On Thursday, an alternative pop-rock band visited Seton Hall to perform at the Music Under the Stars event in the pouring rain on the Green, hosted by Student Activities Board (SAB).
Kids That Fly is a band formed out of the University of Connecticut (UConn) in 2018. The Connecticut-based band has four members: Braden Frandino, Nick Smeriglio, Adam Machado, and Blake Henry, all music majors.
“You get a lot of free time [in college], and if you're lucky enough to have a music room, you can sneak a drum set in there and some ramp and play louder than you're supposed to,” Smeriglio, the band’s vocals and guitar, said.
They are best known for their songs, “Dead Beat City,” “Kiss Her You Fool,” and “Sunday in London.” The band is on tour now until December.
The Setonian, in collaboration with SHU TV, had a chance to sit down with the band for a 15 minute interview after their performance.
The band told The Setonian that this isn’t their first time playing at a college. Since they formed at UConn, they said they would perform in dirty basements at college parties. Before their show at SHU, they also played at many other universities.
“We cut our teeth at the college basement parties. That's where we kind of came up as a band,” Smeriglio said. “We did Johnson and Wales last October.”
We just played UNC [University of North Carolina] last week,” Frandino, the band’s bass and vocals, added.
When they received the booking to perform at SHU, Smeriglio said they were excited, as their goal is to perform at a bunch of colleges. Frandino added that their fan base is mainly college students.
“Colleges put on a lot of really good events,” Smeriglio said. “[We’re] so happy to plan, and there's always some music hungry people in the crowd.”
Machado said a lot of the students who attended knew the band’s older songs, and some didn’t, but they sang along as they played.
“When people are singing along, there's really just a moment where everyone's just vibing out all together, and people are digging the music,” Smeriglio said.
During the middle of their performance, it started raining, but students stuck around until the end of the show. Frandino said the student’s commitment brought the energy, which made them a good crowd.
“Everybody stuck it out in the rain, yeah, which is really cool,” Frandino said. “We thought people [were] not gonna want to hang out in the rain.”
When it came to creating the set list for the show, Frandino said they handwrite it a half hour to 45 minutes prior to taking the stage, talking it over with one another and leaving room for last minute song requests.
“We've been kind of doing the same sort of set for a couple of months, and we're kind of shifting things in and out,” Smeriglio said. “You gotta feel the room you get there.”
After the show, Kids That Fly took pictures on stage with students who stayed afterward. They also had the chance to speak to students.
“There was [a student] who said that she started listening to us in 2021,” Frandino said. “I was like ‘That’s really cool’ that they knew our music and finally got to see a face to it.”
The band is now looking forward to a busy rest of the year. They will hit the road again next week, opening for the band Dogpark for their Northeast shows.
“[We have] Burlington, Vermont and Portland, Maine. Next week, we've got Harrisburg, Ann Arbor, New York, Boston, Philly, DC,” Smeriglio said.
“We also fly out, end of October, to Arizona,” Frandino jumped in.
“Nine days in the desert,” Smeriglio joked. “And also San Francisco, Denver, a bunch of Southwest states.”
On Sept. 10, the Kids That Fly will be releasing a new single called “Girl Like Her.” They also have more music coming out in the next couple of months.
“It's not official now, [but] we did sign a record deal, so we’re doing it for real now,” Smeriglio said. “So lots more shows and lots more music.”
As for now, they are looking forward to heading back to New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
“I'm just excited, hanging out in new cities and seeing new places with new people,” Smeriglio said.
“Unlocking places on the map,” Frandino added.
Dominique Mercadante is the Editor in Chief of The Setonian. She can be reached at dominique.mercadante@student.shu.edu.
