For anyone living within a 5-mile radius of Hillsdale’s Elk’s Lodge #1575 on a cold October night during midterms week, falling asleep before midnight is unlikely. My Chemical Romance and Lady Gaga songs have taken over the event venue for the night—not exactly the ideal bedtime serenades.
Upon entering the Lodge, the first thing you will feel is the heat—not from a heating system, but from the bodies of people dancing, even as they are packed elbow-to-elbow in the space. Hosted by the Theta Epsilon music fraternity every fall semester, students purchase tickets to see their friends and classmates perform live music.
With every keyboard solo and smash of the drums, the students on the stage start to look less like twenty-somethings and more like seasoned performing artists. Other students crowd the space in front of the stage, doing everything from waving their phone flashlights to helping singers crowd surf. Battle of the Bands night is when bands carve out their reputations in the student body, and the musicians gain celebrity status.
When Nico Galindo, ’27, guitarist for the band Backspace, first came to Hillsdale, he never thought he would be shredding the electric guitar onstage under flashing lights with the crowd chanting his name.
Nico started playing the guitar for a worship ministry in Colombia, where his parents are missionaries. His love for the instrument grew when he discovered jazz and blues, and he now plays with the Hillsdale College Big Band. But on weekend nights, Nico swaps out the Big Band suit and tie for a different performing hat.
During Nico’s freshman year, Erik Teder, ’26, asked him to sub in as guitar player at Battle of the Bands for Erik’s band at the time. After that night, Nico said he just kept playing with Erik. Now, Erik and Nico are both in Theta Epsilon and play together in Backspace.
Backspace, composed of Nico, Erik, Nathan Furness, ’27, and Michael Cho and Jack Strickler, both ’28, debuted at Casablancapalooza—an annual off-campus house party—in spring 2025, and since then, their popularity has only grown. The Schizmatics, a former student band who released a Spotify album before graduating in 2025, were an important inspiration for Backspace.
“Usually, we pick a pop song that people would know, or songs that we know that are crowd pleasers, and then we just make our own version,” Nico said.
Unlike Nico, Erik wanted to be in a real band within the first months of being at Hillsdale. So Erik started talking to everyone he met at different events, asking them if they played an instrument.
“If they did, I put them all in the big group chat and told them, ‘Hey, we’re having rehearsal today,’” Erik said. “And whoever showed up ended up being my first band, which was Diet of Worms.”
Unfortunately, after a good run of shows, the group disbanded as members graduated, transferred, or took on heavier commitments. Erik played the keys for Diet of Worms, but ended up expanding his skillset when he bought a guitar. He eventually joined Theta Epsilon’s flagship band before starting Backspace.
“Music is best experienced in community,” Erik said. “I’m most motivated to know that I’m playing for other people, because music brings joy to people. I found people who really cared about music—we shared a lot of values and found a lot of the same things beautiful. Those people became my closest friends as well.”
During the weeks leading up to Battle of the Bands, Erik said band members can rack up 10 to 15 hours practicing, moving equipment, and going to support other bands.
“I’ve gotten to enjoy all these wonderful, unique things about Hillsdale’s band culture,” Erik said. “It’s on me and other seniors to curate an environment for the underclassmen so they can participate in the same things.”
Nathan, the drummer for Backspace, found access to Hillsdale’s band culture through Theta Epsilon. Although he played drums in high school and on his worship team for nine years, joining a band was not his first priority coming to Hillsdale.
“Since joining Theta, it’s just been kind of natural,” Nathan said. “With band culture, and Theta specifically, it’s really cool to see how much of an impact we’ve had. At any big student event on campus, for the most part, there’s a band playing there.”
Joel Esler, ’26, the trumpet player for Runaround and former president of Theta Epsilon, said his first brush with campus music culture was a gig his freshman year. Joel played the trumpet with several seniors and upperclassmen alongside Daniel Doyle, ’26. Now, Joel and Daniel are best friends living in the same house and playing in the same band.
“We got a bunch of guys together from Simpson, and that’s how Runaround got started,” Joel said.
Joel joined Theta Epsilon his freshman year upon the encouragement of some sophomore friends who were part of the Schizmatics at the time.
“This was an organization that’s very interested in promoting live music on Hillsdale’s campus,” Joel said. “A lot of the guys were very cool and easy to look up to as dudes, but also as musicians who were very talented at their craft—good students, good people to admire.”
John Frenz, ’26, the drummer for Jett Cruz and the Bahama Mamas—currently Theta Epsilon’s flagship band—started playing in two bands his junior year, and even though he is committed to Jett Cruz, he has subbed in as drummer for numerous gigs. His favorite memory playing in bands to date is his “stage debut” at Welcome Party.
“It wasn’t my cleanest gig, but the feeling of overcoming a great deal of nerves beforehand and having a fun time was unforgettable,” John said. “I remember how fun it was to create something with friends for the enjoyment of campus. It felt like my investment in learning an instrument had paid off.”
John said he cannot stress enough the importance of being close friends with bandmates.
“Having similar schedules, tastes, and priorities will make it much easier to resolve issues and reach a consensus. This sounds like a total no-brainer, but it’s incredibly fascinating both how political band conflicts are and how quickly they can become a real problem,” John said. “There’s an uncanny number of similarities between being in a band and being in a romantic relationship. Yes, including a honeymoon period.”
Erik said joining a band requires making your own opportunities, just like in all areas of life.
“You can say, ‘Oh, shoot. Nobody wants to hire me, I can’t get a job, I can’t’—I think that’s just an attitude toward life that one can’t have. With music at Hillsdale, the talent and the energy is there,” Erik said. “It’s just that a lot of times people are so busy that they need an organizing force.”
With Runaround and Jett Cruz being composed of all seniors, Joel said there will be a big hole on campus for live music next year that freshmen and sophomores can fill.
“I didn’t really know everybody in the band super well when we formed it, but now we’ve all gotten a lot closer, which I’m very grateful for. But you’ll never get that if you don’t put yourself out there and try to form something,” Joel said. “Without live bands, Hillsdale will fundamentally change. It’s a huge way to unite two different sides of campus with Greek life and non-Greek.”
Before you know it, Joel said, your little band could go from a dorm party gig to placing second in Battle of the Bands.
“I would have never imagined this kind of experience in college for myself, and I would highly recommend it to anyone,” Joel said.
Megan Li, ’27, is studying economics and journalism. When she isn’t consuming an unhealthy amount of caffeine to finish her homework, you can find her curled up with a good book, taking photos outdoors, or playing her guitar.
