Big Spence and the Gents, a band made up of St. John Vianney seminarians, plans to give another performance this spring at the Catholic Studies talent show in March, two years after forming.
With juniors Max Carson and Miguel Cologna-Santoyo on guitar, Zach Sandquist on bass, Jason Payne on saxophone, freshman David Sacha on drums and junior “Big” Spencer Leffler on vocals, the band is eager to get 2015 underway after a year of performing.
“I had always wanted a band,” Leffler said. “Max actually had that in high school, so I knew how much he played and how good he was. So we got a few of the guys from the seminary together and decided to play the ‘Back to the Future’-style of ‘Johnny Be Good’ for the first show.”
The band formed in 2013, about two weeks before its first show. In the beginning, Carson said the band had a sense of great determination but experienced some bumps along the way.
“Practicing in the seminary was going great, but when we would do rehearsals in the auditorium, nothing would go right,” said Carson. “We actually had a different drummer because ours couldn’t make it, but he didn’t have sticks so he had to use Expo markers.”
After their first performance, the members of the band grew closer and plan to play three songs for their show this spring. With each member of the band belonging to the seminary, this has given them the opportunity to grow as brothers, Carson said.
“It’s been awesome,” Carson said. “I think of it as another testament to the fraternity and brotherhood here. Some guys find it in sports or just spending time together, but this is just another thing the fraternity here has allowed us to do.”
With most of the members of the band in their junior year and each from a different diocese throughout the U.S. – ranging from Iowa and Nebraska to Michigan – Leffler said it’s questionable if the band will continue after graduation in 2016.
“Zach and I are going to Rome in the fall for the semester,” said Leffler. “But it would be really cool if we could play at Scooter’s sometime. I would have to get into contact with STAR and get a contract, but that needs to happen a whole semester in advance. So it’s not very likely.”
The name of the band was originally Big Spence and the Lefflerettes, a name a fellow seminarian came up with as a joke for the lead singer, Leffler. The name stuck for a while until the members decided it needed to be changed.
“I really wanted a ‘50s to ‘60s name that showed who we are,” Leffler said. “After performing as Big Spence and the Lefflerettes, we had another meeting and decided on Big Spence and the Gents.”
The Catholic Studies talent show will be held on March 13 in the O’Shaughnessy Educational Center auditorium.
Eric Bromback can be reached at brom0030@stthomas.edu.