Brandon Powell: bass, backing vocals

Music has always been a huge part of who I am and how I see the world. In fourth grade, I wanted to play the drums, but my parents thought they'd be too loud; so I started taking Suzuki-method violin classes after school. I did just fine, but after one of the recitals, the teacher told them that I had aptitude on the violin, but that they should think about letting me play… drums. Soon after, I stopped playing violin. After later elementary-school forays into lip-syncing KISS songs at talent shows (with fake guitars we made ourselves!) and other youthful indiscretions, I finally got a chance to play the drums in high school. My friend’s mom, who was a music teacher, had an old drumset that I borrowed for a couple of months when we tried to start a band. At one point, my dad apologized to me. He said, “They’re really not that loud. If we’d known, we would have let you play drums when you were a kid.” No hard feelings, Dad.

I finally started seriously tackling music the summer between high school and college. I got my first guitar, and as soon as I could play a few chords, I was writing songs. Not very good songs, but unlike most people who pick up the guitar and start learning other people’s stuff, the only thing that occurred to me was to make up my own. At college, I started my first real band, for which I wrote most of the songs, and the hook was set. Since then, I’ve sung, played guitar, played drums, and played bass in various solo and band projects, from St. Louis to Austin, and now in San Francisco.

And I have no idea who Bill Donte is.