Quarters of Change, a rock band featuring American University junior Ben Roter as lead singer, capped off Founders Week with a virtual concert hosted by Second District Records. Jenna Whitaker, director of Founders Week, introduced the band at a webinar on Feb. 27.
The five-piece rock band is based out of New York City and recently released its new EP, “Innocent.” Quarters of Change is notable around campus for the vocals of Roter, a philosophy and legal studies major. Every member of the band mentioned that the webinar was their first live-streamed concert.
Quarters of Change opened its set with “Down That Road,” the second track on the group’s new “Innocent” EP. The six-song set also included “Summer Rain,” “Dancin’,” “Innocent,” and their well-known singles like “Kiwi” “Sofia.”
Quarters of Change makes an extensive use of electric guitars, synthesizers and drums. The band has a mix of uptempo songs like “Down That Road,” and some more mellow songs like “Innocent,” the title track of its new EP. In the live performance, Quarters of Change placed more emphasis on certain notes on the electric guitar to express an emotion. The band has variety within its music catalog even though all of its songs are rock songs.
During the Q&A facilitated by Second District Records at the end of the concert, Quarters of Change announced that a new album will be released by mid to late spring. The band also announced its new merchandise page on the group’s website.
Each of the band members explained that they knew each other in high school and were in various musical groups. Every band member also mentioned that their common interest in music brought them together to form Quarters of Change.
“We were all like, ‘How are we not in a band right now? We all love music and we should just try this thing out.’ In 12th grade, we decided to start writing our own music,” Roter said. “After we played our first show live outside of school, we were like, ‘that feeling is undeniable, so beautiful.’”
The moderators shifted the focus of the Q&A to quarantine, prompting Quarters of Change to explain what they have done creatively during quarantine.
“Basically every day of quarantine since we couldn’t really do anything else, we just practiced,” Roter said. “We weren’t seeing anyone else and immersed ourselves in music, which was an incredible opportunity because we’ve never really had the opportunity to do that.”
The event brought a sense of normalcy and much needed musical entertainment for the virtual Founders Week.
