Sceneazine.com
The Hidden Agendas
By Jeri Jones
Like a freight train with no conductor, the Hidden
Agendas have barreled into the Williamsport, PA alternative-rock scene leaving bodies thoroughly rocked
in its path. The brain child of singer/songwriter/guitar
aficionado Ron Fleeger (Ron Fleeger and the Stranger,
Entity) and bassist/vocalist Matthew Zarzyczny (Slow
Burn, the Bad Light Project), the Hidden Agendas grew
from a seed planted in 1998. In early 2013, Ron and
Matthew decided that the time was right to harvest the
fruit and unleash the Hidden Agendas unto the world.
They enlisted local drumming genius Scott Gibbs
(Carpe Noctum) to bring rhythm to the body-rocking
sound. With the core members in place, the Hidden
Agendas quickly added keyboard virtuoso Sarah Gibbs
to add complexity and sex-appeal to the band. With the
time-sensitive nature of the modern music scene, the
Hidden Agendas quickly recorded their first demo of
five original tracks in June of 2013, a month after officially forming and started playing shows immediately afterwards. Knowing the importance of new media,
the Hidden Agendas spend a lot of effort on social media marketing involving their fans in every step of the
band’s journey. With a driven songwriter that cannot
stop (even if he wanted to), the Hidden Agendas craft
songs that are personal, invigorating and most importantly catchy. The band is committed to having at least
one of their songs stuck in your head days after seeing
them perform. With well over an hour of original material, the band rounds out their set list with modern and
classic rock songs which fit their motif like puzzle pieces
falling into place. The wind has changed and the time is
now. Please welcome the Hidden Agendas.
Let’s start off by introducing the band. Who are
the members and what instruments do they play?
Ron Fleeger plays guitar and is the lead singer.
Matthew Zarzyczny plays bass and does backing vocals.
Scott Gibbs plays drums and Sarah Gibbs (brother/sister) plays keyboards and sings backing vocals.
Let’s assume that the readers have never heard of
your band. What do you want them to get from this
interview?
Assume away... We would like the readers to catch
our sense of humor and our love of music.
So how long have you guys been playing in this
band? Is this everyone’s first band they’ve played in or
have they played others we may of heard of?
We’ve been together since April/May 2013. We’re
all vets to different degrees. Ron was in Ron Fleeger and
the Stranger and Entity. Matt played with Ron in high
school called the Bad Light Project. Scott was the drummer for Carpe Noctum for several years.
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Who in the band came up with your name? What,
if any, reason did you guys choose it? Does it have a
meaning behind it or does it stand for something?
Ron and Matt were working on the name, sending
texts back and forth. There are several names that made
us laugh, but wouldn’t have worked as a band name.
Matt suggested Smiley
Glad Hand and the Hidden Agendas after a line
in the Tool song Aenima.
We