By Erika Kita, Staff Writer
Recurring every year in Millbrae, the Art and Wine festival is one of the only times of the year when everyone from the Millbrae community may unite to support small and local businesses. As Millbrae comes together to attend this festival, entertainment from the Music Department from Mills High School livens the mood in Downtown Millbrae.
The Mills Music Department confirms that they have many performances planned for this year, such as the winter and spring concerts, Groove-a-thon, as well as other performances outside of school festivals and competitions. With the start of the 2022-2023 school year, many of the musicians in the department that premiered at the Millbrae Art and Wine Festival additional play in the Mills Concert Band, Jazz Band, and their new band, “Unparallel”.
Risca Li (12), the keyboard player for Unparallel, gave some insight on her band. With their Art and Wine performance being a great crowd pleaser, fans are eager to know what is coming up with their group.
When asked if they were planning to write their own original music, Risca answered, “Yes, we’ve been experimenting with our instruments and testing different melody combinations and song ideas!”
According to the school, their group has been playing since last year, however, recently two new members have been introduced into the band: Risca and Kameron Fung (10), the drummer. Since then they’ve rebranded themselves as Unparallel and their debut performance was during the Art and Wine. The members at the moment are Jeremy Garcia (11) on vocals, Justin Garcia (11) on vocals and bass guitar, Kameron on drums and vocals, Risca on keyboard and vocals, Leland Le (11) on guitar and ukulele, and Evan Field (11) on guitar and vocals.
Preparing for their Art and Wine gig, their managers have played a significant role in helping them succeed, such as getting them this gig and even an interview that aired on TV. Leland’s father, one of the band’s managers, has played a big role in supporting them, as well as serving as their motivator who gives them advice about the music industry. Prior to their performances, the band would prepare by practicing 3 hours a day for almost 2 weeks to prepare for their gig. However, although they prepared a lot for their performance, they had an impromptu song that they had never rehearsed before on stage.
“Jeremy had an impromptu song for us called “Best Part” by Daniel Caesar that we’ve never rehearsed before. I didn’t even know the song too well or the key signature so I was very surprised that we played it.”
Despite their vast efforts, not everything went smoothly during their preparations for the gig. The band experienced conflicts with the setlist and disagreements with song choices, leading to replacing songs and finding new ones that everyone agreed upon.
Many fans have been wondering about their fandom name. As of now, the band has created two names: the Acuties (like an acute angle) or Perpendiculans.
Mr. G also had advice for anyone who is interested in joining the Mills Music Department. “It’s a place where you can come and learn about how to make music and express yourself.” He assures that if anyone is too scared to join Mills Music to not worry and that everyone is very supportive and optimistic about learning music. He is very excited for this year and believes that “the future is bright for Mills Music” and is confident in the new freshmen this year who are eager to learn how to play their instruments.
