Two local highschoolers took the stage to celebrate their debut album, aimatmyorgans , joining the Musician’s Guild at the University of Rhode Island last Friday.
Paige Promrat, a high school senior from the Wheeler School in Providence, and Memphis Faris, a homeschooled junior, performed with the URI Musician’s Guild in Atrium 1 in the Memorial Union. The concert opened with local college bands like Cough Drop, Looking for Frogs and Baby’s Breath. The Musician’s Guild is a group of bands dedicated to maintaining a live music culture on the campus, according to the organization’s website .
“We weren’t planning on doing live shows with this project, like all of these songs were recorded in my bedroom,” Promrat said. “It is really cool to see how a live audience would interact with the music.”
The genre tackled at Friday’s event was “bedroom screamo,” a subgenre of emo music that includes screamed vocals and raw personal sound, according to Promrat. The album included emotional lyrics and playing with noise. Promrat noted their musical inspiration comes from bands like The Cure, Your Arms are My Cocoon and New Order for their bass lines.
The self-titled EP’s setlist debuted with “every night i hope i’ll dream of you,” which demonstrated the funky unmusical noises Faris has been exploring and the scream vocals the band is known for, according to Promrat. “snow song,” appeared next, followed by “all of you,” “girlhood” and “the best of duke ellington.” The band wrapped up their show by covering “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer.
Promrat and Faris began their project about a year ago, according to Promrat. This is the first EP released and includes pieces that Promrat wrote last December and the demos sent between the artists. The duo began performing live in August.
“I will record guitar and vocals and program drums for it and I will send it to [Faris] and she will add bass,” Promrat said.
Guitar, bass and backing tracks are included on the debut, according to Promrat. Isolated vocals can be heard in some of the songs on the album. aimatmyorgans utilizes composition in a new way.
“I really like weird noise, as a genre,” Faris said. “In my dads studio, I just pick up random things and make unmusical noises because it’s fun.”
The band hopes to include more oddball instruments including theremin, an electrical musical instrument that does not require physical contact from the performer, according to Faris.
Promrat picked up drumming after returning from tour with her traditional screamo band separate from Faris, Nithan Gohok, in August.
“Aimatmyorgans is a really big shift because I am still screaming and still playing noodly guitar riffs but the vibes are super super different,” Promrat said.
Promrat has been playing guitar for four years, both having begun when they were younger.
“I watched my dad [play] when I was little,” Faris said. “[Music] has always been a part of my life.”
Faris noted that her middle school choir days were scarier than performing screamo music. By performing more and being young musical veterans, Promrat and Faris have maintained their relationship with music throughout growing up. The two artists overcome any age gap and have been performing as 16 and 18-year-olds.
“I feel like there is something really fulfilling about playing and writing and getting to perform music,” Promrat said.
After not planning to perform their project, aimatmyorgans has played multiple times in Rhode Island, according to Promrat. The chamber screamo duo is continuing to create their textured and vulnerable music and plans to open for an unannounced festival this spring.