Universal Sounds: I.O.U.

Make sure to check I.O.U. out on Rutgers Day, April 30, 2011 on the Scarlet Stage in front of Brower Commons from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.!

In most cases, I.O.U. is an abbreviation acknowledging debt. But in this case, the only person you will be ‘owing’ is yourself— to not listen to this rising, New Brunswick-native music group would be a shame.

From the guys who created “Black & Scarlet” and “Rutgers State of Mind”, Andrew “Buck” Buckner, Isaiah “Izee” McNeill and Charles “Chuck” Ferrone aspire to create music expanding to all genres and audiences with the purpose to “give the world the music that the world wants to hear.”

Though located in New Brunswick, I.O.U. is determined to go on tour and perform all over the country to continue to send a positive message through music. “We want to make music everyone wants to hear. It’s more fun for us as artists to make music of all different genres rather than just being your average rap group,” they said.

While going international is a goal that they are working on presently, they are also focusing on performing more locally for other colleges. In the next few weeks, fans can look forward for the release of the songs, “Mountains,” “Bottled Emotions,” and “Walls.” These will be featured on their new frabulm (free album), titled B.O.M.B.s.

Created in high school in 2009, I.O.U., then named Deuce 1s, became a group to make music just for fun. It wasn’t until last year that they decided to shift gears and focus on creating music on a professional level.

“We felt like the name Deuce 1s put us in a genre of music that we didn’t want to be classified as. We feel that we make more universal music [as I.O.U.] that has a wider audience than Deuce 1s was providing us.”

As Deuce 1s, they created “Rutgers State of Mind,” and “Black and Scarlet”, both offering energetic school pride in the lyrics and music videos. They also released a mix tape titled ‘The Beginning of Everything,’ which can be found on their Youtube site, youtube.com/deuce1s.

The artists admit that is hard to narrow down who influences them musically since they strive to include so many sounds. “Izee listens to a lot of classical music, rock and techno. Buck listens to a lot of rap, hip-hop and newer underground artists and Chuck listens to a lot of mainstream music. Then we bring it all together and create our own style.”

For updates on I.O.U’s music make sure to check out their Facebok group!