There’s a new band on campus, and they’ve got big plans for the future.
Last year, a couple of first-years discovered their shared talent for music and started practicing together. This year, they’ve become a full-blown band. With Anthony Lerro as singer and bassist, Leo Tarascio as drummer and Cedric Wysocki and Ben Raftery as guitarists, “Krent” is already off to a strong start. They debuted on WVOF Fairfield Radio with an acoustic set in October, and they’re just getting started.
The band is looking forward to their upcoming event on December 9th, when they will be hosting a live Christmas concert with WVOF in the Lower Barone Campus Center.
They also expressed hopes of potentially playing at the townhouses. Nothing is set in stone just yet, though. “We’re kind of in our infancy here,” Raftery said.
With all of their plans in mind, the band is not afraid to put in the time or effort when it comes to rehearsal. Usually, they practice twice a week for about two hours at a time. Between classes and the normal demands of college life, they still manage to make sure they get that time in. “If we miss one of those days, we’re pretty good at rescheduling to another time in the week. We’re pretty good at making sure we get two [rehearsals] every week,” Lerro explained. Before performing the acoustic set with WVOF, they dedicated even more time to rehearsing than they usually do, adding in some independent practice while at home for October break.
The band got their start last year when Tarascio, Lerro and Wysocki got together just a few times to play. “That was our original band,” Tarascio said, “but that never really got anywhere.” They explained how difficulties finding a place to practice stopped them from meeting more often.
It wasn’t until this year that they got serious about becoming a real band, bringing Raftery into the group and creating a more consistent schedule. They secured the set with WVOF through Tarascio, who hosts a radio show with sophomore Liam Von Yurof called “What the Crent?”– not to be confused with Krent the band – on Tuesdays from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. The hosts decided that the show could benefit from some live music, and from then on, the band took off.
“Everything came together, like the stars aligned,” Lerro said.
The band’s repertoire consists of a mix of 90s rock, punk, metal and grunge. They play plenty of crowd pleasers and fan favorites, too. Some of their favorites include “Valerie,” “Someday,” “505,” “Creep,” “Fake Plastic Trees” and “Buddy Holly.”
“We are the best band in the world at playing Buddy Holly,” Tarascio joked.
“We might be,” Raftery agreed. “Except for Weezer, of course.”
So what’s next for Krent? Other than playing various locations on campus, the band discussed their hopes of getting gigs around town, maybe even playing at The Seagrape one day. “In terms of college, that’s probably the end goal,” Raftery said.
And if not The Seagrape, the band is also dreaming of performing at the beach. They revealed their vision for a kind of block party, potentially setting up in the parking lot of one of the off-campus houses and hosting a makeshift concert there. For now, the band is still figuring things out, but they seem to have a promising future ahead.
To keep up with Krent, you can follow them on Instagram @krent_band or on Youtube @Krent-Band.
