Students rediscover community
and creativity with garage bands
The sound of guitars and drum kits is spilling out of garages and basements in Nixa. For teens, forming a band can be about carving out a space of their own and reviving a tradition that once defined youth culture.
Garage bands were a staple in rock culture. As students have been bringing back “vintage” things like records to flared jeans. Garage bands are next target.
“We were originally formed by the three of us, my guitarist, our bassist and I,” senior Julian Orozco Killian said. “We formed at Springfield Skateland. It was a couple of years ago, and our guitarist, his name is Isaac, also known as Iris Jordan, he contacted me on the weekend. He asked me if I could sing for the band. I’m like, ‘Music, rock and roll. I don’t know how it’s going to play out, but I’ll just give it a shot.’ I’ve stayed with them ever since. I learned that music is another one of my passions.”
While Orozco’s band, Rezarect, was formed with a serious goal, other students took different approaches.
“We were at a regionals for choir, and we were joking around about starting a band like, ‘Let’s start a band, guys,’” senior Harrison Carter said. “We decided, why not? We started a band. It felt really rushed, but then it came together. We just kept saying like, ‘Hey, I know someone that can do this, I know someone that can do this.’”
Carter’s band, Siberian Bowling Club, is made up of seniors Ethan Turpin, Asher Langston, Zackery Knapp and Harrison Carter, 2025 graduates Zachary Austin, Aiden Ingerson and Arthur Shutts.
“The singer Lucy Fleetwood and I wanted to start a band, and so we got together some people we knew, and we just started to play,” sophomore Myah Brooks said.
Rezarect focuses solely on covers of songs. They have an Instagram account called rezarect.band where people can follow them.
“So we play all the stuff from the ’80s,” Orozco said. “ ’80s hair metal to ’80s heavy metal. Such as Pantera, Mötley Crüe, Skid Row, Jon Bon Jovi, Guns N’ Roses, we have that and even Twisted Sister. .. We recently just added 14 new songs to our set list. Starting with ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’ by Bon Jovi, ‘Hot for Teacher’ [by] Van Halen, ‘Domination’ by Pantera, ‘Night Train’ [by] Guns N’ Roses, ‘Rock You Like a Hurricane’ by the Scorpions and ‘We Will Rock You,’ but Warrant’s version.”
Carter’s future goal is to play at the end-of-year choir showcase and for the band to start writing their own music.
“We’re trying to strive towards original music,” Carter said. “We would probably [perform] one of the songs we’re practicing at the moment, which is, ‘Killing in the Name’ by Rage Against the Machine.”
Carter’s favorite song to play is ‘Brain Stew’ by Green Day. The bands focus is on getting in quality practice time before their performances.
“First, it’s like, it’s whose house, and then who’s able to make it,” Carter said. “Sometimes it’s two people, sometimes it’s almost all of us. We’ve always been missing one person, and it’s totally fine because that’s why we have a lot of people. It’s been more like once every two weeks.”
Since school has started, Carter’s band has been meeting less and less because of hectic schedules. This is a very common problem for student bands. Students try to get around these hurdles to keep playing music together.
“I guess the hardest part for us is that we all have our own lives,” Orozco said. “We have our own little stuff to do, and the hardest part is trying to find a day of practice that works for all of us. We usually go out to Ash Grove, all the way out in the country. But it’s just a schedule for all of us and trying to make it. A hard thing is finding jobs that can work for us, because we literally can’t play around downtown. We’re not old enough to be able to play in bars or the clubs or anything just yet.”
A common problem with student bands is how fast students move on from them. Sophomore Myah Brooks has been a part of two bands playing the bass guitar. They played different genres of rock, one artist being ‘The Strokes.’
“You literally cannot keep [bands] together,” Brooks said. “They break up all the time. But you get to hang out with your friends. You get to enjoy the same love of music. It gives you something to do. You get to practice and get better at something that’s definitely a boost for your ego.”
Brooks’s band, Crate, disbanded over the summer. Its members were sophomores Caleb Legris, Lucy Fleetwood, Claire Correll and Myah Brooks and junior Lucas Edge. Their Instagram account is still available to follow at _crate_.
“The confidence, the energy, the teamwork and bringing these songs to life,” Orozco said. “You really don’t see bands that work together, work harder anymore. The best thing about having a band is that it’s like family. You play with these guys, you hang out with these guys. At the end of the day, we usually get the job done, so we love each other, and we treat each other like brothers. There are challenges along the way. We do have some disagreements and some agreements. But other than that, we have such a fun time with everybody.”
Beyond rehearsals and performances, members shared that love of music is what brings them together.
“We all know each other very well,” Carter said. “We’ve known each other since, seventh grade. I think we just play together really well. We have very good uniformity… everyone in it is a great player. We support each other a lot.”
