Kids

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These brothers stepped out of the bath and into the spotlight

01:00 AM EDT on Monday, March 17, 2008

By Valerie Strauss

The Washington Post

Nat, left, and Alex Wolff star in TV’s The Naked Brothers Band.


AP / Evan Agostini

WASHINGTON — This was no ordinary field trip. When the kid rock-and-roll band RATED traveled from Washington to New York recently, it wasn’t to see the Statue of Liberty.

Instead, keyboardist Alexander Levy, 12; guitarist Edoardo Pisoni, 12; drummer Daniel Guimaraes, 12; and singer Rebecca Levy, 11, visited with the Naked Brothers Band and watched a taping of the Nickelodeon comedy of the same name.

The Naked Brothers Band, in its second season, is about two brothers and their famous rock band. It stars 13-year-old Nat Wolff and 10-year-old Alex Wolff, real-life brothers who do have a rock band.

The show is a family affair. It’s written and directed by their mother, actress Polly Draper. Their TV dad is their real dad, musician Michael Wolff, also the show’s musical supervisor. Nat plays keyboard, sings and writes songs; Alex drums.

Members of RATED interviewed the stars to learn how they do what they do. Here are some things that RATED band members, who have been together three years discovered:

Nat can write a song in 15 minutes. Melodies pop into his head, he said, and ideas for lyrics come “from regular life.” For example, “Taxi Cab”: “When you’re walking around and you’re late/ The buses are packed/ And the subways you hate/ You need a taxi cab.”

Both boys are Beatles fanatics. Alex was inspired by drummer Ringo Starr: “I copied all his moves.”

The show, which often showcases guest stars (including Tony Hawk in next Sunday’s episode), is taped mostly over the summer so that the kids don’t miss too much school. They also are tutored on the set.

Alexandra Jean DiMeco, 15, who plays Rosalina, the band’s bassist and only girl, can play at least half a dozen other instruments. Allie loves being in the band but said she sometimes wishes there was another girl around.

The band’s name comes from when the boys were little and emerged from a bath calling themselves “The Naked Brothers Band.”

Nat started a band when he was 4 or 5 with preschool friends.

Nat is shy. Alex calls himself “wild and crazy.” Asked if Alex bugs him, Nat joked: “Almost all the time!”

Nat likes English class because he loves to read. He recently finished Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Nat finds good books “entrancing.”

Allie loves to read, too. Her favorite book is Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

Alex enjoys reading biographies of people such as Beatle Paul McCartney, but said he prefers another subject: recess.

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