A Summer High

Can you still have a career playing in a band?  Can you even survive in a band today?  Being in an indie band was always “not for everyone.”  The question now, is it really for anyone?  

In 2016, two boys from Western Pennsylvania, dove into those treacherous waters with a musical passion, blind optimism, and the exuberance of the young and creative.  Mason Levi and Luke Oxendale had met while playing in different local bands.  It was their senior year of high school and rather than plan on a path to college, they set upon a plan to “make it.”  

Quickly announcing their plans online, they connected with another high school senior from Minneapolis, who had the same ambitions and dreams.  And after exchanging musical interests over the web, James Anthony jumped on a plane to Pittsburgh.  The three wrote their first song together in the car driving home from the airport and they were off and running.  Within weeks, they recorded a few covers and a couple of original songs and ordered a pressing of CDs.  Meanwhile, their fanbase began to grow.

Next step: they determined to shadow the 5 Seconds of Summer tour that June.  They busked in the arena parking lots and came home with a following of over 13,000 on their Facebook page.  

The next two years were filled with all the enormous hard work that is required of 

a band trying to “make it.”  They recruited Luke’s brother, Noah, to play drums in time for a support spot on a short tour, followed by recording a full EP of original songs with producer Chris Badami, releasing it through Four Chord Music, a new indie label out of Pittsburgh.  

They got on the 7 Minutes In Heaven tour and then toured the U.S. as special guest on the Call Me Karizma tour.  The jerry-rigged logistics included sharing trailers with the other bands on the tour while the four boys piled into a 2006 Prius and drove nearly 13,000 miles back and forth cross country.  Even before they hit the road, Noah had decided this would be his last.  The tour convinced him that survival in a rock band was not to be his path in life.  

Meanwhile, their original songs and music videos were resonating with their fans online and at gigs. “I Need You Here,” “Pretty Little Liar,” and “Sail,” established a look and sound that galvanized a growing fanbase.  

On the heels of the success of playing on several Warped Tour dates, they hit the road again on a grueling 2018 tour with Saywecanfly, as well as opening for The Plain White T’s.   And as label interest began to unfold, the boys were piling up another 12,000 plus miles.  And then boom, Luke made the decision to leave the band!

It was Thanksgiving or 2018, and James and Mason rocked on.  They finished every U.S. tour commitment through the end of the year.  With the help of a couple of good English musicians, A Summer High kicked off 2019 in support of Bronnie, throughout the UK.  The sold-out club tour was a big success, with every audience singing along with every A Summer High song.  It reinforced the belief that James and Mason had, that A Summer High could survive and thrive.  Their friendship with Bronnie led them to return to the UK in March of 2019, and with her, they set off on a 9-country acoustic busking tour of Europe.  It was a return to their earliest success of making friends in parking lots and building their fan base in new places.  

James and Mason returned to the U.S. to spend the remainder of 2019 writing and recording.  They hooked up with Rob Chiarappa who produced a new EP, set for release in 2020.  

They are thousands of miles into it.  They have played countless club dates, they have busked two continents.  Their DIY songs and videos have played to hundreds of thousands of fans around the world.  They have built a rock solid connection with the ASHers, as they have affectionately named their fans.    

The jury is still out on what it means to have a career in a rock band.  But James Anthony and Mason Levi have proven they are survivors, still passionate and upbeat, still all about their unrelenting mission of making music and engaging fans.  Yes, maybe there is a down side to this rock band thing… but there is also A Summer High.