The Starving Artists will ‘Shout Down Drugs’ at NJPAC

Two Rumson-Fair Haven residents will represent Monmouth County with their musical talent in the ‘Shout Down Drugs’ (SDD) competition.

Avery Peterson, 18, of Rumson, and Kevin Karol, 18, of Fair Haven will be making a trip to NJPAC next Thursday, May 24 to compete for a $5,000 performance contract. The duo, named The Starving Artists will be performing their original song You Got High, which tells the story of how your life can be ruined forever with just one experience with drugs.

“When we initially began thinking about how we were going to write and put the song together we listened to last year’s finalists songs. We found that most of the songs, primarily recited statistics. As far as an initiative to say ‘don’t do this’ we felt that by taking a story approach, we would get our message across better,” said Karol.

Long time friends with a shared passion for music, Peterson and Karol are no strangers to the stage and believe their performance abilities will give them an edge in this competition.

“Kevin and I do better live because I’m a bit of a stage ham,” admitted Peterson. “And I’m more of an actor than a singer so we hope our stage presence will be factored into the judging,’ explained Karol.

In addition to the judging, online votes will help determine this year’s winner. By going onto the competition’s website, people can hear all 23 New Jersey finalist’s songs and cast their vote for their favorite.

To hear The Starving Artist’s original song You Got High or to vote for them to win this year’s competition, click here.