As boy bands regain popularity on a global scale, from One Direction to The Wanted, several boys try to mirror their successes on a high school level. Though they perform different genres of music at various venues, each band hopes to pursue its respective musical interests and earn the attention of their audiences.
J-Tal
Freshmen Josh Mannis, Tal Halperin, Jeff Dicker, and Jacob Ballard form J-Tal, a band that has performed at venues from the Chesterfield Talent Show at the Chesterfield Amphitheater over the summer to their eighth grade celebration last year.
The boys cover several genres of music, including pop and rock. According to Mannis, they tend to play “stuff that everyone knows.”
“We like to listen to a lot of music and make it our own,” Mannis said. “Every song influences us in different ways.”
Mannis plays guitar and sings in the group while Ballard plays bass. Halperin plays the drums and has also played piano for more than eight years; Dicker plays the keyboard. Each of the boys has developed different musical interests and individual influences.
“I like Fun. because it has a lot of keyboard in it, which is what I like,” Dicker said. “I like to learn a lot of songs by them on my own.”
While the boys do pursue interests on their own, they make time to practice together. Though they aim to perform with each other about two hours per week, according to Mannis, there are barriers that hinder the band’s progress.
“We can’t really get practices in because we all have busy schedules,” Halperin said. “We don’t perform much.”
Though the boys do struggle to find time to play music as a group, they agree that they are all friends outside of their musical pursuits.
“We are all really good friends so we can critique each other and nothing gets taken personally,” Halperin said.
The boys hope to continue playing music, perhaps on a larger scale in the future.
“We’re all friends, it’s fun to play together and sound good,” Dicker said. “My aspiration is to play in front of lots of people and get noticed.”
The general consensus of the band is to gain approval and acknowledgement from others.
“I just want to play in front of a lot of people and for people to know us and like us,” Mannis said.
Last Minute Run
Junior Jack Connolly plays guitar in his band, Last Minute Run. The group also consists of juniors Cory Stine, a drummer from MICDS, and Elliott Rodriguez, a Chaminade student who sings and plays bass. Junior Aidan McCarter also sings with the band in some performances.
The band has been together for four years, since all of the boys were in seventh grade.
“We were all like, we’re really good at ‘Rock Band.’ I was already playing guitar, so it just started up,” Connolly said.
The band has performed at various venues in the past years, including the Chesterfield Art’s Make Your Mark event in the spring of 2011, during which citizens came to paint the noise abatement wall in the Chesterfield Valley. The band also performs at occasional neighborhood parties and venues, according to Connolly.
“We have performed at the last two Chesterfield Talent Shows at the Amphitheater. The first was the first show they ever did, which was pretty cool,” Connolly said.
Like J-Tal, Last Minute Run plays covers but with more definite influences such as the Beatles and Coldplay, as well as some original songs.
“I can write really cheesy love songs,” Connolly joked.
Though the band itself has been together for about four years, the members have been friends for much longer.
“We’re all really good friends. I have known Cory and Elliott since preschool,” Connolly said. “We were in the same room, Room Number One.”
The long-time friendship is a positive aspect of the band’s interactions, according to Connolly.
“We don’t mind completely rejecting someone else’s ideas, and it’s fine,” Connolly said. “We can fight and still be OK.”
Connolly is also active in musical groups within the school itself, including the show choir band and TDL, the jazz band. Though these can be time consuming and take away from practice time of the band, he said the extra individual practice time is beneficial.
Connolly hopes to perform with McCarter later this year in the school’s possible upcoming Battle of the Bands competition.
Gormogon
Senior Noah Ockner is the guitarist in his band Gormogon, consisting of members from Chaminade, Parkway North and Clayton. Gormogon plays metal songs, all of which are original.
“The band was formed in June 2011 because we each had a passion for music and wanted to write together,” Ockner said.
Ockner has been writing music for around three years and finds inspiration from the music he listens to.
Gormogon often holds live performances at popular venues such as Pop’s Night Club, Cicero’s and Fubar. The boys practice at least once a week for four hours, often more if they have a show.
“My favorite part about performing live is seeing people enjoy my music,” Ockner said. “That lets me know that I have done what I have set out to do.”
Ockner and his band mates hope to continue to pursue their musical interests in the future.
“We all want to make it in the world of music; that is our biggest aspiration,” Ockner said.