By Corrina Taylor
Staff Writer
Students are murmuring on the other side of the curtains, waiting in anticipation for the talent show to begin. The performers are backstage going over last minute details. Some details more important than others, one band struggles in the last 15 minutes to come up with a name for their band.
They look at their surroundings hoping for inspiration to hit, when all of a sudden a disco ball comes into view.
Backstage Disco consists of sophomores Christian Meyer (guitarist), Daniel Jones (drummer), Coleman Loose (bassist) and Gaurav Bagaria (singer). This group of friends has known each other for years, through sports and school.
It was not until December when the band was formed. Before Christmas break the students got together and practiced for three weeks straight to learn the four songs needed for the talent show. At the time, the main objective for them was to enjoy themselves and prepare for the show.
“I just have fun with [being in a band] – I hope we don’t lose sight of that,” Meyer said. “The moment you don’t have fun is the moment that it is not worth it. Music can’t take us anywhere bad if we’re having fun.”
When the band performed at the talent show, the audience requested a drum solo from Jones. Once he began to play, Meyer, on impulse, began to play Seven Nation Army by White Stripes. To his surprise the rest of the band began to play the song, and they pulled off a song they had never practiced together.
“When we start playing, smiles just pop up on all our faces because it’s really exciting,” Bagaria said. “I would say it’s been pretty rewarding.”
Being friends, the band members have fun with their music and enjoy every minute of it. It has come to be something they look forward too.
“I like playing music; it is my favorite thing,” Loose said. “Music is my mythical creature.”
Although it did not win the talent show, the band had a great experience. Audience members were excited and some even went home to like Backstage Disco’s Facebook page and follow the band on Twitter.
“Overall they did a fantastic job,” judge of the talent show Andrew Patterson. “Honestly it was a matter of more experience, they are very good they just need to get on stage as much as they can so they can learn how to interact with the audience and draw them in.”
Students who have known the members for years were excited about the band and became some of their biggest fans.
“All of the members are my friends, which makes me like [the band] even more, but all of them have something unique to add to the group, which I love,” sophomore Jenna Waters said. “They all bring their individual talents into one group, and it always turns out amazing.”
Since the talent show was a success, the next step is playing in more venues and writing original songs. The band is hoping to play to raise money for Relay for Life and play at the actual event on Apr. 27 as well.
Though the band does not have any original songs at the moment, it is currently working on songwriting. Each student participates in a sport through the school and has busy schedules, but they put time aside every Sunday to practice.
Individually, they have begun to write riffs and are hoping to collaborate soon to write their first original song.
“We are going to see how it goes when we start writing our own stuff – that’s when the real judgment will come,” Jones said.
Once the original songs appear, it will be a snowball effect, more YouTube videos will be produced, a website may be created and its fan base will begin to grow.
Being only sophomores, the group members have plenty of time to play throughout their high school career. For now, the focus is to have fun with what they are doing and enjoy the music.
“I’d love just getting our name out in Coppell and playing in Coppell at different events as much as possible,” Bagaria said. “And if it’s get to be more than that, that’d be great. But I’m content with anything, as long as we get to keep playing together.”
