“Music is only an art if other people are listening to it”

The steady sound of a bass drum echoes from the eight-foot-tall loudspeakers into the growing crowd on the Lincoln Park campus Quad at DePaul University. It is spring 2022, the first year after the pandemic that FEST, the annual end-of-year concert and celebration, can return in person. For Any Two Words, the student band currently giving their all on stage, this is their first performance ever. 

Lead singer Michael Seybold looks out into the sea of students, most of whom are more eager to see headliner 2 Chainz than the openers. Seybold catches sight of a few friends there to support him and, with a steadying breath, plays on. For days afterward, Seybold will still hear the sound of the bass drum ringing in his ears.

Two years later, that drum beat is now a fond memory from Seybold’s freshman year. He jokes that the band’s tagline is “the only Midwestern emo band to open for 2 Chainz” when talking about how far they’ve come since that first performance. Now, the members of Any Two Words say they are looking for a chance to promote their upcoming album and update their tagline.

“Just having your name on the FEST flyer does a lot for a band that’s trying to grow,” Seybold said. 

“Starting a band is so hard because you get a bunch of people together then it’s like, ‘What’s the point?’” said Aval Zaucha, junior and bass player of Any Two Words. “At first, [gigs are] the point. This is something to prepare for. This is something to write songs for.”

Juniors Aval Zaucha (left) and Michael Seybold from student band Any Two Words listen to vocal recordings in Zaucha’s apartment Feb. 13. Seybold is the lead singer of the band but the other two members provide backup vocals which Zaucha then mixes on his own. Photo by Claire Tweedie.

Seybold said the album is a chance for the band to explore a new sound while showcasing their growth since past releases. 

“The writing and lyricism is a bit more mature than our EP, and there’s just a bit more nuance to certain [songs],” Seybold said. “It covers a larger spectrum of what we want to create, and we’re having fun doing it.”

Building the lineup 

Meanwhile, in an attic in Logan Square, student band Forgetting Sarah Marshall is working toward something similar: practicing their setlist for future gigs and planning their upcoming album. 

The sound of crashing drums, screaming vocals and amplified guitar riffs vibrate through the house as the band races through rehearsing their newest single, “Underwater Theme.” During their breaks in between songs, the members talk about gigs they booked, the album they need to record and produce and their jam-packed schedules to coordinate around. 

Rehearsal isn’t just a time to get everything done on their to-do lists, it’s also a chance to do what they love most.    

“To be so honest, this is the thing I’ve been orbiting my week around,” said Caden Shapiro, sophomore and guitar player.

(From left) Sophomores Caden Shapiro, Josh Patt, Dylan Shea and Bryen Kilbane from student band Forgetting Sarah Marshall rehearse in Shaprio’s parents’ attic Feb. 13. On top of practicing for Battle of the Bands, the members are also juggling student schedules with other upcoming gigs and recording their debut album. Photo by Claire Tweedie.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall began as a collaboration between sophomores Josh Patt and Bryen Kilbane during their freshman year. The pair met at a jam band practice organized by a mutual friend and quickly bonded over their shared love of emo music.

Sophomore Dylan Shea was the next recruit after Patt and Kilbane posted on social media looking for a drummer. While they originally intended to keep Forgetting Sarah Marshall as a three-piece band, they found a fourth and final member in Shapiro, another guitar player brought on to help record the band’s early demos.

Patt said Shapiro was invited into the ranks of Forgetting Sarah Marshall two days after their initial recording session together over a shared plate of mozzarella sticks and a unanimous discussion about the idea.

“This is the most serious I’ve ever taken a band,” Shapiro said. “This is the thing I really like doing and [these] are some of the most talented musicians I’ve ever played with or been around.”

While practicing one of their songs, Shea hits the drum set’s cymbal and breaks it clean down the middle. Shea laughs it off, letting the metal disc fall to the ground, and keeps playing. 

When the song’s final note stops ringing through the air he swoops down to grab it, haphazardly fastening the broken cymbal back onto its rightful place. Shapiro reassures him that it was already cracked; it was going to break sooner or later. The moment is quickly forgotten as they dive back into their music. 

Sophomore Dylan Shea from student band Forgetting Sarah Marshall practices the band’s newest song “Underwater Theme” Feb. 14. “Underwater Theme” released Feb. 24 and is one of the singles from their upcoming album which they are recording and producing themselves. Photo by Claire Tweedie.

