AKRON, Ohio — While the coronavirus has thrown a wrench into a lot of plans, one group of local teenagers decided to use their new found time to do something productive.
“I mean, we’re kind of keeping rock alive, sort of, because we are the younger generation, “ says 14-year old-drummer Luke Konopka.
Luke is the drummer in the band "Detention." The members are made up of four northeast Ohio kids from as young as 13 years old, all the way to the ripe old age of 17.
“We have a lot of adult help from our parents,” says the 15-year-old lead singer, Elliott Carter. “So, everything that we don’t understand, they help us understand.”
With the talent of the group and their parents help, Detention has gone on to perform at several big-time venues. They won the Tri-C High School Rock Off at the Rock Hall and had gigs lined up at the House of Blues and SXSW this summer. It was a lot of momentum that was halted by the coronavirus.
“It was weird,” says Evan Cox, the 13-year-old guitarist. “It was like a giant pause button. We have a lot of ideas, a lot of passion and a lot of things flowing.”
The elder of the group, 17 year old Fritz Dannemiller says, “I was really bummed about it, but I also know that I’m young and there’s next year, the year after and however many years after that.”
Instead of sitting around waiting to get back on stage, Detention decided to make use of their time and give their sound, a visual. The group planned out their first music video and went out to four separate locations to film their part.
“It was very fun for me, because I got to set up my drum set in my back yard in the woods, which I’ve never done before,” says Konopka.
Carter says, “We were like, let’s just get this done. Let’s use this time to the best of our ability.”
“All four of us had our input on the video on certain things that we wanted in it,” says Dannemiller.
Cox says, “It turned out better than we ever could have hoped.”
Their first music video is behind them and their lives and music careers are ahead of them. At this point, the band knows they’ll come out of this pandemic stronger and ready to rock.
“All of this bad stuff is happening around us and you just have to keep pushing through it,” says Carter. “Focusing on the present versus what could happen in the future.”
You can watch their full music video and learn more about Detention by clicking here, or by clicking in the player below: