Sydney Conrad
Staff Writer

Formed a mere nine months ago, local music group, Cell Phone Parking Lot, was sent through to the semi-finals with a sound completely different than former contestants.

Playing for their second time on Oct. 25, a band of three teenagers grace the stage at Black Bear Frozen Yogurt with a humble presence and confident self-image.

Although their music seems as if it has been polished over several years, the new group stumbled into existence when a mere laugh became reality.

“It was almost a joke; we made up a bunch of band names and then just decided to go with it,” guitarist Cody Schuman said.

Schuman is one of four members in the group Cell Phone Parking Lot. Maveryke Hines stepped up as guitarist and lead vocals for the group after meeting and collaborating with Schuman at their high school, Emerald Ridge. These two have performed as an acoustic duo in local venues, but are delighted to have formed a band that is quickly rising in the local scenes.

Josh Bozich was recruited as bassist for the group when Hines and Schuman overheard his playing in one of the band classes at Emerald Ridge.

Old time friend Orion Williams became the drummer for this band after moving back to the United States from Germany, which is where he and Schuman first met. Unlike the other three members, Williams attends Rogers high school.

These four members are the essence of the group Cell Phone Parking Lot, the name of which has a background of its own. Sitting in band class one day, Schuman pointed out a few phones lined up on a music stand.

“In high school everyone texts during class. Then there were about seven phones on one music stand, so Cody was like hey that looks like a cell phone parking lot,” Hines said. “We realized later that it was something at an airport.”

This group pulls inspiration from a wide variety of artists, however Two Door Cinema Club is their most prominent mentor. Although they cover specific genres of music, Cell Phone Parking Lot has a hard time putting a title to their sound.

“That is honestly the hardest question we have answering,” Hines said. “Josh described us as ‘Indie Rock Alternative’ with an over-enthusiastic bass player. That’s the only way we can explain it,” Williams added.

As their genre shows, this group is incredibly diverse. Both Hines and Schuman began their musical career in the younger grades by picking up the saxophone. Williams, however, began with the cello.

For each of these members, music became a passionate escape from reality. Being completely in control of what music they played gave these three rising artists the ability to express themselves.

“My dad always had me doing sports, but I was never really good at it,” Schuman said. “But when I picked up music, I loved the independence of it. I loved the creativity.”

Williams felt the same way, pursuing drumming for personal enjoyment and a form of expression; as did Hines with guitar, hoping it would ease the difficulties of the seventh grade.

Although Josh Bozich, bassist for the band, was not able to be present for the interview, his mates described his musical background with great admiration.

“Josh’s whole family is musical. His older brother is like a saxophone prodigy, his younger brother plays guitar, and Josh is just an amazing bassist,” Schuman, Hines and Williams explained together. “He also plays trumpet. He could play anything he wanted.”

Although Cell Phone Parking Lot has only been a group since January, they have covered a wide variety of venues. The Quesadilla Factory, the Oasis, and the Red Room are just a few of the gigs this band have played, the latter of which was, in their opinion, a bad experience. Black Bear quickly made it to the top of their list.

“It was a great time. The staff is really nice; it’s the first time we have actually met and talked with the staff,” Hines said.

The Vega is the next venue these four can add to their list; Cell Phone Parking Lot will be performing there on Nov. 12.

With between 10 and 15 original songs written, these young artists are close to recording their first EP, which will include their most popular song “Changing Times.”

To get more information on Cell Phone Parking Lot, visit them on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, or Itunes, where their single is available, or simply attend the semi-finals to see if they get one step closer to the prize.