“I’m just grateful to do something [where] I can outwardly create something tangible,” Shea said. 

The band produces their music entirely on their own, making them part of the do-it-yourself music scene. The consequent downside is that juggling their self-appointed deadlines and only having Shapiro’s parents’ attic to practice and record in creates uncertainty about when the album will actually be finished. As a result, Forgetting Sarah Marshall is cautious to share any hopeful release date, keeping the uncertainty to themselves for safekeeping. 

“You could be putting thousands of dollars as college students into music that could get less than a thousand streams on each song,” Shea said. 

Forgetting Sarah Marshall does get help from friends and fellow musicians to ease the production process. Their friend Claire Nistler is creating cover art for the album and any prereleased singles. One of Patt and Shapiro’s roommates is tasked with recording a cello part for another song. Jack Mitchell, the drummer in the student band Superdime, is loaning them cymbals to record drums. 

“It takes a village to make a s—y emo album,” Patt said.

Variety among different voices

Part of that village is Henry Madden, sophomore and member of Chicago-based band Naomi 10 Million, who helps lay tracks for Forgetting Sarah Marshall’s recorded songs. 

In a dimly lit rehearsal space in Humboldt Park, the band members play through their song “Cowboy.” They spend the entire four-hour-long practice fine-tuning that particular song, finding the right “disco beat” for drums and finalizing the song’s bass part. 

From the band posters of famous musicians plastered on the walls, Johnny Cash is flipping everyone off while The Velvet Underground broods across the room. This rehearsal space was meant to be a temporary summer setup while the School of Music practice rooms weren’t available. 

After a rule change banned all student bands unaffiliated with the School of Music from using the private spaces, Naomi 10 Million began using the rented room full time.

(From left) Sam Pardo, Henry Madden and Adrian Correa from student band Naomi 10 Million rehearse in their rented practice space in Humboldt Park March 2. The band spent most of their practice time working on their song “Cowboy” rather than playing through an entire setlist. Photo by Claire Tweedie.

Madden started Naomi 10 Million in April 2023 as a solo project named Harley Pumpernickel before bringing on Adrian Correa. Since the pair both sing and play guitar in the band, they began searching for a drummer. They eventually found one in Seth Savine, a freshman at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). 

“Everything we write is very experimental,” Savine said. “It’s really cool having all of these different ideas and different musical backgrounds as well influencing that.”

As their trio expanded into their current five-piece lineup, they used Bandmix — an online platform to connect musicians — to find their final members. Shawn McIntire, a junior at Roosevelt University, joined the band on keys while Sam Pardo, a recent graduate from Carthage College, joined as bass player and backup vocalist.  

“It’s kind of like a nice melting pot because we have a lot of different influences in this band from classical to metal and everything in between,” Pardo said.

According to Madden, almost all of their songs fall under different genres, depending on which member had the most influence over it. Savine said his contributions lean toward pop-punk influences. Meanwhile, Correa likes adding Latin elements to his music, which inspired a salsa song in their setlists. 

“We’re open to anything, and [the sound] comes out naturally,” Correa said. “We don’t really sit down and say, ‘Let’s make this type of song.’ It’s just ideas that we have.”

Recording “First Kiss”

The members of Any Two Words are recording vocals for their upcoming album in Zaucha’s Lincoln Park apartment, taking turns with the microphone set up in the middle of the living room. They keep a mattress propped against the wall in front of them to help dampen echoes and a bottle of red wine nearby in case any of them want a swig of liquid courage before their take. 

Seybold’s first take shows off his opera background with carefully practiced vibrato and crisp consonants, in contrast with the grungy sound they need, throwing the other two members into a fit of laughter. 

Seybold adjusts the grittiness in his vocals and goes again, prompting an enthusiastic thumbs up from Zaucha, who is monitoring the audio at his makeshift recording setup. Gartzke is on the opposite side of the room, furiously trying to finish a computer science assignment in between yelling encouragement to his bandmates and his own vocal recordings. 

Junior Aval Zaucha from student band Any Two Words looks over vocal audio files at his makeshift recording setup in his apartment Feb. 13. The band is part of the do-it-yourself music scene, meaning they are recording and producing their own album with no professional help. Photo by Claire Tweedie.

The song they’re recording vocals for is “First Kiss,” one of the first songs they ever wrote and one they performed at FEST 2022. Seybold said the album will be a mix of newer songs — some so recent that they only finished writing them the day they were being recorded — and older ones that have stuck around long enough to be rearranged and re-recorded from earlier demos. 

