Brewster, Boland, Brockway, Basket(s).

A dorm basement might not be the ideal place to form a band, but two years ago the members of Basket(s) started to jam while they waited for their laundry.

Basket(s) has performed in various venues, including local restaurant Funk ‘n Waffles and university spaces such as Goldstein Auditorium and Arnold M. Grant Auditorium. In downtown Syracuse, the band has performed on the street while giving out food to people in need. The group now strives to perform in venues like the Westcott Theater and the F Shed.

James Yu, lead vocalist for Basket(s), founded the group with his floor mates during their freshman year. Yu, with Lazaro Sanchez, the drummer and a junior illustration major, and Dave Xu, a guitarist and a junior finance major, started playing music in their dorm basement as they did their laundry, which later inspired the band’s name.

The group describes its sound as experimental indie folk. Because the band came together at SU, Yu, a junior policy studies major, said that the Syracuse community has allowed the group to network with a wider audience in the area.

“It’s definitely exposed me to a lot of the issues that exist in the city, and given me a lot of things to think about and the other ways that I can help the city,” Yu said. “In terms of enlightening me, I guess the Syracuse community has been very influential in that process.”

Yu’s experiences in the Syracuse community, both on and off campus, have influenced the band’s music and motives. He said that the band’s goal is to help others through music, which is why they release their music for free online.

“We’re definitely more community minded, we’re not thinking to be famous or anything,” Yu said. “I’m more interested in trying to find ways that the band can offer things to the Syracuse community.”

Yu said he interacts with people invested in Syracuse community development organizations to find out their musical needs. Basket(s) mostly works with establishments that it believes have a defined mission.

Sanchez, the drummer of Basket(s), hopes the group will be able to positively reach out to the Syracuse community through their relatable music. He feels Basket(s) has the ability to emotionally connect to listeners through both its lyrics and instrumentals.

“I think that one way or another, our music has the ability to move people,” Sanchez said. “Whether it’s people getting up and grooving or head bobbing or just being emotionally moved, because let’s face it, James (Yu) has the voice of an angel and some people could cry listening to him.”

Although the band is now comprised of four core members, including bassist Daisy Gan, a junior illustration major, they say there is no definitive size of the band. The group often features several other musicians who perform with them live.

Sanchez said the band hopes to create an extensive music network through which multiple people can partake in being a part of Basket(s) and positively influence audiences through music.

With such a broad goal, it was imperative for Basket(s) to create a presence on social media to broadcast themselves, said Rachel Thorpe, the band’s manager. Thorpe, a sophomore in the Bandier Program for Music and the Entertainment Industries, helped the band record four songs in Belfer Laboratory, a studio on campus, and later with StudioDOG Pro, a local studio in Syracuse.

Thorpe believes that the group’s creative lyrics and mellow instrumentals will translate well with the greater Syracuse community.

“Their music is pretty diverse and I think they have a unique sound to them. It’s very soothing,” Thorpe said. “James (Yu) is an awesome songwriter, his lyrics are great, and the instrumentation behind the songs … just stands out.”

The band is now in the process of signing a record deal with Marshall Street Records, a student-run record label sponsored by David Rezak, director of the Bandier program. The group is currently working on releasing a single and an EP later this year.

As the band pursues more musical exploits, the members continue to appreciate the reason they began playing together in the first place — because of their friendship.

“The best part is just being with my friends,” Sanchez said. “I never thought that we would get some sort of traction, so it’s pretty cool, people coming up and saying, ‘Oh you’re in that band, The Buckets or the Basket(s).’ Sometimes they get our name wrong, but that’s totally cool — the fact that people remember us.”

 

 

Published on September 9, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Isha: idamle@syr.edu