BAND BEAT: The Daytimers Bring The Groove To Garage Rock

By: Mara Kalinoski – Senior, English

If you’re looking for the next big thing in music, look no further than your own backyard, because the Daytimers are probably playing a show there. Drummer Amy Pompilio, bassist Christian Glikes, guitarist Patrick McAdams, and guitarist/vocalist Blake Bergere form the up-and-coming Dayton rock band.

On paper, the Daytimers don’t seem like they’d be the rock and roll type. Their majors are Math, Economics, Environmental Biology, and Marketing respectively, and they are involved in the UD community in a variety of ways. However, their shared passion for music has brought them together to create not only new songs, but a space for their audience to let loose and enjoy themselves.

The Daytimers met on Yik Yak, of all places, “when it was still a thing,” they were quick to assure me. Bergere, interested in starting a band with Glikes, whom he met in his freshman orientation group, put out a call for a drummer on the social media site. Both McAdams and Pompilio responded to the Yak. The four met up to jam together and see how their musical abilities and personalities meshed. And the rest, Glikes shrugs, “is rock and roll history.”

The three men in the band all picked up their instruments around sixth grade. McAdams learned guitar and drums, soon joining his high school band. Glikes, who comes from a musical family, grew up playing piano and trumpet before discovering his love of bass guitar. Bergere learned the basics of guitar in middle school, bought a ukulele at the start of high school when he began writing his own music, then returned to guitar and formed a band with his childhood friends. “We started a rock band, and I was like ‘holy ****.’ Rock and roll is awesome,” Bergere said.

Their drummer, however, has a bit of a different story.

“If I had both ovaries right now I wouldn’t be a drummer,” Pompilio laughed. . She went on to explain how ovarian tumors caused her to have multiple surgeries throughout middle school and into high school. After her fifth operation, her parents offered to get her a gift to get her through her convalescence, and she requested drum lessons in order to fulfill a burgeoning passion. “My whole family pitched in to buy me my drum kit,” Pompilio said.

Together, the Daytimers find influence all around them, from classic acts like The Who and Led Zeppelin to more modern artists like City and Colour, Twin Peaks and Mac DeMarco.

“Music changes the way you feel,” Pompilio said. “It gives context.”

“It texturizes everything,” McAdams agreed.

Music as an art form is a unique modality. The band talked about the influence music has on society as a whole, citing the 60s and 70s as prime examples of the way artists impacted and revolutionized culture. It’s a pertinent message, especially in today’s political maelstrom, that writing and playing even one song can shift the world around you.

The Daytimers have already played a variety of UD functions, including Rocktoberfest, the Green Dot Concert and Thursday Night Live, as well as house shows in the student neighborhood. Their upcoming shows include the Earth Day Concert at the ArtStreet Amphitheater in April. Each member of the Daytimers is passionate about connecting with their fans in the community.

“We’re just losing ourselves in the music, and we want other people to do that as well,” Bergere said. “After a long week of work, to let loose and just groove for a couple hours.”

The band loves the ability to create new music and experiences for their audience. “There are things that didn’t exist before we got together, and that is so cool,” Pompilio said.

Beyond playing around Dayton’s campus, the Daytimers are looking to expand to venues in the greater Dayton area, as well as record their freshman effort, an EP entitled “Juicebox.” They have been recording their three-song debut at Street Sounds on ArtStreet. While being in school keeps them busy, they still find time to practice, write, and record each week. “Juicebox” is scheduled to be released this summer.

While their recorded songs have more of an “alt-indie-rock” vibe, the music they have written for live performances is much more of a dance party; what they describe as “hype garage rock.”

“When you see other people screaming and jumping around to things that you made, it really grounds you,” Glikes said. “The goal for making music is making something that makes other people as happy as it makes you.”

“We just said ‘Let’s make music.’ We could have gone in any direction with it and still be a band,” McAdams said. “To be a musician, there’s this ability to be creative with no judgment. You can do whatever you want.”

Photo Courtesy of Mara Kalinoski