For Connor Reardon, playing in a band that shares his love of dark, heavy rock was not something obtainable until last spring semester.
Now, the senior political science major from West Hartford proudly plays guitar for Braintree, a band comprised of members from across Connecticut.
Braintree, Reardon says, was launched in spring 2024 from a collaboration with his childhood friend, Evan Phillips, who is a junior psychology major at CT State Manchester.
Reardon was inspired to start playing guitar in 2022 after seeing Phillips playing the bass.
“I started self-teaching myself guitar freshmen year of college,” Reardon says. “We decided to start a band, him on bass, me on guitar. We didn’t really have a timeline.”
The two began to develop a sound that Reardon describes as “mirthful,” taking inspiration from whimsical elements such as wizards. They have worn wizard costumes and makeup at shows and embrace the aesthetic with the full band.
“The vibe is a little bit evil. Evil wizard punk. We’re still figuring out what our sounds is going to be. It’s heavy, energetic, evil. It’s an evil wizard punk sound,” Reardon says.
The two needed a drummer and a vocalist, and found them in two mutual friends.
Joining on drums is Matthew LaRoche, a junior management information systems major at Central Connecticut State University.
“I joined because I’m passionate about playing music, and I was fortunate enough to meet some other people that sounded good to play with,” said LaRoche.
The second friend is Gabriella Boucher, a junior biochemistry major at CT State Manchester, who joined as a vocalist.
“I joined because it’s fun and I like playing music and having a good time with my friends. It seemed like a rewarding use of time, and it is,” Boucher says.
The four soon began performing as Braintree, named after the Massachusetts train station, and have since performed across Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Since its beginning, the band competed in Battle of the Bands and opened for larger regional bands.
They also recently released a song on Spotify, with plans to do more and have amassed a small, yet loyal fanbase on social media.
“We play gigs every couple weeks. We’ve written some songs. One of our first priorities is getting them professionally recorded and on to Spotify,” Reardon says.
On Feb. 28, they released their first song on Spotify titled, “Oswald The Bear.” Reardon says it is the song they have played the longest. However, he has plans to write more for release.
For Braintree, songwriting is a process in which all four members contribute. No member has more input than the others, and ideas are shared.
“It will start with instrumentals. Either me, or Evan, will come up with a riff, then Matt will come up with a drum part to match it. Once the instrumentals are done, Gabby will write lyrics as it goes along and fit them in,” Reardon says.
Braintree is heavily inspired by other bands that the group enjoys listening to. Boucher says that bands collaborate on performances, which serves as a sense of motivation for Braintree.
“Other bands we play with are a big inspiration. Also, bands I listen to like King Gizzard and Gojira,” says Boucher.
All the members of Braintree say that inspiration is what helps them write and come up with ideas to present with their own twist or unique sounds.
“We take a lot of inspiration from one of my favorite bands the Melvins. They’re a big metal act. We like Nirvana a lot,” Reardon says. “That’s where some of our fun, lively, dynamic songwriting comes from.”
Booking gigs at venues usually happens through Instagram. The band relies heavily on their social media presence. Reardon says that having a strong following on social media is crucial for local bands.
Bands looking to acquire openers or venues wanting to fill a performance will contact Braintree via social media.
“There’s a lot of bands that need to fill a line up,” says Reardon. “Bookers will reach out to us sometimes.”
Phillips and Reardon mainly run the Instagram page together. They use the platform to promote upcoming gigs, showcase their original music and find bands looking to collaborate.
“Promoters, venues and bands primarily communicate through Instagram, so the easiest way to get more shows is to garner an Instagram following so your profile and music gets circulated to more people,” Phillips says.
As for the future of Braintree, the members all agree that the priority is promoting their original songs.
“My goals for the band are to expand our sound and play around with more songs, have fun with them, and maybe add in more complexity to future songs with more layering or different instruments,” Boucher says.
Reardon says that the band is meant to be fun, a way to spend time with friends and play music they enjoy. He is attending law school in the fall but hopes to continue his work with Braintree.
“We’re getting what we want out of the band at this point, which is just playing gigs, making friends, meeting people [and] having fun,” Reardon says.
