Rockin’ and rollin’ for a good cause

For the past year, Zach Brown, singer and guitarist for the Cedarhurst-based Jewish punk rock band, the 7Splinters, had the idea to combine charitable efforts with his love of music.

That collaboration will come to fruition on June 26, when the 7Splinters will be joined by three other bands, Bank Shot, Mayve and The Immigrants, at the Backstage Sports Bar & Grill in Woodmere to raise money for cancer research.

The 7Splinters have been together for 12 months now. The band also includes drummer Mike Giordano, 23, of Long Beach, Zach’s brother and guitarist Jake Brown, 16, and bassist Mike Rosenfeld, 19, of Oceanside.

“It will be a great night and I wanted to get the community together to come out and support a cause,” Brown said. “It’s a cause worth fighting for,” added Jake, who will be a senior this fall at the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway.

Giordano, the newest member of the band said the cause is personal to him and his family. “All it takes is a simple donation and people don’t know how close we are to finding a cure,” he said. “My aunt died from cancer about two years ago and it’s a great cause to help those in need. This is what she would have wanted.”

In order to get the various bands together, Brown, a sophomore at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, said he made some phone calls and scouted Long Island area bands. Giordano helped promote the event by posting flyers and posters at his job at Guitar Center in Carle Place. “I wanted to get the word out,” he said.

Though the band is focusing on the upcoming charity event, they hope to have more events like it in the future. “We definitely want to have other events for other phenomenal causes,” Giordano said. “We want to help those in desperate situations.”

Giordano added that autism could be another cause for the band to organize a charity event for in the future. “I work with children that suffer from autism,” he said. “It’s common among kids and everyday they’re finding new cures so every penny does help.”

Doors will open at 5 p.m. for the charity performances, which are expected to last until 9:30 p.m. The Backstage is located at 948 Broadway. Admission is $10 and all proceeds will go to cancer research.