Within the walls of Plainfield East High School walk individuals with passion to invent and produce music beyond curricular band and choir.

These creatively-inclined students have taken it upon themselves to form their own bands which produce diverse music across several genres.

Acid Assault

Among these artistic individuals are PEHS students David Moran, Zach Gregson and Chance Anderson who came together with Caleb Gatz, Jovan Hougas and Matt Perry to create Acid Assault, a heavy metal band that has been playing since September of 2023. 

“I formed the band with our guitarist Matt, we had jammed out once or twice before, but eventually I remember we were like, ‘Ok we might as well just establish a band,” said Moran, lead singer and guitarist, “So one day we got together, we jammed, and we just called it the birthing of the band.”

Moran had been hoping to form a band since he was 11 years old when he came up with the name Acid Assault. Since, “the birthing”, the band rehearses intermittently in Moran’s basement. As a teen-led band, time management poses a challenge when it comes to practicing.

“A lot of it is time constraints, we’re a bigger band, five people, so it’s hard to get everybody in the same room at one time, we all got jobs, school, all that stuff, not having rides too. So it’s difficult, but it works. When we get together we sound awesome,” said Gregson, bass guitarist. 

In order to establish the band’s success, each member works to master their instrumental niche. A cohesive sound is made possible by Anderson, Acid Assault’s producer.

“You want everything to sound clean, you want to be able to hear your drums, your base, your guitar, and your vocals,” said Anderson.

Just like the cooperation of the instruments, it’s important for the members to all be on the same wavelength as well.

“With a band, it’s not like one person, it’s a collaborative thing, so you really need to learn how to work together,” said Gregson.

In the same vein as collaboration, the band decides the types of music they play, ranging from covers to originals. 

“We’ve got this song about, I haven’t put together the lyrics yet, but I’ve been working on this one called ‘Chronic Smoker,’ it’s about this hitman, he always smokes people for a living, he’s a chronic smoker,” said Moran.

As a teen-led band, Acid Assault finds challenge in booking gigs, but finds success in the group’s shared moments. 

“My first rehearsal with David, we were just going to Guitar Center and messing around with whatever they had in there,” said Anderson.

Acid Assault has persevered past obstacles thrown their way. Alongside their goal to produce quality music, the group is, above all, ready to jam.

**Band members are as follows: Zach Gregson (Bass Guitar), David Moran (Singer/Guitar), Caleb Gatz (Drums), Jovan Hougas (Guitar), Matt Perry (Guitar), Chance Anderson (Producer) 

Click HERE to listen to Acid Assault’s Demo

FPG Lounge

On the jazz, pop, and indie side of the music scene lies FPG Lounge, a band made up of Mia Valeriano, Madi Gaudiano, Eli Guadiano, Ivan Diaz, Mitch Thulin, Giann Aligno, Josh Rameriez and Charlie Hidalgo. 

Flaming Pug Giggleverse, the official name of the band, stems from an Instagram post involving a flaming pug, and a Minecraft server that many of the members played on called the giggleverse. They didn’t officially deem themselves FPG Lounge until a gig at a debut, when the DJ had introduced them as such, sparking the start of something special.

“After that, the DJ liked what we did and got us another gig,” said Diaz. “And we were like, ‘okay, I guess this is a thing now,’ and just started going on from there.”

Since then, the band has played about six gigs. Leading up to a gig, FPG Lounge will rehearse twice a week, lasting anywhere from an hour to three hours in Eli Guadino’s basement. Thulin and Rameriez set specific goals on what they want to accomplish at each practice, so everyone stays on task. Organization and communication is one of the core values FPG Lounge has, exemplified through what the band has named “The Oak Park Incident.”

“We got a gig at Oak Park, it was this huge venue, very nice, a lot of people, great stage, and we performed under songs that the DJ chose for us to perform, which we didn’t really want to perform,” said Diaz. “We were definitely lazy with practices and how [many] times we meet up, and learning the music on our own.”

The squad also performed shows that went perfectly, the crowd being the number one factor when it came to energy. The second debut that FPG Lounge performed at was a perfect example of a performance like this.

“The audience, the crowd, they were so hyped, so supporting.” said Madi Gaudiano. 

After performing, the band often creates crowd work, where the audience chants lyrics while clapping. All of the instruments are cut aside from the drums. Putting together a well organized show is difficult, but the crowd work provides a cherry on top.

“Putting it together is definitely the hardest part, Individually like Ivan said, we’re all pretty good, pretty solid at what we do, but putting it together is so hard because, for us we’re all in either band or choir, so we’re used to a conductor, but now we just have to rely on ourselves rather than someone leading us,” said Aligno. 

When the group finally does put everything together, it feels as though magic is in the air.

“I think it’s definitely a commitment to pursue something you actually enjoy, because we all love performing,” said Thulin.

Even in the depths of long and tedious rehearsals, FPG Lounge always finds a way to enjoy what they do while still working to master their musical talents.

“One little fun thing changes your attitude, changes your mind, everyone starts laughing and smiling, and we get work done,” said Diaz, “Those moments when we realize, ‘What are we doing, let’s have fun with this,’ are just amazing.”

**Band Members are as follows: Mia Valeriano (Singer), Madi Gaudiano (Singer), Ivan Diaz (Guitar), Mitch Thulin (Saxophone/Tambourine), Eli Gaudiano (Drums), Giann Aligno (Saxophone/Guitar), Josh Ramirez (Bass Guitar), Charlie Hidalgo (French Horn/Singer)

Click HERE to watch a performance by FPG Lounge