There is no way to confine Detention a band intent on rocking your world and delivering solid music to capture your soul. Yes, Detention has what it takes to keep your head rocking and your feet moving to their infectious sounds that will have you coming back for more.
The band deliver teenage attitude and angst along with an infectious beat and driving sound. They include 4 members in high school and one still in middle school and include Fritz Dannemiller on bass, Luke Konopka on drums, Evan Cox on guitar and Elliott Carter on vocals. They formed actually about 4 years ago in Akron, Ohio, and include a awesome rendition of Devo’s Uncontrollable Urge as they are grounded in the Akron music scene and about to help lead the way for other local bands to follow.
Last year Detention won the 24th Annual Tri-C High School Rock off at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and performed to a packed house at the Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood. The band won the High School rock off despite the fact Carter was very ill the day of the performance and overcame her sickness to rock Detention to victory. They also were featured in the Devotional 5 k in Akron that included Jerry Casale of Devo who joined the band on stage for Uncontrollable Urge. “I think it kinda represents the childish-angsty kinda thing we have going on- and especially at the time when he chose it because we were all literal children, says Carter. What could be a better name for a group of troublesome little kids?”
Detention are for real and not to be taken lightly because of their youth. They are way beyond a novelty act and joining ranks with the rock world as a serious act that stand apart from the rest. Carter said, “I think part of the reason we’re different is because we’re so young, but also have the motivation to be young and still be working towards something. I think that we also have so many different music artists and genres that my band mates and I are inspired by, and it helps to bring all those differences together, none of our songs sound very similar as of right now.” Cox added, “Age doesn’t necessarily pose any limitations for what we CAN achieve. I believe that we can achieve whatever we work towards and that seems to be evident in our previous successes. however, we do run in to the problem of being dismissed by critics / judges / peers as being not as good or experienced because of our age, or they just write us off as a gimmick without giving us a chance. the way i see it, is that we’re here to make music just like everybody else, and I’m not here to say sorry that we didn’t wait any longer.”
Detention are working hard to overcome the obstacles of youth while growing as a band. Carter said, “Both being held back from touring and the regular needs of school and stuff. Fritz is headed to college next year so I think we’ll need to work extra hard to stay together and making music through a time in our lives with so many changes. I think another weird thing about our ages and the type of music we make is not knowing what age group our listeners would fit into. Either older or super young, I really want listeners my age.”
Detention have new music in the works and plan to release a new EP. Cox said, “We’ve recently been working on recording and putting together an ep project including some of our recent singles and a few others in the works. hopefully we can get shows up and running regularly again soon, and stay tuned for those updates.”
Detention released an EP Devilberries in 2019, and the singles Thermo, In Reversie, and 56 Minutes last year and Dead Malls.
As for the band’s message new or old music has it’s place and Detention are here to take you to a new experience with their infectious sounds. Dannemiller said, “Just because a style of music is new or old doesn’t make it bad. Most old people hate on newer music because it isn’t the same thing they listened to growing up while young people hate on older music because it’s cool to hate on old things but both new and old music have their place.”
Detention are making waves and are a band you need to experience and take a ride on their wave of intense music worth experiencing again and again.
Detention on Spotify/Apple Music, @detention.live on Facebook and Instagram, and @detentionlive on Twitter