Irena Kaci
Young Man Winter (YMI) has been generating music for the past six years. During a New Year’s Eve party, PJ McQuade (guitar) and James Dunseith (vocals, keyboard) had one pivotal conversation and talked about wanting to play more music in the coming year.
Before long, their resolution turned into a real award winning band. I spoke with Sergio Marcucci (guitar) to learn about the band’s history. “It really was McQuade and Dunseith that made it their mission to start this band. Once we started playing together once a week, we were playing shows within a year. And, just last year, we won the Worcester Music Award (WMA) for Worcester’s best rock band.”
These days the band has a total of five members. Joining McQuade, Dunseith and Marcucci are Chris Costello (drums) and Isabelo Cruz (bass). “I started out playing guitar and bass for the band. I would switch between songs. Four years ago, we added our drummer Chris Costello. And now finally we have a bass player, Izzy Cruz.”
Marcucci is excited to talk about the band’s latest: a possible new album that’s been brewing. “This summer we recorded 4 songs with Rodger Lavallee who works out of Wachusett Studio. We released a song called ‘The Golden Spike’ that came out in October. We have another single coming on black Friday. We have another song ready to go. We are contemplating recording two more to release as an EP or just doing them all as singles.”
YMI has been faithfully playing in all the local spots that support and nurture their artistry. “We are playing a black Friday show at Husky’s in Worcester. We’ve been playing at Off The Rails the last couple of months, their crowds are really engaging, it’s a really good crowd. Husky’s has been a staple for us. We play there two to three times a year.”
If you’re new to YMI and wondering what they sound like Marcucci describes himself as a ‘90s kid’ and he describes the band’s sound as ‘indie’ with a ‘hint of grunge’. “Our [fans’] demographic is probably looking at 30-40-something year olds, our own generation. But the beautiful thing about music is that it’s the universal language and it doesn’t really have boundaries or labels. Music can appeal to such a wide range of people for many different reasons. That’s what I love the most about it.”
Getting back to their roots, Marcucci expands on the bands that really moved them as young musicians. “I was in 8th grade. I had listened to Nirvana. I just wanted to start playing the guitar. I really fell in love with that band. I eventually grabbed a guitar and started playing. For me, in terms of influences I look to Radiohead, Pavement, Soundgarden. Dunseith is really influenced by Wilco, but again what works for us is collectively we have such a wide range of influence and as we’ve grown into this journey; we’ve learned that music is just helping people get to a space in their song. If there’s a vision or idea it’s our responsibility as a band to help support that journey but if it serves a greater purpose in that song. It does create a great sound.”
As a local band, YMI really values the power of community and music’s power to bring people together. “I think the best part of all of this has just been the ability to connect with local musicians that we’ve met along the way and artists with whom we’ve collaborated. The more we can stay local with our community, it’ll serve a greater good now, more than ever.”
Whether or not they release an EP, be on the lookout for Young Man Winter’s singles coming to a music venue near you, right here in Worcester County.