A Day in the Life: The Alleged Band
On Saturday night in a small, hot living room, music enthusiasts sweatily gather to dance, drink and listen to talent at the Roadhouse DIY, a local music venue. At the heart of it all — backed into a corner lit by neon red LED lights and band posters — stands The Alleged Band, a group of 20-somethings who met through a music GroupMe. With a mix of original songs and one magnificent cover of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” (which sent the crowd into a frenzy), the band is quickly creating an army of loyal fans.
Gainesville has no shortage of phenomenal local music, as the birthplace for the careers of major musicians and big-name bands: Tom Petty, Don Felder and Bernie Leadon of The Eagles, and Sister Hazel, whose single “All for You” hit No. 11 on Billboard Magazine’s Hot 100 in 1997. With big shoes to fill, The Alleged Band entered the Gainesville music scene with one goal: to create music they can be proud of. Formed in May, the group embodies everything an indie-rock band should. With a mixture of ages, majors and personalities, The Alleged Band is unapologetically authentic.
(photo by Ella Thompson).
You can’t tell The Alleged Band members apart from other music lovers at a house show. You’ll find them on the front lawn of an old Gainesville house, drinking and chatting with the other showgoers. However, their stage presence — or floor presence in this case — sets them apart. The best part about house shows is the musicians can bring you into their world; after all, there’s no barrier between performer and listener. The Alleged Band is no different. With short hair and a body painted with tattoos, lead singer Cec Wood-Barron, 21, knows how to get a crowd going with the sound of their voice.
Weeks before their house show, I met the band for practice. Long-haired Leo Graham, 19, plays his dark-wood bass guitar with an ease that can only come from natural talent. Guitarist Brian Nielsen, 20, plays like the music touches his soul. Josh Artuso, 28, the drummer, always seems to be trapped in a corner by his drum set, but it feels like that’s exactly where he wants to be.
The process of creating music transpires for them like any other artistic experience: They start somewhere, then tweak the parts that could be better until a masterpiece is produced.
They practice a song from the top, stop at parts that could be different, and talk until they have something new to try. This cycle continues for hours, but by the end, they create music they feel comfortable sharing with the rest of the world. For them, practice consists of singing, sharing and chatting. Everything about it is natural.
The band talked to me about their musical inspirations, the greats from Gainesville that have come before them and the talent that Gainesville culture helps cultivate daily.
“It’s so abundant of talented artists,” Wood-Barron says.
Today, bands like Flipturn are producing the next generation of music and setting the stage for local artists to thrive in the industry. With a myriad of talents, Gainesville has multiple avenues to support and uplift indie artists: music venues like High Dive and Vivid Music Hall boost the voices of indie artists. At the same time, Swamp Records offers marketing, advertising and booking services to musicians throughout north central Florida.
If The Alleged Band members feel pressure, they don’t show it. For them, making music is a creative process where starting over and failing are integral points.
I sat next to Sarah Henry, Wood-Barron’s roommate and the “band mom” who sits in on most of the practices. She writes some of the band’s original songs, too. Her strawberry blonde hair bounces as she bobs her head to the music; her fingers tap the table in front of her.
While I’m there, the band goes back and forth between names for their first song, which they’re recording at Artuso’s house. The song is grungy and powerful with a deep throatiness, and by the time they played their house show, they had decided on “Spiders” for a name.
You can feel the combined vibrations of Wood-Barron’s angelic singing, Graham’s deep bass, Nielsen’s guitar rips and Artuso’s banging drums through your entire body. The song is a rollercoaster — alternating between slow and fast measures, it makes you want to headbang one second and sway softly the next. It evokes every emotion that good music should.
(photo by Ella Thompson).
Before practice ends, they juggle the idea of an EP versus an album but ultimately decide to continue work on an EP. Right now, the band plays many house shows, but they’re looking to eventually get paid for their music and play bigger venues in Gainesville. Their debut EP has been pushed back to 2024, Wood-Barron says.
The band’s practice is hot and slightly cramped, but the energy is ecstatic and contagious. At their live show, they feed off the crowd’s animated spirit and play with an avidity that can only come from genuine passion and raw creativity.
As the band’s set ends, showgoers spill back onto the street to catch their breath, but no one can seem to wipe the smile off their face. Once you absorb their infectious energy, you can’t help but imagine what big-town dreams may come of this small-town band.
Strike out,
Writer: Ella Thompson
Editor: Denisa Fluturas
Graphic: Anabel Dent
Gainesville
