On a typical night at the bar, one might expect to hear a Bruce Springsteen cover or an old Michael Jackson song. But, when The Shoobies are playing, a remix of “Tighten Up” by The Black Keys can be heard blaring through the speakers.
The Shoobies, made up of University students Winston Triolo, advertising junior; Patrick Hernandez, electrical engineering senior; Andrew Pancamo, accounting senior and Eric Guidry, history senior; formed in the spring of 2012 and started playing shows in late August.
Hernandez, Guidry and Pancamo were in different bands when they started playing music together. It wasn’t until open mic night at Mellow Mushroom that they found Triolo, who would eventually sing for The Shoobies.
While The Shoobies are in the process of writing their own material, they currently play covers at their shows, which are typically in bars in Tigerland. According to Triolo, their sound “brings a new experience to the typical bar-goer.”
The key difference between The Shoobies and usual cover bands is its setlist. Sticking to ‘90s and ‘00s alt-rock, the band commonly play selections from The Black Keys, The Strokes, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jimi Hendrix. Some of their greatest crowd-pleasers are “Steady As She Goes” by The Raconteurs and “Take Me Out” by Franz Ferdinand.
“The strength of our band is our setlist,” Hernandez said.
According to the band, playing covers forces them to pay much more attention to detail and, throughout their time as a band, the members have evolved the overall show. Instead of simply playing outright covers, The Shoobies usually improvise during their shows, changing the sound of the songs that they play to fit their overall mood.
“We can’t listen the original versions of a lot of the songs we play,” Guidry said. “We’re just trying to find our own sound,” Pancamo added.
What also sets The Shoobies apart from other bands is that each member belongs to a different fraternity, which allows their fanbase to grow further faster.
“It brings a lot of people together,” Triolo said.
The Shoobies will be displaying their alt-rock fusions tonight at Fred’s and Friday night at JL’s.
“We’re just trying to find our own sound.”