“There’s a big span of time between when these things were written, but I think the way we have it organized, there’s a good through line in the album that makes sense,” Seybold said. 

The tracklist for the album is so varied in genres that Seybold once suggested splitting Any Two Words into two projects: one with their more serious songs and another for their lighthearted ones. He said the band’s sound, though, is dependent on keeping the audience on their toes, even if that means putting a dance-pop song right next to a tragic emo ballad. 

“It’s just a joy to be in the studio and write and create,” Seybold said. “It’s an even bigger joy to play a show and have people sing lyrics you’ve written back to you.” 

When it comes to the genre of the band as a whole, their Spotify bio describes them as “whimsical twinkly emo.”

“It originated as Midwest emo … but then we kind of realized that we’re not even that sad, it’s more like we’re Midwest goofy,” Seybold said. 

“We’re somewhere between indie and emo in a funny way,” Gartzke added. 

Welcome to the stage… Jason Segel?

At The Society, a house show venue in Lincoln Park, the members of Forgetting Sarah Marshall take the stage clad in t-shirts and swim trunks to promote their newest song, “Underwater Theme.” 

“Stage” might be too generous of a word for the living room the band is performing in. Audience attendance is measured in the number of Solo cups used (more than 100) and the energy of the crowd is measured by the number of bones broken (thankfully, only one person dislocated their knee and fractured their patella and femur).  

From the band’s setlist, it becomes clear that Forgetting Sarah Marshall also doesn’t conform to a single genre. When asked to define their sound, the members of the band began laughing, seemingly too caught up in the enjoyment of making music to put a definite label on it. They turn to their Twitter bio, which describes them as “Midwest post-skramz pop shoegaze math punk Chicagmo.” 

In simpler terms, Patt explained, “We’re like a fifth wave emo rock band.” 

Sophomores Caden Shapiro (left) and Josh Patt rehearse vocals and guitar for their song “Wojack Horseman” at their band practice Feb. 14. This year’s Battle of the Bands will be Forgetting Sarah Marshall’s first time putting their all into the competition. Photo by Claire Tweedie.

A few weeks later, Forgetting Sarah Marshall opened for punk alternative band Harrison Gordon’s sold-out show at Beat Kitchen after the venue was upgraded from The Subterranean. 

Patt said it’s a validating feeling to see their band’s name on posters alongside more well-known artists in Chicago like Harrison Gordon. 

This time, the band swapped out their swimwear for a cat theme complete with cat ear headbands for each member. Shapiro and Patt also committed to wearing cat tails for the laughs. 

“This is an entertainment medium,” Patt said. “If there’s an opportunity to create a space where people can have some fun, we try to give them the most fun time they can get.”

Before cementing themselves in the DePaul music scene, the phrase Forgetting Sarah Marshall was more likely to be associated with the 2008 film of the same name. The romantic comedy starring Jason Segel isn’t where most people would look for inspiration for an emo band name. Yet for Patt, it was a perfect way to honor his favorite movie. 

For Kilbane, it was the name of a movie Patt made him watch three times in one week while brainstorming names for their newly formed music project in his dorm room. 

“We just kept watching it for the meme of it,” Patt said. “The more times we watched it, the more we were into calling the band Forgetting Sarah Marshall because we thought it was funny.”

“I also felt like it was such a pivotal moment in mine and Josh’s friendship,” Kilbane said. “It connected and bonded us in a way.”

New name, new era

For Naomi 10 Million, their name is also an inside joke. Madden originally formed the band under the name Harley Pumpernickel. As time passed and members joined, a new name became the signifier of their new era. 

The band decided on the first word, “Naomi,” because they liked the way it sounded but couldn’t decide what came after. Madden said so many suggestions were thrown out over the course of multiple weeks and discussions that he joked the name should be Naomi 10 Billion. From there, the name and number of suggestions whittled down to Naomi 10 Million. 

“When you’re in a band that’s so genre-fluid, it’s hard to find a name that encompasses everything,” Savine said.    

Adrian Correa sings and plays guitar during Naomi 10 Million’s band rehearsal March 2. Correa joined Naomi 10 Million after sophomore Henry Madden decided to rework his previous solo project Harley Pumpernickel into a collaborative band. Photo by Claire Tweedie.

McIntire said while reactions to the name change were mostly positive, others were worried that a new name meant a completely new band and sound different than the one they loved.

