By Chloe Mee
funQ: Collingwood’s Own Rock Band
When most students say that they played in a band during high school, they mean that they played in a band with other students with a conductor — the typical orchestra, wind band or jazz band. However, when five unique Collingwood students say that they played in a band, they were playing in their own band who “play what they want.”
funQ is a rock band whose members are all Collingwood students. It consists of five members. Their percussionist is Graydon (Grade Twelve), Monique — “Mo” — is their singer (Grade Eleven), Larina plays the keyboard (Grade Ten), Ricky plays the guitar (Grade Ten) and Kyle (Grade Eleven) plays the bass.
This rock band formed in February of 2021 after several of the soon-to-be band members had conversations about their interest in forming a band. Kyle had learned the bass three years prior to the band’s formation and had been talking to Larina about forming a band. Mo and Ricky had been “wanting to join a band for a while” and had their parent’s encouragement to do so. Eventually, Ricky and Larina got together, found Graydon and Kyle, and then found their singer: Mo.
funQ rehearses every Sunday from 10:30 am to 3:00 pm, alternating their meetings between Larina and Ricky’s place. The band formed during the pandemic and therefore they have kept safe by keeping physical distance when rehearsing. Luckily, since they have “no wind instruments… only singing,” the members of the band can wear a mask. If the theatre at school is open, the group can also rehearse on Monday and Wednesday mornings.
While funQ is primarily called a rock band, the group plays a wide variety of music. Graydon told me that “our band likes to play a couple of different genres, so we tend to find inspiration from many artists.” According to the group, their favourite songs to play are Television/So Far So Good.
Mo is inspired by Ella Fitzgerald because of “all she’s done in music.” When citing his inspirations, Ricky said that he likes Joe Satriani — a bass player — and particularly his song The Mystical Potatohead Groove Thing. Larina particularly likes Green Day and is inspired by Billy Joel when it comes to playing on the keyboard. As for Kyle: he said that Mr Smith would be proud of the fact that he enjoys Rush and its genre, Geddy League, and that he is inspired by playing the bass with other people.
In order to better understand funQ as a whole, I will be giving a mini-feature for each of the band members to highlight their unique musical tastes and perspectives.
When I asked Graydon about his advice for people considering joining or forming a band, he had some sage words: “if you’re joining a band, remember that even though you’re new, your ideas are just as important as everyone else’s. That being said, make sure you join a band with like-minded players. When talking about writing your own songs, take inspiration from as many songs as possible, but still leave room for ideas from yourself and other band members. No idea is a bad idea, it just might not fit the song you’re writing, it might fit the next one.” Following his graduation, Graydon will still be pursuing music. He “will try to expand [his] knowledge of the industry, while hopefully creating music and art with people around the world.” Graydon is planning to study music production. Being a founding member of funQ will certainly prove to be a unique and invaluable accolade for Graydon.
Mo told me that “being in a band allows you to make connections and play better,” as well as have fun. An active member of many Concert and Chamber Choirs, Mo also shared her insight into being a member of funQ as opposed to these school groups. It has changed her perception of music in “seeing how collaborative it is in comparison to some of the other [ensembles she has been in because she] gets ideas from people and explores different genres.” She also explained that because funQ are choosing their own songs to play, it is challenging to decide what to play due to the input from each member of the band. In the future, she hopes for more time to commit to music and to be immersed in the musical world as she has not had much time to do so with COVID. She plans to join an acapella group and always wants something to do with music in her life even if this isn’t necessarily as a career. Her question for her inspiration Ella Fitzgerald is: “how do you deal with discrimination — not having equal respect?”
Kyle told me that being in funQ is unique compared to playing in the bands at Collingwood because of several fundamental differences. In a band with Mr Smith, he said that typically students will “get their music, play it and sound good.” Now that he has had experience playing for funQ, his perception of music has broadened. funQ has helped him to “be more collaborative with people, talk with people about music and develop new ideas.” If anyone is considering joining or starting a band, Kyle said: “just try, what’s the worst that could happen?” While he doesn’t plan on pursuing a job that involves music, he said that “if there’s someone at university who wants to play [in a band], [he] would play.” He would specifically ask his favourite band Rush how it felt “to develop in a different way to other bands.”
