David Williams and McLean Lucas said they have dreamed of “making it big” in the music industry since the eighth grade.
Football brought the two freshmen in First Year College together, and their love for music bonded them. With time and hard work, the two worked to bring a group of five members together to play a type of metalcore music some have compared to the early sound of the popular band Underøath.
The five guys that make up the band idealist: vocalist Nick Surrett, guitarists and vocalists Lucas and Joseph Couillard, drummer Josh Gardner, and bassist Williams. The band allows Williams and Lucas to keep hold of their music aspirations.
“I force myself to get all of my schoolwork done by Friday so that I can focus on the band all weekend,” Williams said.
Lucas said that he has been interested in pursuing music since a young age.
“I listened to so much music for so long,” Lucas said. “Bands like Nirvana and Sunny Day [Real Estate] really drew me in and I wanted to pick up a guitar, so I begged my parents and finally got one.”
Williams said that he became interested in music in a similar way.
“If I didn’t have that outlet, I would go insane,” Williams said.
Although some think students would be unsuccessful in finding time to move forward with a band while maintaining their grades, these two seem to do it well. Lucas said that the band members refuse to make a choice between their music and pursuing college degrees.
“I would love for the band to take off, but I know that the odds are against us,” Lucas said. “This can’t last forever.”
Because of that understanding, both Lucas and Williams have plans in place to continue doing something other than playing in a band. However, they plan to never give up their musical pursuits. Instead, the two said that they hope to eventually venture into the business side of music, and are planning to apply to transfer into Poole College of Management.
Although Williams and Lucas cite bands such as Norma Jean, As Cities Burn, The Chariot and Brand New as influences, Williams said the band “likes to think that [it] is something new.”
Williams and Lucas plan to tour, record and “promote the crap out of [their] latest EP and share it with as many people as [they] can.”
“[We] are still at the bottom of the barrel in popularity, [but we’d like] to make a career out of it,” Williams said. “Who knows, we can dream right?”
Idealist’s next show is Feb. 15 at the Berkeley Cafe in Raleigh.
