It’s official! Staff Infection is coming back, and the iSchool community is more ready than ever to see what they have in store!

For those of you who don’t know, Staff Infection is a band made up of the iSchool’s very own staff members. They made their debut last year, in 2018, during the Spring Concert. Many students who attended the concert loved the performance–phones were out, and cheers were loud–and that was simply the sound check for the group.

The band consists of 10 members. On the piano we have Ms. Mangano and Mr. Jay. Electric guitarists include: Ms. Laplante, Ms. Asher, and Mr. Singh. Playing the drums is  Mr. Smolka. Ms. Smith takes on the french horn, while Mr. Whittaker plays the cello, and Mr. Paris plays the bass. All while Ms. Colon takes on vocals.

How did this band of ten members come to be?

“I’ve had the thought of some kind of staff band for years…”says Mr. Paris, This idea spread around the iSchool’s staff members; one of them in particular, Mr. Jay, happened to be keen on making this a reality. With a bit more time, this thought actually became reality.

It started with surveys. Many of the staff members who were in the band filled out a survey, sent out by Mr. Paris, about whether or not they were interested in the band, and what instrument they would play.

Many of the members joined because of their love of music.

Take Mr. Whittaker for example, when talking about the band, he mentioned how  it brought up memories “of the old days.” He continues, “It was so much fun. I played in a band in college, and it reminds me of those days.”

Then there’s Mr. Smolka. When talking about why he plays the drums, he said, “I never loved an instrument as much as I loved the drums. When Mr. Jay was like ‘We’re putting the band together’ I wanted to play drums immediately… I wanted to buy a drum kit and learn.”

In fact, many teachers who joined the band used it as an opportunity to learn and practice music with a group of people. Ms Asher, one of the guitarists says, “I played in high school. I had been practicing already for a year, and this allowed me to get more practice. Also–I had always wanted to be in a band. I thought it’d be really fun.”

Rehearsals

Rehearsals for the band can be describe with one word: entertaining. Many of the band members described the rehearsal as comfortable and fun.

“I looked forward to it. It was like I wasn’t at work, it was really fun,” says Mr. Smolka as he remembers the rehearsals. Mr Paris says, “It was a good change of pace. It was nice for teachers to come all together and play music.”

Although it was fun, many teachers “practiced a lot at home,” says Ms. Asher.

This was due to, as Mr. Paris says, “difficulty finding time.” The only time that teachers had available was mostly during lunch. Despite that lack of time, Mr.Paris describes the group as “a very proactive” one. This is the reason as to why this band yielded a very good reaction the day of their debut.

The Day of The Concert

“I was really nervous. When you put yourself out there you’re allowing yourself to be vulnerable,” says Ms. Colon as she recalls the emotion of performing.

Most of the band members felt the same way; Ms Asher describes the emotion with a simple phrase: “Very nervous.”

However, after the performance, it seems that nerves simply slipped away, and was instead replaced with a feeling of accomplishment.

“I knew it would be recorded,” says Ms. Colon displaying mixed emotions of the phones. And she was right,  phones were everywhere! All the students who were there recorded the performance! But nonetheless, “It was really cool. The response was good”, says Ms. Colon.  “It was one song, it was fun, and the kids loved it.” says Mr. Smolka, adding, “I thought I had accomplished something in that short period of time.”

Being on the scene of the concert, one can approve that the atmosphere during their performance was exhilarating. It’s clear that this group had achieved a positive response from students and other staff alike. However, this has led to  the question of, when is the next performance?

Come to their performance on Thursday May 30th at 6 p.m.! Staff Infection will be waiting for you!