The Grand Rapids band performs tonight at SpeakEZ Lounge to promote its upcoming EP due this fall after releasing the single, “Freetime,” earlier this summer.
Up and Coming; Boy from School looks to pick up more Grand Rapids shows, starting tonight at SpeakEZ Lounge. (Photo/Adrianna Walker)
THE MUSIC: Indie-pop/rock
WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE BAND: 8 p.m. Wednesday at SpeakEZ Lounge in Grand Rapids, with special guest Nikolas Warren
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After writing music together for more than 10 years, singer-guitarist Alex Mason and keyboardist Adam Baker of Boy from School have fashioned a solid understanding of each other’s songwriting.
Unique Pop: Boy From School (Photo/Anna Sink)
Now, with the addition of drummer Christian VanDuinen and bassist Beniah Dickson (who didn’t originally intend to become a permanent band member), the Grand Rapids indie-pop band boasts a talented roster with exceptional chemistry.
“It’s become a lot more collaborative than when we started. It was a lot of Alex’s songs that we started playing at first,” said Adam Baker. “We all contribute at different stages.”
The result is an electric indie-pop blend, influenced by many bands but still distinctive in sound, especially for Grand Rapids.
“We’ve moved toward pop a little bit more because the musical roots of the people in the band have changed,” said Baker.
“We’ve had a lot of people tell us that we sound like we’re a decade off, like early 2000s rock, like Guster, Rooney or early Vampire Weekend,” added Mason.
NEW SOUND DISPLAYED ON LATEST SINGLE
Unlike the band’s first EP, which members describe as more indie-folk, Boy from School’s has started altering the folk vibe with more synthesizer and keys, something that can be heard on the band’s latest single “Freetime,” released in July.
The group is currently working on its next EP, “Northern Cities Shift,” with the help of Nick Hosford, from fellow Grand Rapids rock-pop band The Outer Vibe, whose production has made their sound “a lot better” according to Baker.
New Material: The single “Freetime” will be a part of the upcoming EP.
“We’ve been recording everything at home, then sending it off to be mixed and mastered,” said Mason.
The four-song project, which includes “Freetime” and another upcoming single the band hopes to release in the next couple of weeks, doesn’t have a drop date that’s set in stone, but will most likely debut at the end of October or early November.
“Northern Cities Shift” will be the band’s most developed work yet.
“It represents moving out of the sound of our old EP to the style that we’ve settled into. It represents that transition from Point A to Point B,” said Baker.
“We decided to make it a little shorter because we wanted to put our best work out. We want to put out something we can be proud of.”
Although finding the time to practice and record while juggling full-time jobs can prove difficult, Boy from School hopes to embark on a mini-regional tour this fall to promote the EP. A Grand Rapids EP-release show is also in the works.
The band next performs at 8 p.m. Wednesday (Aug. 31) at SpeakEZ Lounge for the Local Spins Wednesdays series.
Copyright 2016, Spins on Music LLC