When it came to comparing being in funQ to Collingwood bands, Ricky echoed Kyle’s sentiments. In a typical band class, he says he can “play [his] own part and [not] care about others,” but in funQ, he “has to care and listen to other people: [he] can’t fake it.” There is only one person to a part. If anyone wants to be a member of a band, his main advice is to “take initiative… and seek your own opportunities the best you can.” He explained that funQ had to “push Mr Smith to practice at school and play jazz cab[eret]s and get performances.” In other words, there is not an adult or teacher who is bearing the responsibility of getting performances — the members of funQ now have this onus. Ricky also had several relevant and important questions to ask the musical groups that he admires. He would ask: “what did you do in high school as a kid to get where you are? How do you deal with [the pressures and negative impacts of] fame?”
Larina explained that being a member of funQ taught her to be “braver with music.” She has been able to experience many new things such as “improvising, singing, playing without written music.” While Larina loves being a member of the bands at Collingwood, she finds the primary difference to be that “the parts are already written in [Collingwood bands]” but in funQ, “you have to listen to [a song] and come up with your own parts.” This is where transcribing a piece comes in. Her advice for joining a band was simple. “Just go for it if [you’re] considering it, we didn’t think that much about it.” Larina plans to join a band in university to keep music in her future. She also had some very relevant questions for those she admires in the music industry: she would ask about how their experiences in the music industry have changed over the years, how they stay relevant, and how they stay true to themselves.
A fun fact about funQ is that Ricky taught Larina “how to play drums on the piano if [Graydon] is not there or late to the practice” so that she can imitate the part that they are missing.
Not only has funQ played music together, but they have also written music together. Graydon said that “joining a band has shown [him] the differences between writing a song by yourself and writing a song with other musicians with similar ideas.” Their process involves writing down the notes and lyrics that come into their head in a little notebook. Sometimes Mo will sing something and they will build the song from there. Other times, they will think of a chord progression and then start improvising: “Graydon does his thing, Ricky does his,” and they go from there.
funQ has also gone to an independent recording studio in Downtown Vancouver to record some of their songs and covers. At the time of the interview, they had recorded Billy Jean and Superstition.
Where else can you hear funQ? Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, it has been challenging for them to perform in the traditional sense. funQ had ambitions of playing at Cavchella, but won’t be able to play in front of a live audience for the foreseeable future. However, I have been told that since Graydon is in charge of music for this school-wide event, he will “make sure that some of [funQ’s] songs will be played.” Larina also made sure to mention that funQ is available to play anywhere that needs music — just let her know! You can also follow funQ on Instagram at @official.funq.
Most admirably, barely a year into their formation, funQ has been involved in fundraising. Larina explained it best:
“One of our band members’ mom is helping to organize a fundraiser for the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation. Basically, it will be in the form of a virtual singing competition open to youths between 6-18 years of age. Applicants who wish to register will be first submitting an audio file through a page on the Lions Gate Foundation website, and then if they are selected by our judges to continue, they will be notified and asked to submit a music video of sorts, or just a video file showing them performing a song of their choice. They have the choice of performing solo or as part of a group, and also can choose to play an original piece or a cover of an existing song. Registration is open for the first round of auditions until the end of June. The winner of the competition will be given the opportunity to perform their song live at an LGH Gala, and be given a trophy. All participants who register for the competition will also receive a service acknowledgement youth appreciation certificate from the LGH foundation as well as up to 5 service hours. Our band funQ is involved in the publicity and outreach aspects of the fundraiser (basically getting the word out), as well as helping out with finding judges, organizing, and translating official posters from Chinese to English. The winners of the competition also are awarded the opportunity to collaborate with funQ if they wish to. If it were a live competition, funQ would have also been playing during intermissions, and before and after the show. Unfortunately, that won't be possible this year.
On May 29, funQ also performed at another virtual fundraiser for the RAVEN Trust organization. It was an event organized by Sustainabiliteens, a youth climate justice movement based around the Metro Vancouver area. The fundraiser consisted of several local performers in the main room with breakout rooms run by members of Sustainabiliteens who were teaching attendees how to mend their own clothes to mitigate the need for fast fashion. Overall, it was a success, and we raised nearly $500 through tickets to the fundraiser and donations.”
The members of funQ said that forming their band was a great experience because they “didn’t know each other [before] and started from scratch.” They have truly been able to get to know each other through the formation of funQ. Being a member of the band has given them more “confidence and life skills.”
