Derek Ries, Nick DeTurris, CJ Baran, and Steve Scarola. CGG

We’ve been seriously crushing Push Play [1] ever since they visited our New York offices [2]. Even then they had screaming fans waiting outside.

The five boys proved to be the ladykillers of ZVillage. The crowd was swarming with girls covered in homemade Push Play bandanas, T-Shirts, and even painted jeans. The boys were dodging girls all day who were screaming their names and crying tears of joy.

One Do Something exec slapped stickers on all the boys, we think just to have an excuse to get near them. Why do we love them? These young boys are some of the most energetic, passionate rockstars we’ve ever met. They’ve got serious talent in music but also serious heart in all of the charity work they do. We can’t wait to see what they do as their fanbase continues to grow. We heart you Push Play!

CGG: Did you expect this kind of reaction today?

Derek:Well not being on a major record label I couldn’t imagine this. It’s crazy that we even got on this show, it’s unreal.

Steve: This is really like a dream come true.

Derek: DIY- Do it yourself!

CGG: So what causes have you been working with?

Steve: Actually I’ve been working with Habitat For Humanity, so I’m going to be talking about what I did in New Orleans, and what you can do to volunteer in your area. I’m really excited about it- I wish I knew about it in high school, and I’m leaving it very soon, so… very cool.

Derek: And I’m going to talk about how just being in a band can do so many things, like let alone, we raise 90 grand just playing high school shows and throwing all the proceeds towards it, it’s insane. Like think about what any band could do if they raised 90 grand.

Push Play rocks the crowds. CGG

CGG: How did you raise 90 grand when you’re not on a major record label?

Steve: We just… all our fans came, we promoted on MySpace, advertisements, and just threw all the proceeds and charities.

Derek: We’re not even on a major record label, and we raised this money basically just by having charities come to us, and getting involved in some as well, and just donating all the ticket sales to various charities.

Steve: We even do out of state charities, if the charity is willing to pay for our airfare we’re more than happy to play. It’s an awesome experience- you get to travel the country and just do the right thing.

Derek: And already we’ve raised about 90,000 dollars for charities. 90,000 dollars!

ALL: 90,000 dollars!

CGG: Who are you most excited to see at Zootopia?

Derek: well we actually just saw Metro Station, I’m a big fan of theirs. They were unbelievable. But I’m also excited to see Jonas Brothers. They’ll be great up there. Very excited, we cannot wait.

Nick: The band I’m most excited to see has got to be Simple Plan, we just met them over there by the Z Village concert stage, and they’re playing in the arena soon. I’ve been fans of them ever since I was very young, and I can’t wait to see them.

CGG: You guys have gotten so far, so quickly… on your own! What is some advice to people who want to be rock stars?

CJ: The best advice that we can give to any kids who want to be rock stars is just to follow your dream, first off. That’s the first and most important thing. Second thing would be get some friends, make some music, and then make a MySpace, ok? Because that’s going to help you boost like crazy. Sit there and street promote, hand out pictures of yourself, papers, it doesn’t matter. Just tell everyone you know about you and eventually it’ll come.

CJ stands tall. CGG

Nick: My biggest advice for people who want to follow in our footsteps is definitely, definitely, I mean, we give back a lot, and people have given back to us. I mean, being able to play here was such a great gift to us. It’s unbelievable. I can’t believe how many people are here and it’s going to be crazy. I can’t wait to go on. So I say give back and people will give back to you.