By Madeline Alvarez, Staff Writer
The Skeptics, an indie/alternative rock band claims Newman freshman, Trever Taylor, as one of its members.
This 2-year-old Wichita band started out playing covers of songs from bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers and is now working on writing its own music. The Skeptics are anticipating the release of their first EP Tyrants.
The Skeptics started out originally with three members and has now grown to five. Band members are lead vocalist and lead guitarist Taylor, bassist John Patton, drummer Brock Lubbers, keyboardist Eric Sharping and guitarist Andrew Emanuel.
Taylor said that adding the newest members, Sharping and Emmanuel, has helped to bring the sound all together.
Taylor said that he and his fellow band members chose the name The Skeptics while listening to a live stream on Twitch.
“We were going through a path where we didn’t know what to call ourselves…. It really represented a lot of how we came to be as a band.”
Although The Skeptics began their journey two years ago, it has only been half a year since they started to perform for the public. Taylor said that previously, he and then only two band members had performed for family gatherings.
Six originals are soon to be released on The Skeptics first EP. Originals include “Chordless Blues,” “Speak a Word,” “Tyrant Tear Down,” “No Name” and more.
The process for how the band creates music is usually to “jam until something sounds cool,” Taylor said. He then writes the lyrics to the music.
Taylor said he showed interest in music from a young age. He began playing guitar at age 8, and the bass and drums around seventh grade.
“I had no idea I’d be here today with it,” Taylor said.
Taylor said he has been writing his own music for six years but has only just begun to share it with his band members.
Taylor said the dream is to make a career of playing with The Skeptics.
“If I could do that as a job for the rest of my life I would,” Taylor said.
Taylor said he has learned helpful performing skills because he is a theater major.
“Theater helps me for performance because it helps me to be more comfortable on stage.”
Taylor said his true passion, however, lies in audio engineering. He said that if the band dream doesn’t pay off, his plan B is to open his own music studio. Even if he is able to perform with The Skeptics as a career, Taylor said he would still like to learn how to record so that he could apply that skill to creating albums for the band.
The Skeptics bassist Patton is a music performance major at Butler Community College. Patton said he has been playing the bass since he was 9 years old and that joining the Skeptics was one of the best things that has happened to him.
“If that opportunity arises where we get to play with each other for the rest of my life, I would take it in less than half a second. To have that kind of an opportunity to play music, especially with Brock, Eric, Trever and Andrew… doing that for the rest of my life would be like a dream come true for real,” he said.
Patton said that he and fellow bandmates want to get out of Wichita, eventually. The Skeptics are looking at potentially touring on the west coast this summer.
“We want to become more than another band in Wichita,” Patton said.
Patton said he and his bandmates are very close with each other.
“We’ve had several practices where we don’t get anything done because we just love to mess around and be around each other,” Patton said.
Patton described Taylor as very talented with writing music.
“Trever is just an absolute genius when it comes to writing songs….” Patton said. “It’s such a great time being able to work with him and I truly enjoy every second of it. Trever and I are very, very alike in a lot of senses. We’re both ‘putting-our-noses-to-the-grindstone’ type of working people.”
Taylor said that he loves getting the opportunity to work with the band.
“My band is probably one of the best things that has happened to me,” Taylor said. “It brings me a lot of joy playing music with other like-minded musicians.”
The Skeptics mainly operate off of tips. The band’s shows are free and are hosted by various venues around the Wichita area.
The Skeptics’ next performance will be at 7 p.m. on Friday at The Donut Whole. Another band, Back Pocket Driver, will open for them.
The Skeptics can be found on most social media platforms including Facebook: The Skeptics, Twitter: @theskepticsict, Instagram: theskepticsband, and Youtube: The Skeptics.
PHOTO: FRESHMAN TREVER TAYLOR, pictured far right, will be performing at the Donut Whole with The Skeptics tomorrow. Courtesy Photo, The Skeptics
