About a month after their first performance we were able to see Shoal perform again this Friday during lunch.
Before seeing them perform, it’s best to know how Shoal came to be.
Shoal is JFK’s student-led indie rock band that was formed recently by Elijah and Daniel after being friends and learning that each plays an instrument. The band consists of five members, including Elijah Aguirre as the drummer, Daniel Hoyos as the guitarist, Isaiah Mercado as a guitarist and bass player, Sahara Niazi Sharma as a bassist and Jeremiah Thao as the lead singer.
The members’ reasons to start the band is to spread love and kindness to everyone and wanting to have a relationship with their future fans.
The band’s drummer, Elijah Aguirre, was asked how Shoal first met.
“We met starting in freshman year,” Aguirre said. “I found Daniel, my guitarist. I forgot how [I met him]. I think it was in gym class, and I didn’t even know he played guitar until we were pretty long friends. I found my other guitarist, Isaiah. I forgot how I found him, but yeah [I] found him somewhere and then we eventually met Jeremiah, our vocalist. Then Sahara, our bassist.¨
Each member was asked how long they have been playing their instruments. The first person asked was the band’s drummer, Elijah Aguirre.
“I’ve only been playing drums for like a year and a few months,” Aguirre said.
Next, Isaiah Mercado was asked how long he’s been playing guitar and bass.
“I’ve only been playing for about a year at most,” Mercado said.
Daniel was then asked how long he has played guitar.
“I’ve been playing for three years now,” Daniel said. “Self taught.”
Afterwards, Jeremiah was asked how long he has been singing.
“I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember,” Thao said. “I haven’t had any professional vocal training, but it’s something I do in my free time.”
Sahara was then asked how long she has been playing bass.
“Since eighth grade,” Sharma said, “bass guitar, then I picked up like your normal standard guitar sophomore year.” said bassist/guitarist, Sahara.
With each member already having talent for music we asked why they joined Shoal, but Sahara views it as just something that ‘just happened’ between the band.
“I didn’t necessarily join,” she said. “It was kinda something that just happened. I think that’s common for a lot of bands where it’s like, ‘Hey you wanna come play with us?’ And then like ‘yeah sure.’ Then, you become a part of it. But I’ve always had a thing for music, especially anything with guitar.”
Other members answered similarly stating that they already had a passion for music and joining Shoal was something that kind of happened naturally. On top of asking why they joined this band, we asked if they have or would be interested in putting out music as Shoal.
“Not as of now,” Aguirre said. “But we are writing some songs for the band. We actually have a song that is almost finished that we’re hopefully going to release soon, but not any final music yet.” The rest of the band agreed.
To get a little more insight on the members individually we asked if they would continue to be in the music world whether as Shoal, another band, or solo. The first person asked was Isaiah Mercado, the band’s guitarist.
“Absolutely yeah,” Mercado said. “I already have a solo project going on on my own and that’s going to continue until I can’t make music anymore. I always thought about joining another band if things don’t work out in college.”
Elijah Aguirre was asked the same question, also responding in affirmation.
“Yeah, of course,” Aguirre said. “I’ve actually played outside of school before. I’d love to do it as like an actual career.¨
Daniel Hoyos also agrees, but this time says he wants to continue Shoal as a whole. Jeremiah seems to have interest in continuing Shoal as well, saying he could remain as the lead singer.
“I would love to do something in a band,” Thao said. “If Shoal would have me as their lead singer, I would love that too. But it really depends on what the future holds for me.”
Sahara says she will continue making music regardless of what genre she plays.
“Yeah 100%,” Sharma said. “I could never drop music, no matter the genre.”
After interviewing and getting to know JFK’s very own Shoal, we can see how passionate the members are not only about Shoal, but about music as a whole. As Shoal continues, we hope to see more from them whether it be more performances or hopefully their debut and we wish for students to show their support for them this Friday at lunch!
