good crowd."
Sherrie Tosto and her husband were there to watch their sons. They never miss a show.
"Are you kidding? We love it. We've got all of their shows on video," she says.
"It's not like we're there to protect them, it's because we love them. It blows us away to see them on stage."
She is very supportive of her sons' dream to one day be one of those bands that has a rags-to-riches story on VH1's Behind the Music.
"When you have a talent, you can't say no," says Sherrie Tosto, whose favorite singer is Bob Seger. "You have to push it."
On stage or on the diving board, Andaloro and Tosto push each other. But the 17-year-old seniors, who finished sixth and eighth, respectively, at last year's Section V Class B meet, also are pushed by teammate Scott Horsington.
A junior and the defending Class B champion, Horsington has broken the school diving record four times (264.05 points), including Wednesday when the Saints (7-0, 9-5) clinched the first outright Monroe County Division II title in school history. C-C has finished 1-2-3 in diving in all but two meets (Fairport and Webster).
"This year they've really committed themselves to learn advanced dives," third-year coach Scott Wilson said. "The first two years they got the basics done, but they're challenging each other this year."
Opposite of the band, Andaloro started diving first as a freshman, then asked Tosto to try it as sophomores. Tosto's personal best is 211.05 points, Andaloro's is 207.20.
Andaloro has the edge in the classroom, though. He is an A student, Tosto carries a B average.
They can often be heard busting each other's chops or pulling a practical joke, like shaving the hair on someone's leg while they're sleeping, which happened to Tosto recently.
On the diving board, they have to use the same free-spirited approach that they do on stage: Never be afraid to fail.
"You can't think, 'What if you mess up? What are people going to think?' " Andaloro says.
Outside of the diving season, Universal Mind practices about three times a week for about two hours at a time. During the season, it's even less. Juggling school, a sport and a band is tough, but Andaloro and Tosto might be able to dedicate more time during college years.
And who knows, just maybe we'll see their Behind the Music.
"Those really inspire me," Andaloro says. "Every time we see one we get up and say, 'Dude, we have to go practice.' "
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