Teen band

The teenage band Exit 92, with a legion of fans and an album about to be released,  has come a long way since an eighth-grade talent show.

Three Grafton High School seniors in the band remember it well.

“We played ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ by Journey,” Michael Seybold, founder of the band named after a freeway exit, said.

“It took us the whole school year to learn it.”

That amounted to 12 rehearsals.

“I learned guitar for it,” Cannon Nash said, adding he did it at the urging of Seybold, who he used to play Guitar Hero with.

“I wanted to have a band. It would be so cool,” Seybold said, then asked, “Cannon, could you please learn guitar?”

Seybold helped teach Dylan Knott how to play guitar, and the group prepared the hit pop song.

They didn’t, however, win the talent show. First prize went to a group dressed in
black that danced with glow sticks.

The trio was undeterred but needed help. Ben Koehler joined to play drums and Lleyton Thompson was recently added on guitar.

“We’re all very good friends, and doing something productive makes it that much more meaningful,” Seybold said.

The all-senior punk rock band got its name from the I-43 exit for Grafton and before long was performing its own songs rather than just covers.

It has two singles on a few online platforms, an album coming out this summer, played at last Friday’s Grafton High School senior party at Buechler Farms and has a busy summer planned. Exit 92 will play at Giro d’Grafton on June 19, Belgium’s Summer Nights LIVE on July 16, in Gathering on the Green’s Battle of the Bands contest and for a corn roast and a Food Truck Tour in Grafton.

Seybold, who plays bass and does vocals, writes music for the band and asks for their ideas. His father Richard, a semi-pro trombone player who performs with the Rockford Symphony Orchestra, started him on trumpet in fifth grade but later Seybold asked for an electric bass.

Music, he said, will pop into his head for a classical piece. Once Seybold realizes it sounds weird and won’t work in that genre, he turns it into an Exit 92 song.

The tunes come first, “and I guess I need to add words,” he said.

Those can take anywhere from a day to a month.

The band provides edits, penciling in big drum parts and guitar riffs in places.

“You write the song shapes. We do chords,” Knott said.

Weekly rehearsals — they can now learn a new song in one sitting rather than 12 — take two to two and a half hours “excluding pizza time,” Koehler said.

The band practices in Seybold’s basement with permission from Richard, the band’s unofficial manager.

“We caught his midlife crisis at a good time,” his son joked.

For recording sessions, a few sound traps are put on the ceiling, mattresses help soundproof the basement and blankets are hung around the microphones.

“It actually works out pretty well with mattresses and blankets,” Seybold said.

Richard, the technology coordinator for the Grafton School District, mixes all the recordings on his computer, saving the group from paying to hire someone.

His parents and siblings don’t mind the noise, but the family cat prefers Seybold not sing or play his trumpet. He is a member of the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra and has been selected for the state honors choir for four years and is in musicals.

Other band members also have musical histories.

Thompson is in choir and Nash has joined “every choir I could be in since first grade,” including musicals.

Knott plays trumpet and Koehler plays percussion with the high school band and musicals.

Their taste in tunes runs the gamut. Seybold likes classical, Koehler likes alternative rock and Nash listens to “everything” and recently got into the pop trio AJR.

Knott got into classic rock when he first picked up a guitar and is into Alice in Chains. His mother is a huge Def Leppard fan and his father likes Pink Floyd and Dire Straits.

Thompson is into grunge rock bands such as Nirvana and likes the alternate rock band Royal Blood.

Exit 92’s music has been heard wafting through the Grafton school community. One song was recently played during passing time, the choir director had a song playing in his office and students sometimes play Exit 92 in their cars.

The band played for Seybold’s sister’s wedding, and has done private gigs.

While many bands fade out, one of the keys to Exit 92, Knott said, is “we set a schedule.” With performances lined up, “We have the next one to work for,” he said.

Their shared passion helps.

“I think what keeps us together is our love for music,” Nash said.

Camaraderie is another asset. There won’t be a “Behind the Music” show on Exit 92.

“Since we’re all just good friends there’s not a lot of butting heads,” Seybold said.

“As we progressed as a band, we all progressed as musicians,” Nash said. “I think our sound has really improved. I figured out the sound I’m going for.”

Seybold said Nash has an acuity for sound, fielding inquiries such as “It’s so warm. What note is that?” he said.

Their instruments have followed their skill upgrades. Thompson started with an $80 bass without a logo from Amazon. He now has three basses and two guitars.

While he hasn’t been with Exit 92 long, he is having a blast.

“It still feels special that I was able to play on stage with them,” he said.

Money from the band’s summer gigs will go into an account and be split after their last performance.

After that, the seniors head off to college. Seybold will study music education and composition at DePaul University. Knott is off to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for computer engineering. Nash will study music education and Koehler will pursue ecology, both at UW-Stevens Point. Thompson’s major is undecided as he starts are UW-Eau Claire, but said he will minor in guitar.

“In summers, we’ll try to regroup,” Seybold said.

And he will always remember their humble start.

“I was thinking about it. Where are those glow stick kids now?” Seybold asked.

For more information, visit www.reverbnation.com/exit92.