Center stage dreams

Fingers bruised from hours of practice, voices sore from strain, and constant anxiety. Not truly knowing where to start, Junior Sebastian Cotton and graduate Caty Barnhill did know one thing. They wanted to perform and create music. 

Made up of four members, the East Coast Bummers started playing about two weeks ago at a local pub.  Cotton and Barnhill felt anxious and nauseous before going on stage. But as soon as they started playing, it went like magic. It felt like they had been playing together for years. 

“We were all super anxious. Two of us puked before going on stage…but the second I tapped my sticks and we started going and saw the crowd where there was a bunch of crowd members who were like ‘these guys are good’. I think that was what got us through,” Cotton said.

Even with the nerves, both Cotton and Barnhill were able to enjoy their performance and chemistry. 

“It’s all you’ve been working towards for weeks so it’s like okay- moment of truth…I get really freaked and nervous about it and then start playing and it all goes away because it’s just you, your friends, and the music…You just wanna do it again and again and again,” Barnhill said. 

Cotton is used to being on a stage. In the past he has played with other bands. He’s been playing the drums for six years now, and has big ambitions for his future. Cotton hopes to see himself on stage more in the future. 

Like Cotton, Barnhill has been on a stage most of her life. 

“This wasn’t my first time performing but it was my first with this band, and there’s really nothing like it,” Barnhill said. 

With her two years of extra experience she also believes the stage is gonna be her desk. 

“ I think that’s the great thing…I’ll always be doing music in some capacity…ideally I’m still in a band playing stages whether that’s huge arenas or just greasy local pubs,” Barnhill said. 

The band hopes to continue playing together, and hope that they will be starting to work on their own music soon to get out there more. Wanting to run their own practices they are currently trying different types of genres and styles out.

“We’re currently covering indie music- beachy type stuff…As far as what we play, we’re still trying to develop our own sound considering we’re just starting to write original tunes,” Barnhill said. 

Their name East Coast Bummers didn’t just come from nowhere. The band started off having three different names.  

“We had three names at once until we finally settled on ‘East Coast Bummers’. It was a cool ‘Frankenstein’ mixed name. The idea of the name was gonna be east of the city … so Caty was the one that brought it all out there, she was like ‘East Coast Bummers,’” Cotton said.

Even though the East Coast Bummers started off having a wide range of three different names it was something else that inspired their name.

“To be honest our name started as a joke… we went through several versions of it. I happened to break my toe on the first day we all met, so the guys wanted to call us ‘Bum Dogs’ but I have too much pride to let that happen,” Barnhill said. 

Barnhill and Cotton have been playing music their whole life and have dreamt of being in a high school band since they were little kids. 

“I always wanted to make music, but I never really knew where to start. I realized some of my favorite bands [were] formed by just screwing around in their friends’ garage studios, and was like ‘wow, I need to be doing that,’” Barnhill said. 

“It was always a dream for me but growing up we were all surrounded by music and we all played music,” Cotton said. 

Even with the dream of being a high school band, The East Coast Bummers decided on a different route. With less freedom, the band decided to become a garage band in order to bring in some revenue. 

“ Being a garage band we do what we want. If we land a gig , we get profits. We get all the money from it. It’s all about the control, being able to have this media and have all of it to yourself is nice,” Cotton said. 

Being a new band, Barnhill finds that getting the exposure is an important aspect for a new band like themselves. 

“There’s nothing stopping you. Get together with friends and play play play. The biggest advice I have is to expose yourself,” Barnhill said. 

As the band continues to produce and play music, both Cotton and Barnhill look forward to what else their band can create. 

“Have fun with it, don’t take it seriously. Don’t try to create this image for yourself because when you’re our age, we’re all like young adults, so don’t take it seriously, just have fun,” Cotton said.