At first, I didn’t think I’d make it to the church where I planned to meet up with the members of Science&Aesthetics, an indie rock band from New Jersey, in one piece. What was once a gorgeous, sunny day quickly turned into a stormy evening, and every exit sign on the highway looked like nothing more than a blur from behind my windshield. It was so dark that I actually encouraged the random spurts of lightning to illuminate the way. The string of traffic for miles only led to a blocked exit— mine!— and a detour was the only way out. However, when I finally escaped that nightmare of a highway and rounded the street leading up to the church where a beautiful winding road of mansions stretched up to its doors, I knew the next hour or so would be a magical one.
It was Andrew McDonnell, the 19-year-old lead guitarist of S&A, who greeted me at the front door along with 25-year-old bassist Marc Bloom. After introducing them to my small entourage consisting of a close friend and my borrowed cameraman, the boys led us down the decorated hallway of the church and straight to their youth room where the other members, lead singer/guitarist John “Drace” Dracy and drummer Matthew McDonnell (Andrew’s younger brother), were patiently waiting.
Inside the youth room I immediately noticed how incredible the setup was. At one end of the room was a lounge equipped with black couches that appeared to be plucked straight out of an Ikea catalog and a small dining area on the opposite side. In the center were rows of seats to accommodate a small audience and a stage where amps and instruments sat in wait. When I asked if they wanted to start by playing a couple songs, they chimed “yes!” before I could even finish my sentence.
According to Dracy, their band played together for a couple years prior to officially forming in August of 2010. At first, the group included everyone but Bloom, who was away at college at the time, and they started by writing a song in Dracy’s basement. Apparently, it never got past the editing phase. “It’s a song that will be probably never be heard [by anyone] because it’s so . . . interesting,” Dracy said as the others laughed in unison. “There isn’t a name and we changed the lyrics like a hundred times.”
When I asked the group how long they’ve been playing their instruments of choice, Andrew McDonnell began to laugh. “Well I started playing guitar when I was about 12 or 13, but I stopped for a while before high school. I don’t know why, I guess I just stopped. ”
“I think it was because you wanted to join the youth group and I didn’t let you,” Dracy admitted with a laugh. “I didn’t know how good you were.”
The church they all attend proved to be quite the foundation for them in more ways than one. Dracy’s mentoring at first helped coach the boys into unleashing their innermost talents and their freedom of musical expression. They also sought inspiration from the highly acclaimed UK sensation Coldplay, whose stage presence and melodies motivate some of S&A’s own creations. Although their songs have Christian undertones streamed throughout— especially the ballad “Stronger” and the band’s favorite “Ashes”— Dracy believes the message they are trying to convey is a universal one that all audiences can relate to.
Speaking of Coldplay, I wondered: have they ever tried to cover any of their songs? “We haven’t really covered any songs we like yet,” Bloom laughed. “I mean, unless you count worship music as a cover, [then] we cover a song every week.”
“Once Upon A Time,” a song where 23-year-old front man Dracy sings “no matter where the winds blow / we’ll be alright / we’ll be safe inside,” was one that especially hit home for me. During their performance, I recognized that Dracy’s attitude and stage presence could easily parallel that of the soulful punk singer Patrick Stump. The whole band’s confidence also glowed through every guitar riff and drum roll. Having already performed at venues such as The Canvas Clash and the Creation festival this past summer, S&A hopes to win the hearts of even more fans through their debut self-titled EP, now available on iTunes and Amazon.
Perhaps the explanation of their name’s origin was the topic that I was interested in most. Dracy explained that the first half came about one Halloween while he and Bloom dressed up as the guys from MythBusters. At a party that night, they mockingly replied to every question they were asked with the answer “science.” As for the aesthetics bit, Dracy said that it was meant to connect the meaning and beauty of life to science and music.
“Actually, first our name was The Walking Distance, which had like no meaning at all and was apparently the name of a Twilight Zone episode,” Dracy said. “So then we changed it to Science&Aesthetics.”
“No no no, then we changed it to Drawing Boxes!” 16-year-old Matthew McDonnell pointed out as the group burst into laughter.
I was laughing too as Dracy shook his head in shame. “We won’t even go there.”
