The band “The Rotisserie Chickens” will bring the sounds of ska, a genre that originated in Jamaica and utilizes brass instruments, to College Station Friday.
“Ska was very big in the 90s, but it never really caught on,” said Michael Grover, accounting junior and lead singer for “The Rotisserie Chickens.”
Before the “The Rotisserie Chickens,” formed, some of the band members played with other bands. Bradley Hastings, one of the horn players and a junior nursing student at UT medical branch in Galveston, said he had never heard ska before getting involved with “The Rotisserie Chickens.”
“I was like, ‘What the heck is ska?’ and then from that point on it was like, ‘I guess I’ll forever be explaining to people what ska is,’” Hastings said.
Health care management junior and guitarist Alek Walker said ska music was perfect for him because he and Grover played the trumpets and a few of their other friends hoped to play brass instruments.
“It really was the perfect opportunity for us to all play the instruments we were good at,” Hastings said.
Grover said although the band only started a year ago, it took off quickly.
“We wrote five songs in three days, and thought that no one would want to hear them,” Grover said. “But our family and friends were really into it.”
Although the band members attend different colleges, they were able to take advantage of their time together over the summer and recorded their first album over the break.
“The Rotisserie Chickens” try involve all its members in songwriting, and each member brings something they’ve written when they meet to discuss new material. From there the band writes the guitar portion followed by the trumpet. The group then messes around fine tuning different aspects of the new song.
“We’re surrounded by tons of musical people who proofread as we write our music,” Grover said. “What’s beautiful is that since everyone is so talented, we’re all involved in the process. Everyone listens to different music so they all bring something different.”
As the only Aggie in the group, Grover said he is excited for the other members to visit College Station.
“I want to share the Aggie spirit with them as much as I can,” Grover said. “The amount of people here who flock behind you and support you is amazing. I want to show them why I chose to come here.”
The Dallas-based band will perform Friday night in The Grand Stafford Theatre in Bryan along with “Odd Folks” and “Corusco.” Doors open at 7 p.m., and music starts at 8 p.m.
