Dan Antoniu performs at the bonfire.
Finley Walker
Reporter
In the wake of a performance, or just for fun, students, like junior Dan Antoniu, and their bands get together to hang out and practice. Dan and his friends are among several high school students who have organized music bands and meet to practice songs.
“I never created any of the bands I’ve been in,” Dan said, who is a guitar player in the band Three the One and has played in several different music groups since middle school. “Most of the time it has been more of a spontaneous thing where I’ll jam with one person and then we’ll try to look for more people to sound better.”
Senior Davis Baer orchestrated his band, Baer, in which he sings and plays guitar, for the initial purpose of playing in an event they all wanted to be a part of. “We started because a few friends and I wanted to do Ramstock,” Davis said. “We didn’t really have any further projections on where it would go after Ramstock, we just focused on getting the five songs we picked to sound as best as we could before the show”
Sometimes students create bands based on their similar interests in specific genres of music. “Our band was started because we all loved the same type of music, classic rock, and some bands, like Led Zeppelin,” said junior Kyle Street, the drummer of Three the One. “In particular we found out that we all played instruments that could be used in a band.”
Being part of a band is as much of a commitment as any after school activity. “Usually we get there, set up, goof off, then practice,” Dan said. “We usually work on getting through the song then work on areas that are sloppy. And in terms of performing, we do it whenever we get the chance.”
Being in a band can be more time consuming than most after school activities. “During practices before gigs, we usually just go over our entire set list as much as possible in order to get each song as solid as we can before our gig,” Kyle said.
NCHS musicians have said that friendship forms the foundation for a successful band. “The biggest thing any band can have in terms of dynamics is chemistry,” Dan said. “No band’s going to get along perfectly all the time or agree on anything musically one hundred percent of the time. That’s why it’s important to keep an open mind and be ready to compromise.”
Davis agreed, “I’d say coherency between the people in the band is the most important. If you’re not close with the people, how do you expect to be able to share your thoughts without having to worry about being judged?”
Sophomore and drum player John Bemis, member of the band Birdwalk, said compromise is important in any band. “Sometimes we’ll have different artistic values or want to add different parts into songs, and we don’t always necessarily agree on everything, but we always come to a compromise, and if we can’t then the song or idea gets scrapped.”
John Bemis’s band Birdwalk performs for small audience.
Dan also said that it is important to acknowledge fellow band members. “Do your best to set your ego aside and just let your ear guide you,” he said.
For John, the best part about being in a band is the creative process. “One time we had a jam that lasted almost two hours. It was almost a spiritual experience and I felt like we were all leading off of each other extremely well,” he said. “I felt that the music was evolving in a very organic way. I believe that in a totally improvisational environment, true musical relationships can be formed.”
The musicians agree that the close connections bands create make their experiences worthwhile. “My personal favorite experience with my band was playing All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix in my friends basement,” Kyle said. “We were doing it the way that Jimi Hendrix played it, and then all the sudden it was like we were all thinking the same thing because we slowed the song down at the exact same time, and started playing it more like a jazz or blues style song. It was really a showcase of the cohesiveness of our band and how far we had come since we formed it.”
