STORY | behindtheband

By Sarah Darby

The sounds of an acoustic guitar, a keyboard and an unplugged bass guitar fill Zach Sullentrup’s small apartment bedroom in Columbia, Mo. on Nov. 14. As the notes fill the room, Sullentrup provides direction to the two other musicians in the room, prompting them to play a G instead of a C or to try out a new rhythm.

The group stands in a circle, huddled around a small white board filled with scribbled song lyrics. Nearly all of the wall space is filled with everything from band posters to magazine covers. This is what the songwriting process looks for Tidal Volume, the band Sullentrup started at his high school in St. Louis more than two years ago.

“The next album we’re releasing is going to be incredible I think,” bassist Andrew Scherping said.

All of the band’s members have been musicians from a young age. Sullentrup started piano and guitar lessons in grade school and began writing songs in high school. In August 2011, Tidal Volume formed with Sullentrup’s brother Matt on drums and his friends Andrew Scherping on bass and Will Minard on keys. Soon the band began to consider producing an album and later added a back up singer to round out the five-man group.

“We saw that it was something that could be attained and not just some pipe dream,” Minard said.

In January 2012 the band recorded its first six-song album, “Letters from the Coast of Somewhere” at a small studio in St. Louis. In April 2012, the album was released and 1,000 physical copies of the album were prepared.

At the time, the entire band completed the album production together in St. Louis. Now it is working on a four-song EP to be released in Spring 2014, with the band in two separate locations. Sullentrup, Minard and Scherping are students at the University of Missouri, while the other two band members live in St. Louis.

Sullentrup is developing songs for the second album he hopes to record when the band is all together on winter break in St. Louis. He said the new songs reflect personal and group growth.

“They come from a much more concentrated time frame and represent a certain time in my life,” Sullentrup said. “There was competition in the song selection.”

The band has benefitted from its time together, Minard said.

“I’m definitely more excited this time around,” Minard said. “Being together for so long now, it’s definitely a solid thing now.”

In addition to the new album, the band has focused on playing its music at as many venues as it can. Since it formed, Tidal Volume has played 20 to 25 shows in St. Louis and Columbia on a variety of stages.

At first Scherping said he felt nervous on stage, but now he enjoys the experience.

“I feel like we play for why people should play,” Scherping said. “We love playing, we love playing with each other, and I think it shows on stage that we’re there to have fun.”

This summer Tidal Volume opened for the Plain White T’s for a crowd of more than 400 in St. Louis. Minard said the show was a turning point for the band and was his favorite show yet.

“The crowd that came for the Plain White T’s, they seemed to be just fans of music,” Minard said. “It was very energetic and upbeat.”

Several posters advertising the show hang among Sullentrup’s other band posters. On the afternoon of the band practice, Sullentrup, Minard and Scherping sing, play and strum for around half an hour, testing out sounds as they go before parting ways.

The work will lead to the relase of the second album, but beyond that the band’s future is unclear. For now, making music is enough.

“It feels different this time around,” Minard said. “It doesn’t feel like a bunch of guys playing music. It feels like a band, and it feels like we’re meant to make music.”