This band is on the rise

By Colin Riddle  

NOVEMBER 3, 2011 3:33 p.m. (0)

Their friendships started in childhood.

Now, in their hometown they’re considered the next big thing.

They are The Wheresville Project, a band that includes four Spartanburg Day School juniors: Brian Steinberg, the lead singer who also plays guitar, Joseph Boscia,  who plays lead guitar and sings, Hunter Mulkey on the bass and Ben Lewson on drums.

Their musical backgrounds are a unique blend of classic and southern rock, blues, and funk.

“I didn’t like any music made after the ‘80s until I was 14,” said Steinberg, who started playing the trombone and moved to the guitar after frequently borrowing his sister’s guitar.

Boscia got his rock n’ roll spirit from his father and decided to start taking guitar lessons.

Mulkey took bass guitar lessons instead of regular guitar in hope of trying something less popular.

Lewson started as a trombone player until he was able to switch to drums.

In September they competed with other musical acts at the Showroom Gallery and Performance Hall at Hub-Bub’s annual talent show fundraiser. And won. They also performed at TEDxSpartanburg, which was designed to bring fresh ideas to the city.

The four also play for Day School’s concert and jazz bands.  They can often be found in the band room after school polishing up old riffs or jamming to new ones.

They started out covering older rock songs by The Black Crowes, Steve Miller Band, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Weezer.

“A thing that really bound us together was one album, ‘Stadium Arcadium’ by Red Hot Chili Peppers,” said Steinberg.

With the addition of Mulkey freshman year, the band progressed to more complicated music. Mulkey added more musical knowledge and an interest in new genres that allowed The Wheresville Project to investigate their own sound.

Practices began in Steinberg’s basement and attic with long hours in the heat and an emphasis on perfection.

“Perfection is No. 1, then energy becomes the next priority,” said Mulkey.

“When you perfect the song, you can have fun with it on stage,” said Lewson.

Communication is key.  Their history allows them to understand one another’s language in an instant.

“We play together so much that we know what each other is thinking,” said Lewson.

The band always hopes to convey emotion, pick the right idea at the right time, and be on the same page at all times.

“If you put us in separate rooms and tell us to play the same song, we want it to sound the same as if we were playing together,” said Lewson.

Wheresville performed an original song for the first time last October at Hub-Bub for an open-mic night, the perfect place to debut an original, they said.  The venue has a crowd friendly to the band.

“They didn’t boo us, so we were happy,” said Lewson.

“There was the satisfaction of knowing we had the ability to write a song,” added Steinberg.

The band describes their writing process as throwing music at the wall and seeing what sticks.

All four band members participate in the writing process and work to avoid writing songs that are cliché and mainstream.

“We try to write stuff that’s original, that’s creative, and accessible to a lot of people,” said Lewson.

The Wheresville Project will now focus on the future.  The next few months will start the transition process to recording original music.

The Next Big Thing’s winnings included $1,500, a music producer contact, and a meeting with a Hollywood talent agent.

This Saturday, the band will record a demo album at Wheresville Studio, which is owned by Mark Miller, a musician and producer.  They named the band after his studio north of Spartanburg.

The band also plans to record a short album in the New Year.

“We want to focus on growing as a band and taking it as far as we can go,” said Lewson.

The band recently met with Tom Worth, a music producer from Nashville with Musicians in Motion.  Worth sent their music to RCA for consideration.

“Every song we do is going to change with us as we get better,” said Steinberg.

Within the next year, the band mates will also consider where they will attend college.  They hope to attend college together.

Steinberg and Lewson are focusing on Tulane University due to its location in New Orleans, one of the music capitals of the world.

Mulkey is considering Belmont University in Nashville due to its prestigious music department.

There is also the possibility of taking a year off to pursue their music careers.

No matter if they decide to defer college, they have vowed to earn degrees eventually.

Their goal is to take the experience as far as they can and have no regrets in the end.

Their parents once bragged that their sons were in a band.  Now, they brag that their sons are in The Wheresville Project.