Please Be Careful is a North Jersey-based instrumental experimental indie rock band formed by longtime collaborators Neil Sabatino (Fairmont, Mint 400 Records Founder) and Christian Kisala (Fairmont, The Bitter Chills). Their first album, Hot Surface, drops on November 28, 2025.
Sabatino and Kisala, who had played together in Fairmont for over a decade, started the project during the pandemic as a new creative outlet. Originally envisioned as a jazzy indie rock trio, the band soon expanded into a quartet with the addition of drummer Anthony Freda (Million Year Picnic, Cat London) and multi-instrumentalist James DeRose.
The band name, Please Be Careful, reflects the mix of sincerity and subtle humor that underpins their approach—an expression that can apply to both everyday life and artistic risk-taking.
Drawing on an eclectic range of influences, the group blends punk and alternative roots with elements of jazz, groove-based experimentation, and modern pop. Their collaborative writing process often transforms simple ideas into complex, evolving arrangements, with each member contributing their own sensibility to the final sound.
In performance, Please Be Careful emphasizes reinterpretation over replication, creating live sets that feel distinct from their recorded work while maintaining a strong melodic core. The result is a dynamic balance of energy, precision, and experimentation.
The band draws on other instrumental acts like Tortoise and Hella but infused with a bit of trip hop bands like Sneaker Pimps & Portishead then thrown into a blender with some Ramsey Lewis and Ventures. Bits of jazz fusion influence seeps in from Herbie Hancock’s “Headhunters” along with modern synth and drum bits like Domi & JD Beck. The band even sneaks a quick drum nod to Notorious B.I.G. in their Seals & Croft cover of “Summer Breeze”. All together the band was striving to be something new and not easily categorized and on their first LP they seem to meet the challenge.
Please Be Careful is establishing themselves as a fresh voice in the North Jersey music scene with their debut record ‘Hot Surface’ while already setting sights on future material.
