The quiet fourth floor hallway was filled with the beautiful sounds of music the night of Dec. 22nd as students practiced their instruments. One band in particular was the loudest: The Fourth Floor Gents.

The Fourth Floor Gents are a band consisting of four School Within a School (SWS) students: a guitarist, junior Fabian Ugalde; a keyboard player, junior Xenofon Papamichail; an upright bassist, junior Nathan Ives; and a drummer, junior Rafa Mendez-Sippen. The band has become a staple of SWS lounge shows and events.

Ives said the band formed from a collective love for the art of music.

“We got to know each other and we all realized we shared this interest in music,” Ives said. “SWS does these monthly lounge shows and we decided we should try playing a song for that. So we met up, practiced the song and it just kind of came from that,” Ives said.

According to Mendez-Sippen, a lounge show is an SWS community get together, with performances by students.

“It’s basically an open mic hosted by SWS in which you can perform anything,” Mendez-Sippen said. “Most of the time it’s music, but we got karaoke, we got poetry, we got acting. There’s all sorts of things and it’s a really fun time.”

Ari Reyes, an SWS junior, said the band plays at most lounge shows.

“I know that they’re coming in. I definitely look forward to seeing them,” Reyes said.

Mendez-Sippen said he enjoys how easy going The Fourth Floor Gents are as a band.

“It’s really fun being in a band that’s casual; it’s less stressful. We come into each rehearsal not knowing where it’s gonna go. Sometimes we don’t get anything done. Sometimes we get a ton of stuff done and just play music,” Mendez-Sippen said.

Ives said the band is unsure if they will continue on post high school.

“I think at least at SWS reunions, we could always come back and play something,” Ives said. “I think that we could still try our best to keep the band alive when we can.”