The student band Can I Call You Later, formally known as The Squirrels, performed at S’mores night on Oct.1 at the SILC amphitheater. S’mores Night took place after the Powder Puff game at 7:30 p.m. The band members included Cayden Juarez (10), Braden Czarnecki (10), Nicholas Jeffcott (10) and AJ Maestas (10).
The band announced that a new member of the band was going to be revealed on S’mores Night and it turned out to be Juarez, who originally played guitar only, but recently also took on the role as the new lead singer. “It’s a new thing for me,” Juarez said. “I feel like I have to have more responsibility with practicing more stuff outside of the band practices because I have to play two things at the same time.”
The band played seven songs including “Kilby Girl” by the Back Street Lovers, “Amber” by 311, “Babydoll” by Dominic Fike, “Sparks” and “Adventure of a Lifetime” all by Cold Play, as well as “Everybody Talks” by Neon Trees, and “What You Know” by Two Door Cinema. “We chose many of the songs because they are well-known songs from the artists, and the genre is kind of indie and indie rock,” Juarez said. “It’s just high energy and well-known music to our peers.”
The band had many crowd interactions; these interactions became some favorites during the show. “I’d say my favorite part was when we played ‘Everybody Talks’ and everyone was singing with us,” Maestas said. “I thought that was pretty cool.”
Czarnecki and Jeffcott had favorite parts of the show as well. “My favorite part of the show was during ‘Sparks’ when everyone had their flashlights out,” Czarnecki said.
Jeffcott felt that having the crowd participate made the experience better, His favorite part was during ‘Sparks’. “Everyone had their flashlight on for ‘Sparks’,” he said. “I liked just seeing the crowd.”
The band originally wanted to play at the Homecoming dance, but the Student Council already had a DJ set up. Instead, the Student Council found that S’mores Night was more convenient. “We could play S’mores Night, so we took that as an opportunity,” Juarez said.
The members are grateful that the student council found another time for them to play. “We really appreciate the opportunity to play,” Maestas said.
This is Can I Call You Later’s fourth official performance and Juarez likes that he knows almost everyone that watched them perform. At first there were nerves but after they played a couple of songs they felt more confident. “Honestly, if we had a bigger school, I would be more nervous, but since we have a smaller school and everybody knows us and everybody’s friends with us, I don’t feel as nervous,” Juarez said.
Maestas agrees that at first it caused nerves but it was fine after. “It was kind of nerve wracking at first, but after a little bit, I got used to it so it was really fun,” Maestas said.
Cora Lengerich (10) went to one of Can I Call You Later’s old performances at Battle Of The Bands last spring, and she feels like she’s seen improvement. “I think they’ve gotten better. They’re so good,” Lengerich said. “Everybody is very talented.”
The band practiced on every Sunday of September for about five hours, and outside of these practices everyone in the band practiced individually.
There’s another opportunity in the spring to have bands play at the school again which is Battle of The Bands. “I’m excited for next time we do a cool thing like S’mores Night again,” Lengerich said.
The band wants to continue to play and hopefully get more opportunities to play at bigger events. “I feel like people should come and watch us, because we’re trying to have a fun time and have a fun time and since it’s well known songs I hope they can vibe to it,” Juarez said. “I’m trying to get our band noticed so we can play at bigger events.”
