With the overwhelming responsibilities that come with being in a band and being a full-time student, many college bands throw in the towel even before they play a handful of shows. However, after almost four years of successfully juggling school with their commitment to music, alternative band TwoSpy is still going strong.
The Aggie quartet consists of Ryan MacLawhon on vocals, Trent Foley on lead guitar, Eric Loftis on drums and Russell Wedelich on bass. Together, they have played more than 100 shows in the past two years and recorded their first full-length studio album, while managing to keep up with their classes and school work.
MacLawhon, a senior speech communications major, said although he takes his degree work seriously, his main priority is his responsibility to the band.
“I have always put the band before schoolwork because the music is more important to me,” he said. “It is my passion and what I enjoy doing. I would much rather play music than do homework.”
With its latest release, “Kool ot Yaw Gnorw” (Wrong way to look) coming out mid semester, MacLawhon said the semesters during and after the recording of the album were particularly difficult.
“Over the years, as we got more serious with the band and as we played more gigs, it got increasingly difficult to focus on schoolwork,” he said. “Since we began the recording of our CD last semester, we did a lot more shows and started to promote the disc. All of these events and the stress that came with them made the task of keeping up with school even harder.”
Loftis, a junior music major, said being a part of a band requires a lot of planning ahead and careful time management.
“Several times we end up having a performance scheduled for the middle of the week,” he said. “Since the four of us are students, it’s almost inevitable that someone has something due the next morning. If that situation ever occurs, we try to do it a few days beforehand, early the next morning or in some rare cases, procrastinate and just not do it at all.”
Loftis said, unlike schoolwork, personal relationships aren’t affected by the band.
“Our friends and girlfriends are always involved with the band activities,”he said. “Fortunately our families are also very supportive.”
Loftis said although he and his bandmates have set career paths in mind, they consider college degrees to be an asset for the band.
“We are all aiming to use our education to get better jobs and channel that money into the band,” he said. “We are all very serious about the band. Personally, I wouldn’t be going to school if I didn’t have to. The dream is to stay in the band and do what we love.”
With graduation looming for several of the members, TwoSpys’ latest challenge is having to plan its future, said Foley, a senior computer science major.
“After Ryan (MacLawhon), Russell (Wedelich) and I graduate, we want to get jobs in the same city so that we can continue with the band,” he said. “Since the job market is so dry right now, things are up in the air. We do know for sure that we are going to stay together and continue playing our music.”
The sole junior in the band (Loftis) said he wants to follow the band to whichever city it ends up in.
“I am definitely thinking about moving to wherever the rest of the guys get jobs and finish up school there,” he said. “In the event of that not being possible, I want to finish up my degree as soon as I can and then join them.”
MacLawhon said that ultimately, being part of the band is a struggle, but it is worth the fight.
“There have been many times when things get overwhelming and we have wanted to give up,”he said. “Then we ponder what could happen if we stick together. Our drive for the band is fueled by our love for music and the hope that something really big can come out of the band.”
TwoSpy will make its fourth appearance at the Northgate Music Festival Thursday, March 22, at 11:30 p.m. at Double Dave’s Pizza.