Composed of all Ohio University students with various majors and backgrounds, Lavandula brings a mix of talent to the Athens music scene. The Athens alternative rock and jazz band plans to release its new EP Dec. 6.
Lavandula consists of Joey Negrete, a senior studying musical theater, on vocals and guitar; Landon Elliott, a senior studying contemporary music and digital instruments, on lead guitar; Zach Winkleman, a senior studying in contemporary music and digital instruments, on keys and guitar; Isaac King, a senior studying music production, on bass guitar; and Wyatt Fratianne, a senior studying sports management, on drums.
Similar to the group’s sporadic music style, the members hail from various cities. Negrete is from San Carlo, California, Elliot from Westerville, Ohio, Winkleman from Canal Winchester, Ohio, King from Cincinnati and Fratianne from Columbus.
The band writes its own music as well as plays covers, and stays away from playing just one musical style.
“I don't really know if we found a specific genre that we align with,” Winkleman said. “We kind of go on the lines of alt-rock and definitely some jazz fusion influence, and then we have some vintage, remastered kind of stuff. We have a song that is kind of reminiscent of '60s, '70s, soul-type stuff.”
The band has played many shows in the area, specifically at The Union. Athens is known for having a diverse local music scene for upcoming bands, which includes Lavandula.
According to the band members, playing at The Union was an obvious choice because of its reputation for hosting both local and touring bands. Some of the venue’s qualities include good sound as well as a supportive student community.
“It's really cool we have shows where we get a ton of people to show up and they're (both) friends of ours (and) also people just looking for something to do on the weekend,” Negrete said.
Negrete mentions the positives of performing in a college town.
“Being in a college town really helps with (crowds) because we've had shows out of town and the crowds are not nearly as many,” he said. “We wouldn't have nearly as many streams or people listening to our stuff if we weren't in a town like this.”
Lavandula has already released three singles, all available to stream on Spotify and Apple Music. The group’s upcoming EP will be released Dec. 6, and the band will be hosting a release party Dec. 7 at Sidebar, according to King.
Along with the release party, Lavandula will be performing at Benefest at The Union, an event supporting organizations such as Stuart’s Afterschool Music Program and The Gathering Place.
According to King, the band has plans to amp up its content production, including filming music videos soon.
“(There’s a) lot in store for November and December for the rest of the semester, but (we hope) for all of that to go smoothly,” he said.
