by Lexi Paidas ‘17

The Olney/Brookeville area is quite fortunate to have copious musical outlets to help inspired and developing young musicians. One such inspired musical group is Something Witty, an alternative rock band comprised of sophomore Soc Matthews and juniors Aimee Nguyendinh, Nina Linkletter and Julia McIntrye, a Good Counsel student. Since its formation in the summer of 2013, the band has played venues such as coffeehouses, Outta the Way Cafe, Friday Night Lives, Rockstravaganza, Rock the Lot, and the Strawberry Festival.

The group has released three individual songs in the alternative/rock/indie genre. These songs, “Poptarts,” “XYZ,” and “Recovery,” can be found on multiple media platforms, including Soundcloud and Youtube. Their songs are inspired by bands like The Strokes, The Killers, HAIM, Catfish and The Bottlemen. When it comes to personal inspiration, Nguyendinh says that “seeing all the insanely talented musicians around school and the community motivates and pushes me to do better and to practice more.”

The members make sure to stay focused on their academics as well as their musical careers. The band says that playing together doesn’t affect their schoolwork and that they have learned to work around their band practices and gigs. “My tricks for balancing grades and the band is to try to do everything until there really is no time to do both, then prioritizing school in a crunch,” explained Linkletter.

Another factor the band members must consider is where the money comes from to pay for equipment and studio time. The group raises funds by selling original t-shirts that come in multiple colors and feature a graphic of a brain with a thought bubble that says “Something Witty.” The band’s t-shirts can be purchased from any band member, and all of the money raised from sales goes directly into the “band fund.”

The band members intend to continue playing music together as well as individually to increase their capabilities. The band also hopes to release an album and increase their number of studio-recorded original songs. According to Matthews, the absolute best thing about playing in the band is, “just making music and having a great time doing it with people who have as much of a passion for it as I do.”