With an EP coming out, the Customer Service & the Gem City Horns have everything to look forward to as a band.
“Highlights,” set to be released on Saturday, Jan. 26, has six songs with mostly rock influence and undertones of funk and jazz. The EP was made in collaboration with
ArtStreet’s StreetSounds.
“We wanted to do originals, and these were the first six songs we got,” said junior biology major Dillon Corrigan, drummer for CSGCH. “It’s a good first impression to show people what kind of music we play.” For “Highlights,” frontman and senior music education major Wil Morris wrote most of the songs.
CSGCH was originally started as a project for ArtStreet.
“We weren’t all good friends at the beginning, and it started out as an ArtStreet project,” said Corrigan. “I was asked because they needed someone to play drums. Matt, Wil and David all lived together and needed to do a project. Wil had an idea to get together a band.
“‘Gem City’ came from Dayton’s nickname, and ‘Customer Service’ was something catchy Wil thought of. One of our mission statements is to promote live music in the Dayton area and beyond. We want to treat people as our customers and give them a good time. We kind of took it and ran with it.”
Members Corrigan, Morris, junior music performance major Peet Cerrone,
senior English major Peter Mills, senior philosophy major Mike Jones, junior music education major Mike Francis and senior music education majors Dave Watanabe and Matt Schroeder came together to create a sound that has a fusion of funk, jazz and rock. The band’s unique sound comes from the inclusion of instruments such as the saxophone, trombone and trumpet.
It only took off from there. According to the band’s website, CSGCH has played for venues such as the
Downtown Dayton Revival, opened for Lupe Fiasco and played at Barnjam and Rocktoberfest.
“Our best venue was the Downtown Dayton Revival. We like small venues because it’s more of an intimate feel
and the people are really responsive to the music,” said Corrigan.
Since the band’s inception, all eight members have only grown closer.
“As we’ve spent more time playing with each other, we’ve become really good
friends. Our sound has become more clean and tight,” said Corrigan.
“Highlights,” will be released at ArtStreet on Saturday, Jan. 26. For more information contact ArtStreet at 937-229-5101.
