Features 17
highlights \ Vol. 56 \ May 2016
Lunch band trio: peanut butter and jam
Students Marco Auedo, Jesus Zurpa and Eric Suarez’s lunchtime “jam sessions” cover classic music, from AC/DC to the Beatles.
By Natalie Viglucci and Sofia Viglucci STAFF WRITERS
Concealed in a sparsely inhabited corner of the school and positioned in front of a faded and peeling wall is a group of students equipped with guitars and AC/DC shirts in place of school books and collared uniform tops. Freshmen Jesus Zurpa and Eric Suarez, and senior Marco Aedo have revamped a veiled and forgettable seating area known as “The Roof” located near the JROTC pavilion, making it into their personal stage during school
hours. The group gathers weekly during first lunch on odd days to play music together sometimes with the company of friends or an audience of wanderers who stumble upon their secluded musical abode. “Jesus and I were friends and one day Marco showed up at our hangout, and we became friends and started to jam,” Suarez said. There is no shortage of instrumental ability among the three musicians. Together, the members of the group play the guitar, bass, drums, ukulele, mandolin, harmonica, piano and trombone. “I’ve always been a fan of music,” Suarez said. “When I was a kid my dad would play The Beatles and Led
Zeppelin a lot and I got hooked.” The group mostly performs covers, but they have developed some originals and improvisations in the past. Although they jam together, Zurpa, Suarez and Aedo each have their own taste and style of music. “All of us have different playing styles,” Suarez said. “Marco is like a bluesy indie rock style, I’m a bluesy hard rock style and Jesus is very pop.” When they’re not playing together at school, the group can be found at the Guitar Center jamming and learning about the instruments that turned a shadowed and desolate nook into a vibrant and distinguished spot at the school. If anyone is ever seeking to escape the humming and suffocating cafeteria during lunch, “The Roof” and its concert of rhythmic and captivating melodies remains welcoming.
Natalie Viglucci/highlights
MAKING MUSIC: Students Auedo, Zurpa, and Suarez strum away during one of their many lunchtime jam saessions.