A short, blaring F#,  played by juniors Symeon Solecki and Nick Edelman, sets the stage for senior Jeremy Vollen’s jazzy vocal entrance in the opening lines of The Strokes’s song “You Only Live Once”. Soon, Vollen’s bass, Solecki’s backup vocals and junior Jake Goldenberg’s consistent drumbeat enter. Sphinx’s stage presence is established as they feed off each other’s enthusiasm.

This was the beginning of Sphinx’s, a newly established band made up of the members listed above, act for V-show this year. The band formed a few weeks before  V-show when the other band members invited Solecki to be their second guitarist.

Edelman and Vollen originally thought of the name at the beginning of high school when they came across the word “sphincter” and thought it would make cool band name if it was not so obviously a word, according to them. When V-show required they find a name for their band, Sphinx came to mind.

While it is often difficult to find time to rehearse between their AP classes and work schedules, they still play together in someone’s basement whenever their schedules allow, according to Vollen. It usually comes down to once or twice a week. While they do not exactly write songs as a band, when they’re improvising together they tend to build off each other’s sounds, Vollen said.

Edelman said, “Our jam always depends on who starts it. It’s like this melting pot of music.”

According to Vollen, while every member of the band has their own musical tastes, they all tend to gravitate toward alternative rock, often going to concerts together. Some of their favorites include The Pixies, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Strokes.

Looking up to these bands, Sphinx hopes its musical career will continue as long as possible. Goldenberg talked about their future and present goals.

“Paradox is ongoing, and we hope to do Jamnesty,” Goldenberg said. They have played both of those events before.

All four members agree that they are at different levels musically. Solecki, who gives guitar lessons to a girl in his neighborhood, is the most advanced, and Vollen claims to be the least. They all agree, however, that to put on a great show, stage presence comes before musicality.

“[Most bands] try to explode into the audience, but we do like an implosion, where we feed off the chemistry of our band and jam toward each other,” Vollen said.