Whether six feet apart or an entire state apart, sophomore Ella Stott and her close friend Max Lee have decided to form a band in hopes to further their music careers, taking up new instruments to learn and teach each other as they go. 

The band’s name is currently undecided, but the title “Brain Dead” was briefly passed around in the beginning. Stott said they don’t exactly want to stick to one genre, in fear they might grow tired of it.

“Max and I have very different music tastes,” Stott said. “So, when we put together songs, both of our tastes are going to be mixed into one, which I think is going to sound really cool.”

Stott takes a lot of inspiration from artists like Harry Styles, Wallows, David Bowie and Queen. With so many talented people to look up to, Stott said to mix their sounds together is interesting. Lee enjoys artists like All Time Low and Waterparks, so even their own personal styles together will have a unique sound. 

Both members have had a passion for music since a young age, so to start a band together just felt right, even if it was spontaneous. 

“One night I was texting Max,” Stott said, “and we were messing around and one of us, I forgot who, went ‘what if we started a band.’ We had already talked about it a few times before, but that night we actually decided to give it a shot.”

Although the band is long distance in nature, as Max lives in California, quarantine has already impacted the band greatly. 

“[Max] was supposed to come to my house for a week over spring break,” Stott said. ”But because of the virus, he wasn’t able to. It really messed with us because we had planned to produce a ton of songs and maybe even finish a whole EP.”

For the time being, distance is their biggest issue. Stott said in order to work and collaborate on their songs while the trips are postponed they’ll need to rely on FaceTime, which can be tricky. 

“I just hope that people actually like our music,” Stott said. “The music industry is so big and scary, and there are so many artists that don’t do well, so I’m just worried that it’s not going to go the way planned, because this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.”