"Say Hello to the Angels" and meet a band that cares

After the disbandment of the Riddlin' Kids, singer/guitarist Dustin Stroud was jamming with a buddy, Joe Flagger, and decided to call-up drummer Ben Benitez (Rubberhed) to jam out an idea.

"We had this idea that we wanted to all play together and just play fun songs. Maybe even like cock rock, kind of rock-and-roll songs for fun," said Stroud.

The result ended up being Say Hello to the Angels, a straight-up good time rock-and-roll band which is a huge change from Stroud's previous pop punk band. Benitez and his brother Raymond

Benitez (guitarist) played together in Rubberhed, so when the band needed a drummer, Benitez called-up Raymond. Bassist Jimmy Lancelot joined the band soon afterwards.

Along with playing entertaining songs, the band also donates 20 percent of every penny they earn to charities that directly help the local disadvantaged. Where some bands that are signed to a label or under management are required to give a percentage for the services, Say Hello to the Angels decided to give that percentage back to the community.

"It's like the charity is a fifth member of the band," said Stroud. "We would each get 20 percent and give the fifth 20 percent back for the music, back to the people who really need it."

The types of charities they have made donations to so far include Any Baby Can, Austin Children's Hospital and Caritas of Austin. As for future charities, they are keeping an open mind.

"We'll work with any charity that is non-denominational, non-partisan. We don't want to alienate anybody," stated Stroud. "Austin has a lot of non-profits. We're always welcoming suggestions."

To help get a bigger donation from the shows, the band tries to get as many people as possible to shows by promoting through various media outlets, such as Fox 7 News and radio station 101X, to speak with a spokesperson from the charity. Luckily, the other bands on the bill donate as well.

Currently, Stroud is working on a website called Rock for Reason (www.rockforreason.com) which will hopefully bring more exposure to the cause of rocking out for charities and someday an endowment fund. Instead of signing up the band's name as the web address, he decided to choose another name to focus more on the mission of the shows themselves. A show is being prepared for June to benefit St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.

You can currently pick up Say Hello to the Angels' self-titled CD at CDFuse.com and various music stores around Austin. Twenty percent of CD sales go to Any Baby Can.