By Marian Daniells, News Staff
Sitting at a table in a purple-striped dress shirt and black slacks, Northeastern junior Jay Donovan hardly looks the part of the dedicated musician he is. Someone passing by might never know that a mere 24 hours earlier, he was on stage playing with his band, All These Elements, at Boston’s 2010 Collegefest, with the likes of frat-boy rapperAsher Roth.
“It was wild,” Donovan said of the performance.
Donovan, a marketing and finance major, has been the guitarist for the group since January of his sophomore year. Other members are Katia Racine, a senior theatre and religious studies major; Tom Cardente, a junior mechanical engineering major; Danny Clarke, a junior math major; and Eric Spicuzza, a junior psychology major.
The name All These Elements is meant to signify how each of the artists brings with them various talents and experiences, lead singer Racine said.
“We all come from different musical backgrounds,” she said.
Though the story of the band’s creation is fairly complicated (for example, Cardente was Racine’s roommate’s lab partner), the current group has been together since April 2010. Clarke, who plays bass and sings backup, was the most recent addition.
Since Clarke joined, All These Elements has booked some major venues. In addition to last weekend’s Collegefest, the indie group also played at the Hard Rock Cafe and put together their own spring tour of the northeastern coast, which mostly focused on small towns, like Gloucester and Portland, Maine.
“A lot of small towns around here have been really good to us… We always have big turnouts,” Donovan said.
Despite its recent success, the group has not had a smooth ride to the top. Donovan and Racine joke about their cramped quarters during tours and their Boylston Street practice space, which Donovan not-so-jokingly refers to as a dungeon.
The greatest challenge for the band has been learning how to balance the time-consuming commitment with school and work; none of the artists is a music major and all are full-time students.
“It’s not a fun thing to do to lead a double life,” Donovan said, “Everyone needs a ‘Plan B,’ but I’d rather play music forever.”
Racine will be the first of the group to graduate, but already plans to stay in Boston and continue her work with All These Elements.
“We all really want this so much. Our life is eat, sleep, work, band,” she said.
Donovan said he is wary, however, with the recent success, combined with Racine’s committment to continue post-graduation, the band may be too overwhelming. “The more the band grows, the more time-consuming it gets,” he said.
But that doesn’t mean he’s opposed to the growth and success. Sitting in front of Racine and Donovan is a blue folder; inside is an unsigned contract that, should All These Elements sign it, will enable the band to record a professional-quality CD, paid for by RockBird Music Group.
While Racine grabs the blue folder and puts it in her bag to look over later, Donovan shares his excitement about the band’s upcoming performances in the Boston area, including a Sept. 28 show at The Middle East and a Sept. 30 show at afterHOURS.
Donovan stresses how important it is that all the band members graduate before the band really takes off, but still considers a career in marketing and finance his backup plan.
“If the band makes sense to keep doing it after graduation, we’ll keep doing it,” he said.
