By Mia Padovano
When a band of Rye High School alumni performed a setlist of original songs and covers recently in Rye Town Park, it felt more like a homecoming than a performance.
“It doesn’t feel like a show when all of our friends are there, it feels more like a fun gathering,” said Jesse Stigliano, the drummer for Summer Project, a band of RHS alumni whose members are here only in the summer.
During the school year, the band is spread out at universities across the country.
Ty Bibas, the band’s keyboardist, and Noah Poll, the bass guitarist, both attend the University of Southern California. Becca Elsen is at the University of Miami, Gordon Hargraves is at Northeastern University, Jack Morrissey is at Miami University, and Stigliano attends the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Still, they are determined to keep their music going, despite the distance. Hargraves, who plays lead guitar, sings, and writes most of the band’s original songs, is one of the group’s founders. “Rye loves music,” he said of the chance to play in the park.
The band also recently had performances in Rye on the beach at The Barley Beach House and at Tiki Beach Pier Restaurant.
Hargraves and Morrissey, a guitarist, had the idea to put the band together. They performed at RHS and at the Rye Arts Center Center during the spring of 2024, and Summer Project officially came together during the summer of 2024.
Elsen, a vocalist and songwriter who writes the lyrics for some of the group’s original songs, started collaborating with the band in the fall of 2024. Despite joining the band more recently and being one year ahead of the rest of the members in college, she said, “I immediately felt like I was friends with them.”
Band members communicate their ideas back and forth during the school year using voice memos. “The cool thing about this band is that everybody’s really siloed and invested in their own thing,” said Bibas. “We retain a lot of creative autonomy this way.”
When the six members have breaks from school, they return to Rye, bringing their ideas together and focusing on their music. Summer is their opportunity to record songs and play gigs.
Family, friends, and the wider Rye community have been instrumental in helping the band thrive and grow.
In June, the band spent three consecutive days at The Barber Shop Studios in Hopatcong, N.J., writing and recording their new album.
“The cool thing for me and Noah,” said Bibas, “was that there were so many resources.” Making use of the studio’s instruments and working with its producers helped the group’s creativity skyrocket, Bibas said.
Stigliano agreed. “We wrote completely new parts while messing around in the studio,” he said.
Because there was a 90-minute drive from Rye to the studio, some group members decided to sleep over one night so they could resume working as early as possible.
“I got home one morning at 6 a.m. and my mom was eating breakfast,” said Elsen. “But I had fun the whole time.”
Last summer, Summer Project released three original songs on an EP called “1,” which is available on Spotify. A second single was released this summer on June 23, and another single is scheduled to follow soon. The group’s first full album, titled “Forest Ave,” is scheduled to be available at the end of the summer.
“We did all the practices at my house, which is on Forest Avenue,” said Stigliano. “It’s like the center of everything in Rye.” With no discussion, the band decided that was the perfect name for their album.
“Forest Ave” will include nine songs, in addition to the two singles, and represent several moods and styles. “We have funk songs, sad songs, and some are optimistic,” said Elsen.
“We don’t want to be known as one sound, we want to move on and make more impactful music,” said Hargraves, who noted that the band’s members want to build an audience so they can continue making original music.
Summer Project is on Spotify and on Instagram @summerprojectmusic.
