Ellen Ludtke, Reporter
@eludtkecourant
On any given Saturday afternoon, the typical high schooler is hanging out with friends, catching up on Netflix shows, or coming home from sports practice. Some, however, have different routines, like freshman Erik Cohen, who spends hours at a band mate’s house practicing for The Verticals’ next performance.
The Verticals, an up-and-coming student band composed of Erik on lead guitar and backing vocals; lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and Darien High School freshman James Hilton; drummer and DHS sophomore Jimmy Conroy; and Academy of Information and Technology Engineering junior Nevan McCann, has already written six original songs since their formation in July 2014. They met at Giuliano’s Summer of Rock music camp and combined their talents to create an indie-rock quartet.
Two of their songs, Murky Green and September Weather, have already been recorded and released on YouTube. Despite their fast release, the producing process wasn’t easy. “Writing music is always difficult,” Jimmy said. “We edit and revise songs up until they are recorded to try and get them perfect.”
Murky Green was a collaborative effort for all band members; the band finished the piece at Giuliano’s summer camp, but producing September Weather was the first song through which each member found their niche. “It was written by Jimmy and James,” said Nevan. “Usually, they will write the lyrics, then James and Erik will come up with guitar while Erik and I write a bassline.”
Coming up with unique melodies is one of the hardest parts of creating songs, as James found out when writing a guitar solo for one of the band’s new, unreleased songs called Spiders. “I accidentally ripped off of Float On by Modest Mouse,” he said. “We had the song set for like, two weeks, then I realized and had to go back in and write a new part.”
Once the songs are written, the band practices them until they are ready to be performed in front of a crowd. “Every Saturday, we run our set. Once we do a song really well we’ll put that one to the side and practice the ones we need work on,” James said.
Ever since they released their first song, The Verticals have been performing covers, such as Fluorescent Adolescent by the Arctic Monkeys, and their original songs at different local locations to spread the word about their music.
Sophomore Leila Koochek discovered The Verticals at their Battle of the Bands performance at Peachwave Frozen Yogurt in October. “I saw them performing, and I was like ‘Oh my gosh, I have to meet these guys, they’re awesome,’” she said.
Since discovering them, Leila has become friends with the members and supported their shows and performances. “Every time that they would have a show, I would slowly bring more and more people in, and they decided that I was really good at getting the word out,” she said. “I always try to inch it into conversation with my friends, and everybody’s really interested in them, so I became The Vertical’s PR.”
Leila introduced sophomore Julia Means to The Verticals who instantly became a fan. “There’s just so much truth in what they play,” she said. “They’re all really good at what they do and it makes for a great band.”
So far, The Verticals’ most successful turnout was at the New Canaan Outback on January 16, where they performed alongside Libby Knowlton and The Vacant. “It was big. There were around 135 people
there,” Nevan said.
With their sudden success, the band members look forward to their promising future. “They’re getting out their EP soon,” Leila said. “We’re hoping to release an album and a music video too, its going to be awesome!”
Jimmy agreed. “We’re probably going to take this band as far as we can,” he said. “Whether that means record deals or never getting any bigger than what we are now, we’re gonna keep at it as long as people keep listening to what we put out.”
Leila believes that the band have the potential to be very successful. “They don’t sound their age, their songs are so professionally done, and watching them perform and hearing them practice is just incredible,” she said. “I really admire them.”
The Verticals will be performing at the Darien Library on Sunday, March 22 and at the Darien Depot on Saturday, March 28.