It was a pleasure to interview the members of funQ to learn about how they formed and what they’ve been doing as a band. The Arts Mag team and I wish them all the best as they continue on with music and their band!
funQ: Collingwood’s Own Rock Band
When most students say that they played in a band during high school, they mean that they played in a band with other students with a conductor — the typical orchestra, wind band or jazz band. However, when five unique Collingwood students say that they played in a band, they were playing in their own band who “play what they want.”
funQ is a rock band whose members are all Collingwood students. It consists of five members. Their percussionist is Graydon (Grade Twelve), Monique — “Mo” — is their singer (Grade Eleven), Larina plays the keyboard (Grade Ten), Ricky plays the guitar (Grade Ten) and Kyle (Grade Eleven) plays the bass.
This rock band formed in February of 2021 after several of the soon-to-be band members had conversations about their interest in forming a band. Kyle had learned the bass three years prior to the band’s formation and had been talking to Larina about forming a band. Mo and Ricky had been “wanting to join a band for a while” and had their parent’s encouragement to do so. Eventually, Ricky and Larina got together, found Graydon and Kyle, and then found their singer: Mo.
funQ rehearses every Sunday from 10:30 am to 3:00 pm, alternating their meetings between Larina and Ricky’s place. The band formed during the pandemic and therefore they have kept safe by keeping physical distance when rehearsing. Luckily, since they have “no wind instruments… only singing,” the members of the band can wear a mask. If the theatre at school is open, the group can also rehearse on Monday and Wednesday mornings.
While funQ is primarily called a rock band, the group plays a wide variety of music. Graydon told me that “our band likes to play a couple of different genres, so we tend to find inspiration from many artists.” According to the group, their favourite songs to play are Television/So Far So Good.
Mo is inspired by Ella Fitzgerald because of “all she’s done in music.” When citing his inspirations, Ricky said that he likes Joe Satriani — a bass player — and particularly his song The Mystical Potatohead Groove Thing. Larina particularly likes Green Day and is inspired by Billy Joel when it comes to playing on the keyboard. As for Kyle: he said that Mr Smith would be proud of the fact that he enjoys Rush and its genre, Geddy League, and that he is inspired by playing the bass with other people.
In order to better understand funQ as a whole, I will be giving a mini-feature for each of the band members to highlight their unique musical tastes and perspectives.
When I asked Graydon about his advice for people considering joining or forming a band, he had some sage words: “if you’re joining a band, remember that even though you’re new, your ideas are just as important as everyone else’s. That being said, make sure you join a band with like-minded players. When talking about writing your own songs, take inspiration from as many songs as possible, but still leave room for ideas from yourself and other band members. No idea is a bad idea, it just might not fit the song you’re writing, it might fit the next one.” Following his graduation, Graydon will still be pursuing music. He “will try to expand [his] knowledge of the industry, while hopefully creating music and art with people around the world.” Graydon is planning to study music production. Being a founding member of funQ will certainly prove to be a unique and invaluable accolade for Graydon.
Mo told me that “being in a band allows you to make connections and play better,” as well as have fun. An active member of many Concert and Chamber Choirs, Mo also shared her insight into being a member of funQ as opposed to these school groups. It has changed her perception of music in “seeing how collaborative it is in comparison to some of the other [ensembles she has been in because she] gets ideas from people and explores different genres.” She also explained that because funQ are choosing their own songs to play, it is challenging to decide what to play due to the input from each member of the band. In the future, she hopes for more time to commit to music and to be immersed in the musical world as she has not had much time to do so with COVID. She plans to join an acapella group and always wants something to do with music in her life even if this isn’t necessarily as a career. Her question for her inspiration Ella Fitzgerald is: “how do you deal with discrimination — not having equal respect?”
Kyle told me that being in funQ is unique compared to playing in the bands at Collingwood because of several fundamental differences. In a band with Mr Smith, he said that typically students will “get their music, play it and sound good.” Now that he has had experience playing for funQ, his perception of music has broadened. funQ has helped him to “be more collaborative with people, talk with people about music and develop new ideas.” If anyone is considering joining or starting a band, Kyle said: “just try, what’s the worst that could happen?” While he doesn’t plan on pursuing a job that involves music, he said that “if there’s someone at university who wants to play [in a band], [he] would play.” He would specifically ask his favourite band Rush how it felt “to develop in a different way to other bands.”
