Aaron Liebman had written several songs, but realized he had a problem when his music lacked lyrics and a singer to perform them.

The junior television, radio and film major found his solution last year when he met Andrew Brendel, a sophomore marketing major. They lived on the same floor of Flint Hall last year and after Liebman overheard Brendel singing, and the two started making music together.

Although Brendel had never performed beforehand, Liebman liked what he heard and coaxed Brendel into working with him.

“I kind of made him come out of his shell a little bit, and we started jamming. It turned out we worked really well musically,” Liebman said. “He would come to me with lyrics and would start singing, and I would just play guitar behind him. Or, I would come to him with the riffs, and he would just freestyle lyrics over them.”

Brendel and Liebman formed Lewis and Clark initially as a duo in October 2013 and chose the name while they were submitting themselves for the SU Songwriter Showcase, the first concert they played.

Lewis and Clark has now expanded into a five-member group, featuring Liebman as guitarist and co-songwriter, Brendel as lead singer and co-songwriter, Michael Summergrad as drummer, Ben Cultrara as bass player and Josh Daghir as a second guitarist.

“The most rewarding part (is) the progress we’ve made. It was literally me, (Andrew), acoustic guitar. That was it,” Liebman said. “We’ve come so far — now we have a bassist, a drummer and a second guitarist and we’re really starting to flesh out songs. It’s become way more serious than I thought it would be.”

Brendel said that expanding the group has added to its overall musicality.

“It’s been a cool process of adding people, because it brings a whole other dynamic to the group. Each person brings their own style,” Brendel said.

The group has performed twice at SU Songwriter’s Showcases in Schine Student Center, as well as at Funk n’Waffles and the Goon Lagoon. Upcoming shows include a performance at the Spark Contemporary Art Space on March 27, and an April 28 show at the Westcott Theater. The Westcott performance is particularly significant for Liebman, who said performing there has been a dream of his since coming to SU.

While the band mostly performs original music, they will be including a self-described “white boy version” of R. Kelly’s “Ignition (Remix)” as well as a mash-up of Sublime’s “Santeria” and Sam Smith’s “I’m Not The Only One.”

The variety of music the band performs is part of what Brendel says makes it unique.

“We have an exciting sound. If you don’t like bands that sound the same in every song, then we’re definitely the band for you because all of our songs are pretty different, and we like to keep it fresh,” Brendel said. “We really don’t have a singular taste or sound. It’s pretty varied — there’s no formula to what we make.”

Lewis and Clark released a single last year in May, which they recorded in the Shafer studio on campus. The group plans on releasing a new single at the end of this semester and an EP next semester. The band is currently in the works of recording the EP in Belfer Studio and intends on getting it professionally mastered so that it’s promotable on iTunes and Spotify. Its current music is available on its Facebook page, as well as YouTube and SoundCloud.

Summergrad, a senior psychology major, joined as the band’s drummer in September 2014. He described the group as “spontaneous” and “rooted in an indie pop, reggae type of sound.” Summergrad added that one of his favorite aspects of being in the band is collaborating with new musicians and exploring different styles of music.

Said Summergrad: “It’s just great, finding people that bring different things to the table and extending your musical horizons is really cool and finding a place where we meet on a common ground in music is really fantastic.”

Published on March 24, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Isha: idamle@syr.edu