In the vast sea of extracurricular activities that students dive into, student bands are certainly evident throughout the school. But unlike sports and clubs, students are free to practice based on their own schedules.

Though student schedules may be packed, it’s the passion that compels bands to continue to play, according to junior Nik Lukovnikov of the band Generation Y.

“It all depends on how much drive you’ve got for what you are doing. This band is a priority over many things,” said Lukovnikov.
Sometimes, players are forced to sacrifice other school demands for their band, according Lukovnikov.

“For example, our bassist is also a director of a student play. He also had a test the next day, but he still played. Very often we give up lots of stuff. But it’s worth it in the end.”

Both Lukovnikov and Spears agree that the most exhilaration comes from the collaboration of the band members.
“Once we get to where we think it’s good and we play for the first time where everything matches up, that’s just the best,” said Lukovnikov.

Spears found that after people practice a song individually and start playing with the entire band, “you get to see what it actually sounds like.”

“Everyone kind of adds their own musical tastes and styles, which gives each song a unique sound,” said Spears.

In spite of all the demands of schoolwork, band members have and extracurricular activities that they participate in, whether it’s track for Spears or tae kwon do for Lukovnikov, they still find time for the thing they love most.

Band Profiles

Name: Generation Y
Members:

• Eddie Dodson – Guitar
• Tyler Campbell – Drums
• Nik Lukovnikov – Lead guitarist
• Jacob Miller – Bass guitar

Quote:

• “We like to play a little louder, a little ruder and have a little more fun. It all depends on how much drive you’ve got for what you’re doing.” -Nik Lukovnikov

Name: Dance The Zouk
Members:

• Nate Mullin – Drums
• Pete Spears – Lead guitar
• David Whipple – Bass guitar

Junior Peter Spears of the band Dance the Zouk said that recently, their practices have been sporadic.

“Sometimes we’ll play around in our free time if we’re hanging out and actually put everything together,” said Spears.

As events that Dance the Zouk plays at approach, such as Habfest and Open Mic nights, the band gets down to business.

“Right before a show, we just kind of make time. We’ll kind of force everyone off their schedule for several days,” said Spears. “Everyone kind of adds their own musical tastes and styles, which gives each song a unique sound.”

Name: Pancakes With Fidel
Members:

• Tom Oettgen – Rhythm guitar, lead vocalist
• Zak Walker-Kahne – Lead guitar
• Ilya Bernstein – Bass guitar
• Jaime Craig – Drums
• Torin Geller – Keyboard

Name: Big Words

Members:

• Micah Katz-Zeiger – Vocals, guitar
• David Toppelberg – Drums
• Sam Friedman – Guitar
• Adam Chedd – Bass

The freshman band Big Words, whose popularity is increasing, has faced challenges of organization.

“We weren’t very serious this year, but we’re organizing ourselves. We want to write a song, we want to challenge ourselves and we want to play some new styles, some jazz fusion,” said Big Words drummer David Toppelberg.

But despite the sacrifices and the demanding schedules, band members cannot escape the feelings of creating new songs.rg

Juvan Bonni and Ben Eggleston can be contacted at [email protected]