Everafter: Whiz Kids to Listen to Now and Later

Two years ago, Michael Allen's 5th grade class at the Brooks school got bitten by a musical bug.  Over the course of the school year, they began to play instruments and by the end of the year they had "an amazing 19 song rock and roll extravaganza."  This became The Thin Ice, a CD you can hear on Mr. Allen's website.

It would have been impressive even if they stopped there.  "As sixth grade dawned, a sprawling group of about 15 of the old class met and worked with me," recalls Mr. Allen.  "They were called The Psychedelics.  This work was spread out over two afternoons a week.  They eventually phased into a number of different collectives that played at the WMOS event last year, and they all brought the house down!"   Come seventh grade, 5 members of The Psychedelics committed to working together on a new project, "so Everafter was born from the ashes of The Psychedelics."

Maddi King-Giannino does the vocals, Mikey Walker  handles tech, guitar, bass, and vocals.  Jordan Howard is bass and guitar, and Laura Sodano and Jeremy Hollings both contribute guitar work.

The band composes and writes their own music, which they record in Mr. Allen's mobile recording studio (now permanently part of his Andrews classroom).  "At the beginning of the year, we started to write a lot of stuff," Laura says.  Jordan finishes her thought, "And we junked a lot." They favor ballads and rock, but their tastes have started to diverge.

At West Medford Open Studios, they'll be performing three original songs and two covers.  Are they nervous?  No, not at all.  They've done this before, and when there are mishaps on stage, they handle them with cool professionalism.  They have an indie, coffee-house vibe with pop overtones that you'll enjoy.  If you miss them at this year's WMOS, be sure to listen to them here.