At age 17 and 14, members of the up and coming rock band DEMAND are celebrating the release of their first CD, Purple Squash, but don’t expect these young men to sing about love, babes or heartbreak.
“That’s all been done before,” lead singer Brian Morrison said. “I think if you’re going to write anything, it should be about something.”
The band formed about 2 years ago. Brian attended a 6-week music camp in Webster where young musicians had the opportunity to get together and “jam.” There he met 14-year-old twin brothers Mark and Alex Boucher from Marion. The trio was grouped with a few other musicians at the camp based on their musical skill level — a collaboration that ended with a concert at the Harmony House. Brian said he, Alex and Mark hit it off from the start.
Brian, 17, is a senior at Wayne Central High School. He started playing guitar about 5 years ago, taking lessons for as long as he could afford it. He decided singing would be a positive asset to his guitar playing and started practicing. His mom is classically trained in vocals and she helped him learn to adjust his voice.
Homeschooled, Alex and Mark come from a musical family. Their dad plays piano and for a time Mark took lessons from him, but eventually he settled on the bass guitar. Alex started playing trombone and other brass instruments before he found his passion lay with the drums.
“I just had to let that passion for music grow,” Alex said — a passion that existed before he even knew he wanted to play drums.
The trio played together for a time after other members they met at the music camp left. Then they met Matt.
Seventeen-year-old Matt Lowe, a junior at Wayne Central High School, has been playing guitar for years, but says he was never very good at it — not until he met Brian. The pair met through wrestling when Matt commented about a photo of Brian playing his guitar on Facebook. They struck up a conversation and were soon playing guitar together — and ultimately learning from each other.
Matt also fields background vocals for DEMAND. He said his vocal training includes singing along with his favorite songs in the car, but the blend with Brian works.
Matt’s expertise on guitar was an added coup for the band. “With an extra guitar, you can do so much more,” he said.
At age 17 and 14, members of the up and coming rock band DEMAND are celebrating the release of their first CD, Purple Squash, but don’t expect these young men to sing about love, babes or heartbreak.
“That’s all been done before,” lead singer Brian Morrison said. “I think if you’re going to write anything, it should be about something.”
The band formed about 2 years ago. Brian attended a 6-week music camp in Webster where young musicians had the opportunity to get together and “jam.” There he met 14-year-old twin brothers Mark and Alex Boucher from Marion. The trio was grouped with a few other musicians at the camp based on their musical skill level — a collaboration that ended with a concert at the Harmony House. Brian said he, Alex and Mark hit it off from the start.
Brian, 17, is a senior at Wayne Central High School. He started playing guitar about 5 years ago, taking lessons for as long as he could afford it. He decided singing would be a positive asset to his guitar playing and started practicing. His mom is classically trained in vocals and she helped him learn to adjust his voice.
Homeschooled, Alex and Mark come from a musical family. Their dad plays piano and for a time Mark took lessons from him, but eventually he settled on the bass guitar. Alex started playing trombone and other brass instruments before he found his passion lay with the drums.
“I just had to let that passion for music grow,” Alex said — a passion that existed before he even knew he wanted to play drums.
The trio played together for a time after other members they met at the music camp left. Then they met Matt.
Seventeen-year-old Matt Lowe, a junior at Wayne Central High School, has been playing guitar for years, but says he was never very good at it — not until he met Brian. The pair met through wrestling when Matt commented about a photo of Brian playing his guitar on Facebook. They struck up a conversation and were soon playing guitar together — and ultimately learning from each other.
Matt also fields background vocals for DEMAND. He said his vocal training includes singing along with his favorite songs in the car, but the blend with Brian works.
Matt’s expertise on guitar was an added coup for the band. “With an extra guitar, you can do so much more,” he said.
Next came naming the band. They all agreed they were looking for something that held a certain kind of power and had several ideas they pooled together. But DEMAND won the vote.
“It’s powerful,” Brian said. “We thought it was a good fit.”
The group is not above playing a little Jimi Hendricks, the Beatles, Led Zepplin and even the Monkeys, but the music on their first CD is all their own work. Their writing style is blend of their ideas that speaks to what’s happening in the world today. Adding cords thrown in from each band member, they put together a musical score before adding lyrics. Brian said the lyrics are their own form of poetry that carries a message of political injustice.
The notes are never put on paper and when performing live, they all admit they improvise. Mark said his solo in one show may not sound the same as the next — but the improvisation is what keeps people coming back for more. Even when performing old favorites from rock legends, Matt said they add their own style.
“You can tell what the song is and even sing along to the lyrics,” he said. “But we make it our own.”
“That’s why they come back,” Alex added. “Because we keep mixing it up.”
Stage fright is a thing of the past for these guys. The sound of their first audience applause had them hooked.
“We like to put on a show,” Mark said. “We like people to keep coming back to see us.”
The band’s music spans the decades of rock and blues, their bio states, and they have “received widespread acclaim for their tight sound and innovative interpretations of classic rock standards.”
DEMAND appears often at Rochester's Water Street Music Hall, Montage, and other local venues, including benefits. They have won the Battle of the Bands at both Water Street and Fairport Canal Days for two years running. Their unique style has garnered them some loyal fans, the group said. They take a very hands-on approach with their fan base, chatting with them on Facebook and keeping them up to date on what’s new.
Their hard work attracted the attention of local producers, Bruce and Armand Schaubroeck, who helped them with their first CD, which was recorded by Big Mike, the sound engineer at the House of Guitars.
Brian said this CD flows into the idea of freedom, a concept the group enjoys by not being owned by a large recording company. The CDs name comes from the title song, Purple Squash, and it’s origins are simple.
“We needed a word that rhymed with brain washed,” Matt said. “I said purple squash and Brian said ‘I like that.’”
So what’s in the band’s future? DEMAND isn’t seeking fortune or fame, band members all agree.
“We want to maintain an image,” Brian said. “It’s not about fame. It’s about enjoying what we do.”
A second CD, or more, is a definite possibility, but just what will happen to the group in the coming years is uncertain with so much change ahead of each of them with high school graduations, possibly college. What matters at present is the here and now, enjoying the small successes, the release of their first CD and making more of the music they love.
“We’re gonna keep going until we want to stop,” Mark said.
How to buy
DEMAND’s first CD, Purple Squash, is available at the House of Guitars or find DEMAND on Facebook and purchase the CD through a band member.
