New Midwest emo band Plane Station emerges from the University of Rhode Island Musicians Guild, looking to make their mark on the university.
The band consists of four members: lead singer and guitarist Lucas Shapiro, fellow guitarist Kolio Cole, drummer Luke Burgos and bass guitarist Colin Decelles.
Shapiro is a second-year student from West Greenwich and is studying mechanical engineering. Shapiro’s love for music began when he was about 12 years old.
“The biggest turning point for me was when my stepdad bought me a plastic iPod for Christmas,” Shapiro said. “He put a band called Sponge on there, and I think from there, it led me to want to be a guitarist.”
Shapiro continually praises Sponge as an inspiration compositionally, as well as a baseline for his love of music.
Cole is a fourth-year student from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, studying art, and is on track to apply to the pharmaceutical sciences program. Although music has always been in the background of his life, Cole’s love for it really began in his first year of college.
“I kind of started feeling and understanding it on a deeper level,” Cole said.
Around this time, Cole also picked up the guitar, beginning his career as a musician.
Burgos, a third-year student from South Kingstown, is studying computer science with a focus on cybersecurity.
Burgos started playing the drums in sixth grade through concert band, starting on snare drum and making his way to the drum kit by his freshman year of high school. Exploring many genres of music like grunge, metal, classic rock and eventually Midwest emo, Burgos has always had music as a key player in his life.
“Even when I wasn’t playing music, I was listening to music like crazy,” Burgos said.
Burgos has been involved in many projects; however, Plane Station is the first in which he ventured into the Midwest emo genre.
Decelles is a fourth-year student from Woonsocket, studying mechanical engineering with a minor in nuclear engineering. Decelles got his first bass guitar at 14, influenced by his father, a guitarist, as well as his father’s best friend, a jazz musician.
“Since I could hold a guitar, he would try to get me to play it,” Decelles said.
Inspired by artists like Les Claypool and Victor Wooten, Decelles has allowed music to become a bigger part of his life in recent years.
The four members met through mutual friends within the Musicians Guild, and the project was an idea formed by Burgos.
“I made it with [Shapiro] for the sole intention of being like, ‘Hey, we are starting a specifically Midwest emo project,’” Burgos said.
Although each member pulls inspiration from different artists in their own respective composition, they all agreed on one common influence in their writing and playing: popular Midwest emo band American Football.
“American Football, that kind of music has been very much on the forefront for us when it comes to Midwest emo,” Cole said.
Recently, the band has released both a single and an EP on Bandcamp with track titles in true Midwest emo fashion. The tracks include “The Red Sox Won 16 in a Row, and I’m Still Not Happy,” “Graduation by Kanye West by Plane Station (Instrumental)” and “I Saw You and Broke Down in my 2016 Volkswagen Golf.”
The tracks on the EP are acoustic demos, with only guitar and vocals present. The tracks mix solid lead chords with fast soloing from Cole and Shapiro.
The four musicians continually praise each other as artists as well as friends, speaking on how great it is to compose with one another.
“How do you go wrong surrounding yourself with people that are very much similar to you, on a level that you kind of don’t really find anywhere else?” Cole said.
Plane Station looks forward to playing at the Musicians Guild Awesomest Fest on Saturday, and future gigs at the 193 Coffeehouse located in the Memorial Union. As they continue to work on and release Midwest emo music, Plane Station is ready for takeoff.
