By Jessica Booth

With Long Island’s reputation for spitting out some of the most popular indie rock bands of the last several years, one has to wonder which of the many local bands is going to make it big next. While there are a lot of bands that show promise, Show Me Action from Garden City seems to be the best bet.

Show Me Action is made up of five young guys-Jack Tangney, Alex Lipton, Danny Rocco, Pete McGaughey and Tony Lopez. This fall, they are on their way to once again being nominated for the mtvU Best Music on Campus Woodie Award.

mtvU is college circuit of MTV, focusing on smaller up-and-coming bands, and giving them a chance for recognition-the most important thing for any aspiring musician. Their annual Woodie Awards honor those bands that have gained the most popularity and are given out based on voting scores. The Best Music on Campus award is one of the best awards a band can get, meaning the band has been chosen out of hundreds of college bands all over the country. Last fall, Show Me Action made it all the way down to the top two bands and had the privilege of attending the Woodie Awards ceremony at Roseland Ballroom in New York City.

“It was more like a party,” says lead singer Tangney. “We got to do the whole red carpet thing, with reporters yelling at us and everything. Last year, they picked Danny up at his frat house in the limo.”

At the moment, the band has made it into the Top 25, and is hoping to make it into the next cut, the Top 5.

This is quite an achievement, considering the band got together only a little over three years ago, in the summer of 2005. Tangney, Lipton, Rocco and McGaughey had known each other during high school, meeting up through orchestra and band.

“We were band geeks, like, ‘:et’s be in a rock band!'” says Tangney. “But they’re all really talented musicians, so it ended up working out really well.”

Being surrounded by other popular Long Island bands was another big reason for starting a band. “We come from a town where there is inspiration all around us,” says Tangney. “Mark O’Connell from Taking Back Sunday was like, my neighbor. So that’s really inspiring when your neighbor is touring the country.”

Lopez, a senior at the University, joined the band in May of 2008. He had been in a different band and had played several shows with Show Me Action before he was officially invited to join.

“The thing that drew me was when you watch them play: there’s so much action and energy,” says Lopez. “To be a part of that energy is amazing.”

The band has been gaining popularity in the way that any local band can-through friends, family and word of mouth. They are also taking advantages of the many perks of Myspace.com, which can be extremely helpful to a rising band. And of course, the music scene around them contributes largely to their success.

“We were really lucky right off the bat to come from a town where they support local music,” says Tangney.

Show Me Action is unique in the fact that each band member is still in school. The boys are separated from each other for most of the year, but they manage to make it work. While so many musicians feel that school is no longer an issue, the guys of Show Me Action disagree. They still feel that their education is extremely important.

“It’s smart rock,” says Tangney. “That’s kind of a jab at Alex for being Ivy League; he’s at Harvard right now.”

According to Lopez and Tangney, the band could be compared to the sounds of My Chemical Romance, Jimmy Eat World, and Muse.

“The structure is very precise and pop-oriented, but definitely a harder rock,” says Tangney. “It’s five parts coming together and it’s greater then the sum of its parts.”

Besides Show Me Action, each member of the band has something else going on in his life. Lopez DJ’s on the side, Lipton is composing a musical at Harvard, and Tangney spends his spare time writing music on the piano. Rocco, the guitarist and vocalist of the band, is releasing his first solo album in the beginning of the November, titled “The Future is Now.” His band-mates are supportive and enthusiastic about his success.

“He’s basically like the mom-ager of the band,” says Tangney. “He’s really, really driven and an extraordinary businessman, so we want everyone to buy his album.”

Besides the close friendships they have formed, their other favorite part of being in the band is, of course, performing. While the guys have shared the stage with bands such as Brand New and Nightmare of You, their favorite show remains to be one of their smallest.

“There were like fifteen kids, but every single one of those fifteen kids danced their asses off,” says Tangney. “If everybody’s into it, it makes it that much more worthwhile.

The band mostly plays in small venues, such as firehouses, small clubs and bars. Their first shows were at the Vibe Lounge, a venue in their hometown. Since then, they have taken a small, three-week tour of some of the east coast.

In the coming months, the guys are hoping they can set up another tour. “It’s so much fun being on the road that all we can think about when we get home is the countdown to get back out there,” says Lopez.

They are also planning on releasing their next EP album in the winter, but at the moment, the Woodie Awards are their number one priority.

Show Me Action hasn’t been signed yet, but they don’t mind at all. They are simply concentrating on getting their music out there and creating a solid fan-base. For these guys, the most important thing is having a good time and making good music.

“We kind of pride ourselves on the fact that we don’t have management,” says Lopez. “Everything that we do, every opportunity we get, we did on our own. We opened these doors on our own.”