Nathan

Nathan had dreamed of being a musician ever since he first picked up his first guitar. But picking up a guitar doesn’t necessarily equate to learning the guitar. Nathan had to learn this the hard way. He actually started taking guitar lessons at the age of 14 (when he found out it was way too hard to teach himself) and has been singing equally as long. Nathan is a major lyricist in the band and has gotten much recognition for his poetic lyrics in the song "I Don't Care If It Hurts." Nathan has knowledge of Protools and shares his ideas with the rest of the band by sending the AIFF files to them at home. He also drives the band van, which needs to be jump-started every time we are driving to a show. To outsiders, Nathan’s turbulent relationship with that van seems strange, but it really isn’t. Before each gig, Nathan washes it and places small offerings of peace under the hood. These offerings are supposed to help it start, but they never do. In fact, “Lili” is beginning to think that the thing brings a significant amount of bad luck. Unfortunately, it is their only form of transportation for the time being, and have to deal with its constant mood swings.

John

John started his music career in the fall of 1989 in a small Cincinnati hospital. Living out the young years of his life on a farm in southern Indiana, John was raised mainly by his older sister, his two dogs, and pet parakeets. He first had thoughts of being a musician at age six, when he stole his grandfather's acoustic guitar and smashed it against a wall, (thinking that's how all famous people played guitar.) Sorely mistaken however, he was subsequently kept away from everything musical until his father secretly bought him a 1940s era acoustic guitar when he turned 8; teaching him the E major scale and never giving a second thought to teaching him more. John then moved onto singing, having great success in a local touring boy’s chorus (thank puberty for ending his singing career.) However, quitting chorus and not having hands big enough to fit around the neck of the guitar, John gave up and never took a second look at his guitar or his music until he moved from rural Indiana to urban Chicago. The move was a huge culture shock and, with ripped Levi's and a flannel shirt, John showed up to his first day of school in Chicago at age 13. Later that night, he picked up the old out of tune guitar (that he barely knew how to play) and wrote his first song. It was in E major. A few months later, John decided he was too stylish for guitar and moved on to bass. When he first picked up a bass his pants instantly became tighter, his hair straightened, and his attitude redefined. This was not your typical skateboarder, this was John Ivers. John has now been playing bass guitar for 2 years, which surprises most people that assume he has been playing much longer. Along with bass, he is also quite proficient with piano, guitar, drums, and clarinet. He is the resident engineer of "Lili", having in-depth knowledge of Protools, Reason, Logic, and Melodyne. The only thing that surpasses his production knowledge is his creativity, which has proven to be the final puzzle piece in the band’s writing.

Callum

Callum saw his first guitar at age 7, when his dad pulled out his 1973 Telecaster from attic. At the time, Callum and his family were living in England, and he had no idea that when his father pulled out that guitar, his life would be changed forever. He watched as his father dusted off the guitar and proceeded to tune it. Unfortunately, his father was oblivious to the fact that 30-year-old strings probably were not all too sturdy. In one swift blow, the A string snapped, piercing the right hand of his beloved father. The horror and the pain would scar that young child for the rest of his life. Watching as his gentle mother took that rusty string from his father’s hand, Callum was positively flabbergasted and swore to never touch a guitar for the rest of his life. That vow was broken when Callum was 14 years old, and living in Illinois. He was first inspired to start writing music when he heard the song "Elevate Me Later" by Pavement. He taught himself to record into Garageband at 14 and now is very familiar with Protools, Reason, and Logic. So what happened to that guitar, you may ask yourself? Let’s just say that Callum still plays it on-stage to this very day, but he keeps a close eye on that pesky "A" string.

Sam

Sam is the drummer and youngest member in the band. Though he has received much criticism for being the youngest of the five, all doubts are put to rest when you hear him play with the band. His style perfectly fits with the music and he has become less important for convenience and more for brilliance. In his free time Sam loves to play old school videogames. In fact, when Sam is recording with the band he will actually get up and start playing Super NES. At first this doesn’t prove a distraction, but soon the temptation is too much to handle and all the band mates are tearing each others throats out just to get the controller. This strategy to tear the band apart proved terrifyingly useful during the summer. At one point, Sam almost convinced the band to drop all of the songs and play only Nintendo cover songs. His motive for this type of chaos is unknown, but hopefully it will be unearthed one day. In the mean time, Sam will play drums for the band, and he’ll like it too.

Bill

Bill has been playing keyboard for 4 years now and also plays trombone in the school orchestra. But to be completely honest, this was not what originally alerted members of the band to his presence. He is widely recognized in the school as the best ping-pong player. He is even in the “Ping Pong” club. Attempting to break the world record of “Best At Everything,” Nathan challenged Bill to a pick-up game of Ping-Pong. Supporting their band mate, John, Callum, and Sam just had to attend. Watching a nervous Bill walk over to the table, “Lili” just had to snicker. Unfortunately for them, Bill has an incredible serve, which does lots of spinney rotation types of things in mid air. The game was over in record time, making Bill the true record breaker, and not good ol’ Nathan. In order to protect their naturally huge egos, they all shouted in unison, “Well at least we play instruments and not some wannabe sport!” Bill looked at them slowly and smiled. Suddenly, a Korg keyboard had materialized in front of him. He placed his paddle worn fingers on it, and played Madonna’s “Like A Virgin,” flawlessly. Instead of beating him up, “Lili” worshipped him. Bill is now the newest member of the band and has quickly found his bearings within the group.

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	A Typical Question		Indie Rock

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