Newly formed bands at Stevens

Hoboken’s roots in the music scene came from the iconic venue Maxwell’s, which peaked in popularity in the ‘80s and ‘90s and closed for the second time in February 2018. Today, Stevens fosters the independent music scene through the music and technology program and student-organized events through clubs like Stevens’ Underground Music Awareness Committee and the Audio Engineering Club. Here are three independent musicians at Stevens that are worth checking out. 

Porchlight

Porchlight is an alt-rock band formed in 2020 when Jack Piccirillo (Music & Technology 2/4, lead vocals) asked John McDermott (Computer Engineer 3/4, guitarist/vocalist) for directions in the Hoboken train station. AJ Kasper (Music & Technology 4/4, guitarist), Sam Sherwood (Music & Technology 2/4, bassist), and Aaron Lerch (Mechanical Engineering 4/4, drummer) joined later to fill out the rest of the band. Currently, they’re listening to Hozier, Beach Bunny, and local indie artists Seeing Double and Cool and Good. 

Piccirillo says that “being at Stevens put us in a great place for collaborating with other musicians. There are so many talented people at this school who are waiting to work together on musical projects with others.” Porchlight recorded demos for their EP “The Goods are Odd” using the studios at Stevens. Their musical influences are Jack White, the Foo Fighters, the Backseat Lovers, Van Halen, Derek and the Dominos, and The Beatles. They are currently working on more music to release in the future, and are looking forward to playing live shows in Hoboken. You can keep up with them on their Instagram @porchlightbandnj. 

DJ Spina

Another budding artist is finance major Michael Spina, who has been producing house music under the name DJ Spina since he was 13. He taught himself FL Studio and piano without prior music experience. His early influences are Avicii, Martin Garrix, KSHMR, Tiesto, and his uncle Anthony, who is also a DJ and music producer. 

“My music has reached over 40 countries and accumulated thousands of plays between YouTube and Soundcloud,” said Spina, who has done many collaboration tracks with producers around the world. Other achievements by Spina include his song “Aquileia,” which hit number four on the Spinnin Records Talent Pool Charts this past November.

You can find Spina on YouTube and Soundcloud @DJ Spina, and on Instagram @djspina_music. 

The duo of Tyler Soiferman and Alec Pagano

Computer science major Tyler Soiferman and music and technology major Alec Pagano met in an English class during their second semester at Stevens. According to Soiferman, “upon hearing that [Pagano] plays guitar I messaged him and asked if he’d like to perform with me at the upcoming open mic; we clicked and the rest is history!” While Pagano is an expert with the guitar, Soiferman takes on the role of vocalist. 

Both Soiferman and Pagano quickly learned that they had similar interests and tastes in music. “Some of our overlapping favorite artists are John Mayer and Nirvana,” explained Soiferman. 

Soiferman appreciates being a part of the Stevens community; “Stevens has a wonderful music scene full of talented musicians and audio engineers; as someone who would like to get into making my own music I couldn’t be happier that I’m part of a community with so many awesome people!” Both Soiferman and Pagano are beginning to write and record their own music, and are excited for the process ahead.