Every band starts with a few songs, small venues, and a passion for music. But only a select few gain enough traction to become mainstream. With a new generation of musicians, up-and-coming bands on campus could be the future of rock. 

The band Wadeview, features junior Zac Glazier on guitar and vocals, junior Cannon Thompson on drums, and junior Evan Vergara on bass guitar. 

“I feel like the timing is good, me and my friends have come a long way from when we first started playing,” Thompson said. 

Over summer break the members began rehearsing together in Glazier’s garage.  “Zac has always wanted to start a band, and now that [we] finally have time, I decided to pick up playing bass guitar,” Vergara said. 

Wadeview is currently in the process of writing and rehearsing. They plan to release songs on all platforms and play gigs at local venues such as Stardust, Uncle Lou’s, and Will’s Pub in the near future. 

Toxic Intent is another band on campus. Freshman Weston Meyer plays lead guitar, and freshman Zander Zara handles rhythm guitar and vocals. They released their first demo tape in August. The demo consists of 4 songs, and it’s strongly influenced by 80s thrash metal.

A main goal of every band is to get a foothold in the industry, and Toxic Intent is off to a very strong start. 

Bands like The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Radiohead, and Green Day all began as groups of high schoolers, working their way into the local scene. Now, they are some of the most well-known bands in the world. Wadeview and Toxic Intent are rapidly growing a fanbase of students, parents, and teachers, all of which are highly supportive. The bands have high expectations, and it’s clear they want to grow their audience. “I think they could go very far,” freshman Marli Brocious said.

With the continuation of growth and new music being released, both bands are on the right track. Just like Green Day or Radiohead, these bands have the potential to be the next big thing.

1. The first step to a band is making the actual band. It’s obvious to have a band they need to be…the band. Good members are necessary rather than having everyone share a common interest or having members that know what they’re doing. Make sure that the members are committed, no one wants that one member that can’t make practice every single week.
2. The next step is to write and create the songs, every mainstream band starts somewhere and this is where bands begin to make their stride. During this time every band will find their uniqueness and what makes their band, once the music is written,recorded, and edited, the first piece of music is upon the horizon.
3. Now it is time to begin performing at local venues. This will spread the band’s name out to locals and give a dedicated fanbase early on which is necessary in making a band. This also gives the band necessary experience in performing in front of a crowd which will lead into bigger crowds and venues.
4. The final step to beginning a successful band is publishing your music. A popular way bands get started publishing is through the platform Distrokid. Distrokid publishes to platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal and more. Once the music is posted and starts to get traction then that’s it! The band has begun.