At The Stone Pony’s January 14th Sunday Showcase, Manchester local band Back to June performed their first live gig with impeccable energy that would have you believe they’ve been around for quite some time. Formed by a passionate group of students from both Ocean County College and Manchester Township High School, Back to June as its name suggests has only had a 7-month run but they’re already making a huge impression. Balancing mellow shoegaze with charged alt-punk, each band member utilizes their instruments that captivate the crowd. Their rehearsals of covers on TikTok radiates dedication while also showing just how fun performing in a band can be. With the excitement of The Stone Pony fresh in their minds, Back to June is already working on booking their next gig hoping to bring their fresh, vibrant sound elsewhere for new fans to enjoy.
Q. You just performed your very first live gig at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park. Talk about this experience and how was it playing one of Jersey’s most classic venues.
A. Performing at one of New Jersey’s most classic venues to us, was definitely one of the biggest achievements we’ve had as a band. When we started this band we would’ve never imagined being able to perform at The Stone Pony and have so many friends and families there who were supporting us. It was the best thing that could’ve happened
Q. Your band is comprised of college and high school students. How do you balance busy schedules and find time to make music together?
A. Our band does have a mix of college and high school students so most of the time someone is always busy. But we usually have practice right after high school ends around 2 and practice til about 6 or 7, 2 to 3 times a week. Most of us have jobs as well, but we still find even a couple hours in a day to get together and play some music because it’s something we’re all really passionate about!
Q. What style are you aiming for in your music? What are you hoping to bring to the alternative genre?
A. So when we first started Back to June we wanted to aim for an indie/alternative genre, but as band members, we’re in and out and we didn’t really know what we liked. But now we’re set on shoegaze/alternative/rock. What we hope to bring is honestly just joy in people listening to us play and listening to our music and songs. We hope that we can show people that even when you’re in high school and college and work 25+ hours a week there’s always time to make music and have some fun!
Q. What are some of your favorite covers to perform? How might these covers influence original songs?
A. Our favorite covers to perform at the moment would be “Head in the Ceiling Fan” by Title Fight and “Darkness” by SWEET SPINE. We like these because a lot of people who like shoegaze/rock music know Title Fight very well. These songs are gonna kinda lead us into the direction we want as we start recording original music and as we start releasing more and just really steer us into the direction we want to go in!
Q. Now that you’ve just done your first live gig, what’s next for you guys? Do you have any other venues in mind you’d like to perform at?
A. To us, we really think as a band we can get somewhere with this. As of right now, we’re thinking about playing at The Delancey In Manhattan. They invited us a couple weeks ago to play at their venue so we’re discussing as a band about taking the hike up to New York to play there. Within the next couple of months, we would like to release an album and a couple of singles to really get our name out there and hopefully, people will say “I was there at their first live gig”!