Leo Anderson, FCRH ’26, was born in Seattle, Washington and moved to a town called Higham on the shoreside of Massachusetts, just 30 minutes south of Boston, when he was 8 years old. He has been able to achieve the best of both worlds as a musician and a student. There wasn’t a time in Anderson’s house when music wasn’t playing through the speakers. His dad greatly impacted his exposure to music; he would take him to live shows as a kid, and Anderson began appreciating live performances and rock music. His parents gave him a set of drums in kindergarten, and he would put on his noise-canceling headphones and hit the drums. “I don’t think any of it was good, but it was fun,” Anderson said. He would play Green Day, M83 and Vampire Weekend, which are still his favorite bands and continue to influence his music today.
While his first instrument was the drums, he started playing guitar during his junior year of high school with one of his friends who Anderson said was “really, really good.” He saw it as a competition to keep getting better. During the COVID-19 shutdown, when he had more free time, he would spend hours in his room practicing guitar and eventually switched to bass.
His first real experience playing with other people was in high school in the basement with two other friends. Once in college, he joined his first full band, Billy Billy Band, as a guitar player. According to Anderson, they played an “eclectic array of covers ranging from Greenday to Lumineers.” His first performance was at St. Lawrence University during an open mic at the Java Barn where they played three songs. He claims to have blacked out during the performance but had so much fun.
He later transferred to Fordham University and joined Dead Air on the Internet as the bass player. The band found each other through a Facebook group called NYC Musician Wanted. Anderson and his long-time friend, Wess, met Joe and Scott, and they instantly connected. They now make music together and recently opened for Gus Benson at Arlene’s Grocery. It was his first time playing in Manhattan with a full band in front of people he had never met. Anderson said it was an “unbelievable feeling” to have someone come up to you and say they liked your set.
Even though Anderson still gets nervous before going out and playing live, he still has a blast. He says his favorite part about performing is turning around and seeing his friend Wess Wyatt playing the drums, who has been the drummer in every band he’s been in. He especially loves this band because of the lead singer and songwriter, Joseph Gaitens, who has put so much work into the band. “Work ethic is something that goes unnoticed,” Anderson said. “It’s really nice to work with people that work really hard.” Anderson balances out being a musician and a full-time student by doing his school work whenever he can, which usually means having his computer out on the Metro-North trying to finish some assignments before rehearsal. He tries to make the most of his free time as a student and still tries to see his friends while balancing out rehearsals.
Anderson’s biggest goal as a musician right now is to keep playing and to be able to play in front of his parents, who have supported him throughout his whole career. The band has an upcoming concert in March at the Hart Bar in Williamsburg and has music on Spotify.
