Student band talks MySpace, music and Pittsburgh

Vindell doesn’t waste any time making itself known.

After just five months on the local… Vindell doesn’t waste any time making itself known.

After just five months on the local music scene, the band is making waves throughout Pittsburgh with its piano and synth-heavy brand of pop rock.

Vindell made its first appearance on the Pittsburgh scene very recently as a new band. The band said that it met on Craigslist’s ‘Missed Connections’ while looking for old kindergarten classmates last November.

But rather than finding former Play-Doh playmates, the member found an opportunity to rock Pittsburgh.

The band members — Pitt students Nikki Avershal, Avi Dell and Max Somervill, and their bandmates Devin Laughlin and Mike Smalls — made their way onto the music scene with their online networking and a variety of connections.

‘I think we collaborate more with venues than other bands. Like, we have a good relationship with someone at the Shadow Lounge. If we ever need a gig, we can play and be popular over there,’ said drum player Smalls.

‘We’re also very young. The connections should sort of form as we go along,’ said Avershal.

But connections have not provided many obstacles for Vindell’s plans.

‘We are planning for a summer tour,’ said Avershal. ‘We’ll be taking off for the southeast for two weeks in June. And we’re aiming to go through the Midwest.’

The summer is the perfect time for everyone to tour, because all the band members, even the graduates, have their summer off.

‘I’m actually an English teacher. I got my master’s in education,’ said Smalls, who teaches in a Pittsburgh neighborhood. ‘So I do have my summers off, and I’m 25.’

‘I just like to do this. We don’t have a booking agent or anything like that,’ said Smalls. ‘But I think that’s OK. Even when we’re recording, it’s all us, and it’s all our effort. I have the studio at my house.’

Avershal joked that their lyrical content used a very special algorithm of anger, desire, love, childhood memories, math and therapy. From there, she described the song compositions as casual group fun.

‘It’s a group effort, but it definitely varies with the song,’ said Avershal.

‘Avi usually writes the initial idea or lyrics, and then we go from there,’ said Smalls.

As is often the case for beginning bands, the Internet’s ability to share music and reviews worked its own magic for Vindell. ‘I think MySpace has a really bad rap overall. But I also know Avi has gotten countless shows booked through MySpace users,’ said Smalls. ‘We’re booking our entire tour through MySpace. It’s a really good working tool for the band.’

After this summer’s tour, the band will be returning to Pittsburgh, because, as unanimously agreed, it loves Pittsburgh. In fact, all players but Avershal are locals.

‘[The city] gets a bad rap, but it is awesome. The place is so cheap,’ said Smalls of Pittsburgh. ‘Like, I actually earn enough to buy a home,’ said Smalls.

‘I think the music venues are awesome,’ said Somervill. ‘You just have to get out and play in a few.’

With summer tour plans forming and growing through the band’s MySpace page, Vindell has a bright future to look forward to. It also has another ambitious goal.

‘We’re trying to tour with Michael Jackson,’ said Smalls with a straight face.

Vindell’s next big performance will be Amnesty International’s benefit concert for the Stop Violence Campaign at The Shiloh in Lawrenceville this Friday.

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