Drumstick beats trip over the music stands, ushering in the trappings of a song. Juniors Andrew Myint and Ethan Creadon play guitar and bass, respectively, switching things up while their lead singer, junior Sarah Kingsford, and drummer, senior Jensen Hallock-Wishner, stand on the steps to the Black Box and tell The Chronicle how their band Very Real became very real.
A local band of four members called Very Real, shines light on the creativity that emerges from Shorecrest’s student body. The members—Ethan Creadon on bass, Sarah Kingsford as vocalist, Jensen Hallock-Wishner on drums, and Andrew Myint on guitar—all share a love of music-making.
“When we started out, we didn’t have a name, so we picked Very Real because we just didn’t know what to call ourselves,” said Kingsford. An arbitrary name is the band’s only cavalier approach to the music industry. From typical teenage garage seshes and organized meetings on Shorecrest campus to uploading content on social media, the band is practicing and producing multiple times a week, all while being full-time students.
For Kingsford, “this is something you have to do, not just another extracurricular. Of course, you have to prioritize school over the band no matter what, but this should be number two.” Alternatively, said Hallock-Wishner, “[the] band comes first and you just procrastinate everything else.”
Regardless of their successful collaborations on songs and an EP underway, closer inspection of their individual collections of band tees reveals a dissonance in music taste. “We all have very separate music tastes which kind of influences our style of playing,” said punk and metal enthusiast Hallock-Wishner. According to Kingsford, she is “very rockish,” whereas “Andrew is maybe the most indie person ever. Like with bands that [Kingsford] didn’t even know existed, he will know the entire discography. Then, Ethan is pretty much your typical funk bassist.”
Despite their differences, they find an intersection when creating their songs together by loosely following a formula. “Normally, it’s like guitar and then bass follows. We add in drum beats and then I come up with lyrics at the end,” Kingsford said. With this tactic, their musical divergence transforms into creative products. “We try to do a lot of different genres. We did a Christmas song. We did an environmental song—‘Summer is Never Ending’—that’s like an anti-beach boy song about global warming,” she said.
“Without Shorecrest’s support, Very Real would be struggling,” said the band. “The administration and faculty have been so supportive of us,” said Hallock-Wishner. “I remember I was reading during my free period one day while the administration was playing Fluorescent Lights. I was so happy.”
Faculty and staff have already stepped up, but now Very Real needs Shorecrest student support more than ever. “Make sure you check out our music and follow our Instagram to figure out when the EP or album drops. Unfortunately, Jensen is graduating next year, so if you are a drummer, please consider coming in contact with me or Andrew,” said Kingsford.