“To them, changing the name was changing the band,” McIntire said. “I think once we’ve shown that we’re still the same people doing the same music, I think a lot of the iffiness will be set aside.” 

Naomi 10 Million played their first set under the new name, at house show venue Bookclub on March 8 with bands Laceles, Vulgar Commons and Supercorp. They had never performed alongside these bands before, which proved to be a positive. The band didn’t need to reintroduce themselves with the new name to audiences who didn’t know them in the first place. 

Pardo said playing with new bands at a new venue gave them exposure to audiences they otherwise wouldn’t be able to reach and network with others in Chicago’s music scene. 

Seth Savine (left) and Sam Pardo practice their individual instrumental parts for Naomi 10 Million’s song “Cowboy” at their rehearsal March 2. Pardo spent the time finalizing and writing down the bass notes for the song. Photo by Claire Tweedie.

The show also gave Naomi 10 Million another chance to share the music they make for other people rather than playing it only for themselves during practices, McIntire said. 

“Music is only an art if other people are listening to it,” McIntire said. 

Naomi 10 Million will be competing in UIC’s Battle of the Bands on Wednesday, April 24. Savine said the bands he’s interacted with at his school are determined to win the competition — a mindset he doesn’t agree with. 

“I want to keep it about making art and sharing art,” Savine said. “I really don’t want us to be like, ‘How are we going to make art that’s better than everyone else’s?’ rather than just thinking, like, ‘How are we going to make art?’”

Headlining acts and anxieties

Mere hours before their show at The Fallen Log, the members of Any Two Words are still discussing what songs should be on that night’s setlist. This is their first set at an established venue in Chicago, not just a house show with an undisclosed address. With this, the band feels the pressure to make this show a good one.

Gartzke, who schedules all of Any Two Words’ gigs, said the process to book the show at The Fallen Log began months ago. As a lesser-known band, they rely on cold emailing venues to find opportunities and hope for a response back. Luckily for them, Gartzke said since The Fallen Log is a newer venue still establishing itself in Chicago’s music scene, they’re more open to supporting smaller artists. 

They know the songs they choose could make or break their headlining slot. If they play too many of their slower, introspective songs, it could kill the crowd’s mood. If they have too flat of a stage presence, the crowd could lose their energy. 

Slowly, they come up with a plan. 

They know they want to open with “Running Late to Theory V,” a song from their EP. Seybold knows he has a tendency to hyperfixate on his notes rather than looking energetic on stage. He’ll need to sacrifice some accuracy for movement. Zaucha knows no matter how badly they want to play ballads, they need to have a setlist full of what he calls “bangers.”  

One of the songs they debate on including in the setlist is “midnight doomer cruiser,” which became popular on TikTok and now has over 140,000 streams on Spotify. While Seybold said they’re proud of the song’s unexpected popularity, the numbers on either online platform only mean so much.

“When you’re on stage and you look at 50 or 60 people jumping around and having a great time to your music, it’s like I can actually see … how my music affects people and not just numbers on the computer,” Zaucha said. 

Juniors Aval Zaucha (left) and Judah Gartzke from student band Any Two Words listen to vocal recordings in Zaucha’s apartment Feb. 13 from “First Kiss,” a song on their upcoming album. “First Kiss” is one of the band’s first songs and was on their setlist at FEST 2022. Seybold said the song has stuck around long enough to be rearranged and re-recorded for their debut album. Photo by Claire Tweedie.

For Any Two Words, the opportunity to share their music makes any booking challenges worth it. Seybold, who is a music education major, said he doesn’t know what else he’d do if he wasn’t aspiring for a music career. Zaucha, who is also in the School of Music, said music gives him a chance to express his thoughts across genres and share that experience with others.  

Gartzke, who is a computer science major, said music may not be his career or degree path, but it’s something he wants to explore while he’s still young. 

“I don’t really aspire to be a programmer that sits in a chair for 40 hours a week,” Gartzke said.

“Music is the last sort of free thing that I’m able to go out and do before I have to get a real job or start a family or whatever.”

Two years after opening for FEST, the band begins their headline show at The Fallen Log. Gartzke starts drumming the intro for “Running Late to Theory V.” Seybold listens to the energetic build-up of the familiar drum beat echoing in his ears. He takes a steadying breath and begins singing over the cheers of friends and fans in the crowd, all eager to see Any Two Words. 

Header by Apoorv Mahajan