Peers interview young rockers Naked Brothers

VALERIE STRAUSS; The Washington Post

This was no ordinary field trip. When the kid rock band Rated traveled from Washington, D.C., 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 show.

The comedy, 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.

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 and who jam at Bach to Rock Music School in Bethesda, Md., discovered:

• Nat can write a song in 15 minutes. Melodies pop into his head, he said, and ideas for lyrics come “from regular life.”
• 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), 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.