Local band makes great strides in short time

Band members have the uncanny ability to form fast friendships between themselves. Maybe it has something to do with sharing the common interest of music, or the experience of performing together. Whatever it is, no one demonstrates this unique phenomenon better than Focusin, a local five-man band set to take the stage next Tuesday at Harper's Ferry.

Formed only a year ago, Focusin members Mark Kevalis (vocals), Glen Goland (guitar), Yuri Grinshteyn (bass), Bennet Kolasinski (guitar), and Bill Passaro (drums) have gone from complete strangers to close-knit friends in only a short span of time. The process of finding each other, however, was not easy. With the exception of Kolasinski, the band met through www.massmusician.com, a website that allows independent musicians to post classified ads. Kolasinski was introduced to the band through Grinshteyn, having met when the two were students at Tufts. Mark was the final addition.

"We clicked like a beat up jalopy," said Goland, referring to the band's rocky start. "We got worse and worse," he continued jokingly.

Even with the addition of Mark, things looked bleak. He first met the band when he came to a rehearsal. Not only had he not listened to any of the songs the band had already written, but he arrived with a terrible head cold.

"We were ready to crucify Glen," said Passaro, "because Mark had nothing."

These glitches aside, the band realized it had a connection when they finally started playing. "As far as writing is concerned, we started pumping out songs," said Goland." While their extremely varied influences were at first a concern, the writing process proved to the band that it would help them to create their own individual sound.

"We all have different influences. We kind of sound like everybody and nobody at the same time," Goland said. "We take little pieces from everything."

Focusin has been able to find an audience for what Passaro calls its upbeat, all-original music. Their success in finding gigs can be attributed to the nature of the music scene in Boston.

"Its really approachable for not knowing what you're doing," Kolasinski said laughing. Goland agreed with Kolasinski's observation, noting that in order to be successful, you have to approach landing a gig with a certain attitude.

"We've approached people and listened to what they've said. We did whatever they told us," Goland said. "They've been really friendly [and] not that intimidating."

Mark believes that the key to being successful is trying not to pay much attention to other area bands. Rather than worrying about them, "we try to make people like our music."

Equally important to finding new audiences is playing at the right places. According to Passaro, the band sticks to "venues that primarily play our type of music." This has obviously been a successful approach, as "every place we've played they've asked us back. We've gotten some good responses."

The band is surprisingly humble considering the progress it has made in only a short period of time. While Grinshteyn jokes that "we're going to be rock stars," each member expresses a certain amount of surprise at the success Focusin has experienced so far.

"Everything that happens surprises me because I don't expect it," said Mark. Passaro expressed a similar sentiment, saying "We never expected to get this far."

Venues "could pick a dozen bands," explained Goland. "We're honored that they want us."

Still, the band recognizes that it has worked hard to achieve this kind of success and land gigs at such big-name venues as Harper's Ferry.

"We've worked hard enough that we don't feel like we're out of our place," said Goland. "We deserve to be there. We know we're putting in the work _ it's not like it just happened."

In terms of future aspirations, Goland puts it best, saying "We're not here because we want to play one weekend a month; we want to do this for a career." While each of the band members has a day job, Focusin is one of their primarily goals, and they are confident that they have the potential to be even more successful than they have been already.

"We know it's going to go somewhere," said Mark.

Focusin is a band that offers not only great music, but a fantastic stage presence that demonstrates the particular bonds that have formed between all five musicians. They each possess a peculiar, playful brand of humor _ when Mark referred to himself as "a slave to music," the band broke out in strains of Britney Spears' "I'm a Slave 4 U." And at Tuesday's performance at Harper's Ferry, the band will be dressed up as various famous musicians. They bring their antics to the stage, making audience members feel more like participants in the performance than mere spectators. They may be musical newcomers, but they have the presence and potential of seasoned musicians.