Students Form Sundale Band

Student bands help students show off school spirit and creativity, and some students at John F. Kennedy High School are doing just that. A group of three friends decided to form a band and progress their music skills together. Their original band name was Citrus Heaven, but after realizing they shouldn’t make their band name a 67 joke, they have decided to temporarily be called To Be Due. Their name represents that their band name will be due at some point.

Rhythm guitarist and vocalist Luis Sangil (12) has been playing the guitar for 3 years, the drums since his childhood and the bass for a couple of years. Sangil is the person who makes all of the music for the band, as well. He mentioned, “I get inspiration from bands such as Title Fight, Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth.”

Sangil even has a modified version of a Fender Stratocaster, which is a double humbucker stratocaster, to provide a more metal-like sound.

Bassist Vincent Le (11) started playing the bass when Sangil wanted to start a band. Le said, “...Luis told me he wanted a band so I picked up the bass and my fingers naturally fit the strings.”

Le mentioned that he got inspiration from, “ … Jamiroquai funk, Red Hot Chili Peppers intricate bass lines [and] Kris Novoselic’s grunge sound…”

Le also praised Sangil for his creativity as an artist. He stated, “Luis is amazing. Honestly,… he could run a one man band if he could clone himself.”

The band’s drummer, Jacob Myles Castro (11), had also picked up drumming when Luis wanted to start a band. He doesn’t get inspiration from many drummers but he said, “I only really want to have the same energy as Dave Grohl when he plays the drums.”

To Be Due had their very first performance at JFK’s Fall Fest, performing “Harness Your Hopes” by Pavement and an original song they made called “3 triple four”. Le said, “We missed a cue, but it was our first ever performance, so we can’t really be mad.”

Castro stated, “I hit the drums so hard during the performance, but overall I did good.”

Fall Fest is just the beginning of To Be Due’s journey. They hope to perform at coffee houses, house shows and small venues when the opportunity appears.

Editor's Note: As of Nov. 16, it appears this band has changed its name to "Sundale".

Photo by Alessandria Maquilan | Sundale (previously To Be Due) performs at fall fest.