When it came to comparing being in funQ to Collingwood bands, Ricky echoed Kyle’s sentiments. In a typical band class, he says he can “play [his] own part and [not] care about others,” but in funQ, he “has to care and listen to other people: [he] can’t fake it.” There is only one person to a part. If anyone wants to be a member of a band, his main advice is to “take initiative… and seek your own opportunities the best you can.” He explained that funQ had to “push Mr Smith to practice at school and play jazz cab[eret]s and get performances.” In other words, there is not an adult or teacher who is bearing the responsibility of getting performances — the members of funQ now have this onus. Ricky also had several relevant and important questions to ask the musical groups that he admires. He would ask: “what did you do in high school as a kid to get where you are? How do you deal with [the pressures and negative impacts of] fame?”
Larina explained that being a member of funQ taught her to be “braver with music.” She has been able to experience many new things such as “improvising, singing, playing without written music.” While Larina loves being a member of the bands at Collingwood, she finds the primary difference to be that “the parts are already written in [Collingwood bands]” but in funQ, “you have to listen to [a song] and come up with your own parts.” This is where transcribing a piece comes in. Her advice for joining a band was simple. “Just go for it if [you’re] considering it, we didn’t think that much about it.” Larina plans to join a band in university to keep music in her future. She also had some very relevant questions for those she admires in the music industry: she would ask about how their experiences in the music industry have changed over the years, how they stay relevant, and how they stay true to themselves.
A fun fact about funQ is that Ricky taught Larina “how to play drums on the piano if [Graydon] is not there or late to the practice” so that she can imitate the part that they are missing.
Not only has funQ played music together, but they have also written music together. Graydon said that “joining a band has shown [him] the differences between writing a song by yourself and writing a song with other musicians with similar ideas.” Their process involves writing down the notes and lyrics that come into their head in a little notebook. Sometimes Mo will sing something and they will build the song from there. Other times, they will think of a chord progression and then start improvising: “Graydon does his thing, Ricky does his,” and they go from there.
funQ has also gone to an independent recording studio in Downtown Vancouver to record some of their songs and covers. At the time of the interview, they had recorded Billy Jean and Superstition.
Where else can you hear funQ? Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, it has been challenging for them to perform in the traditional sense. funQ had ambitions of playing at Cavchella, but won’t be able to play in front of a live audience for the foreseeable future. However, I have been told that since Graydon is in charge of music for this school-wide event, he will “make sure that some of [funQ’s] songs will be played.” Larina also made sure to mention that funQ is available to play anywhere that needs music — just let her know! You can also follow funQ on Instagram at @official.funq.
Most admirably, barely a year into their formation, funQ has been involved in fundraising. Larina explained it best:
“One of our band members’ mom is helping to organize a fundraiser for the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation. Basically, it will be in the form of a virtual singing competition open to youths between 6-18 years of age. Applicants who wish to register will be first submitting an audio file through a page on the Lions Gate Foundation website, and then if they are selected by our judges to continue, they will be notified and asked to submit a music video of sorts, or just a video file showing them performing a song of their choice. They have the choice of performing solo or as part of a group, and also can choose to play an original piece or a cover of an existing song. Registration is open for the first round of auditions until the end of June. The winner of the competition will be given the opportunity to perform their song live at an LGH Gala, and be given a trophy. All participants who register for the competition will also receive a service acknowledgement youth appreciation certificate from the LGH foundation as well as up to 5 service hours. Our band funQ is involved in the publicity and outreach aspects of the fundraiser (basically getting the word out), as well as helping out with finding judges, organizing, and translating official posters from Chinese to English. The winners of the competition also are awarded the opportunity to collaborate with funQ if they wish to. If it were a live competition, funQ would have also been playing during intermissions, and before and after the show. Unfortunately, that won't be possible this year.
On May 29, funQ also performed at another virtual fundraiser for the RAVEN Trust organization. It was an event organized by Sustainabiliteens, a youth climate justice movement based around the Metro Vancouver area. The fundraiser consisted of several local performers in the main room with breakout rooms run by members of Sustainabiliteens who were teaching attendees how to mend their own clothes to mitigate the need for fast fashion. Overall, it was a success, and we raised nearly $500 through tickets to the fundraiser and donations.”
The members of funQ said that forming their band was a great experience because they “didn’t know each other [before] and started from scratch.” They have truly been able to get to know each other through the formation of funQ. Being a member of the band has given them more “confidence and life skills.”
It was a pleasure to interview the members of funQ to learn about how they formed and what they’ve been doing as a band. The Arts Mag team and I wish them all the best as they continue on with music and their band!