Finding new forms of entertainment is easy in a college town; one does not have to look too far for something new. It became apparent to me in my first month in West Chester that this community loves a good local band. Stickers paint the town promoting bands and I am never in short supply of fliers announcing new local lineups. In particular, one sticker with a picture of a robot and the name Scuzbot caught my eye the other day.
Scuzbot, a punk rock band, gets their name from an episode of the Comedy Central show “Futurama.” The band was not officially formed until 2010, but the group members grew up playing music together. Jon Lucas rocks out on the drums, while Mitch Koehler keeps the rhythm on the bass, and Ryan Rispo and Tyler Marie take guitar and vocals. The band draws influences from other groups like Saves the Day, Devo, and Boatrocker, but writes most of their own music. Mitch Koehler, the band’s bass player and a student at WCU, says, “We’ll do some covers here and there. We actually cover The Toadies ‘Possum Kingdom’ on Philadelphia’s Radio 104.5 WRFF a couple years back when we first released our Shapes and Trends EP.”
The band’s more recent original songs have been their main focus, as they work on writing their new album. “We have like ten new songs we’ve been perfecting since last year,” says Koehler. The band ultimately plans to tour the world, hopefully beginning with an east coast states tour this summer.
Keep an eye on fliers being posted around town, the band’s next appearance is in West Chester on Oct. 11, at a location to be released. They will be playing alongside other local performers. Information for future shows will be posted on the band’s website, Scuzbot.com.
Interested in getting a preview before the show? Scuzbot’s music can be streamed from their website or you can check out the band on their Facebook page.
Janice Rabian is a first-year student majoring in Theatre. She can be reached at JR808460@wcupa.edu.