Opinion | What is it like to be in The Botanicals?
Z long, junior screenwriting major; Casey Hoerman, junior screenwriting major; Max Pugh, junior computer science major; Quinn Robinson, junior at Santa Monica Community College. SAM ANDRUS, Photo Editor
Can good people do bad things? Does life constitute struggle? Can there be true happiness without sadness? We don’t know. Don’t ask us. What is it like to be in the band The Botanicals? Hard to say. It depends on which of us four bandmates you ask.
Quinn Robinson
Lead Vocalist
Junior creative writing major, Santa Monica Community College
The moment I felt it was important that I be in this conglomerate was when Casey Hoerman, Max Pugh and I walked into a screening of “A Hard Day’s Night”’ in Pralle-Sodaro Hall on the first day of school.
The person who had switched it on was Z Long — a bearded fellow, clad with a union jack belt buckle holding up his bell bottoms. He had aviators too, I think. The moment I saw him, I felt compelled to tell Casey to ask Z if he’d ever played drums, to which he replied, “Yes, I’ve studied jazz drums for nine years, in fact.”
Z “The Professor” Long
Drummer
Junior screenwriting major, Chapman University
People ask me this all the time — at the club, at the laundromat and at the closing doors of elevators, I’m always hearing, “What’s it like being a Botanical?”
My answer is always the same: “What’s it like not being a Botanical?”
Because I don’t know any life other than the hustle; it’s like asking an alien what it’s like to be human. When I go to the corner store and get cereal, I’m a Botanical buying cereal. I don’t know any other life.
But in all seriousness, being in the band — for me — is a mixture of having fun and challenging myself as an artist. Back in freshman year, we were just on the precipice of something. We weren’t an official band with songs and rehearsals yet, but we were bonding over our mutual favorite artists, like The Velvet Underground, P-Funk, X, Fela Kuti, and more. I felt lucky to have met people who appreciated a diverse variety of music as much as I did.
The pandemic briefly slowed that momentum. But by the same token, the isolation of practicing, jamming, spending time together and writing in lieu of performances was a positive; we were able to find our chemistry and explore what each individual member brings to the band.
I don’t like labeling what we do under any genre, because I don’t feel a need to define it. Each person in the band has a different musical background, and we play our best when we let each member express themselves and their tastes in a uniquely personalized way.
We play punk, country, rock, blues — basically anything that suits us. It’s a good habit for artists to challenge their own skills and sensibilities when things feel too familiar. Everybody is an artist; the only prerequisites are an imagination and a heart.
Max Pugh
Guitarist
Junior computer science major, Chapman University
The Friday after school got called off due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were supposed to have our first full band rehearsal with electric instruments. I specifically remember how this opportunity of rehearsing in a studio space felt to me at the time: Quinn and I had been playing acoustic songs outside my dorm for 5 months by then, so we had this eclectic mix of half-realized acoustic folk and aggressive psychobilly songs.
In these really early stages of the band, we managed to record a few songs, gain interest from a few venues in the area and have quite a few wonderful encounters with people who liked what we were about just from our little acoustic ramblings. So, our first rehearsal seemed to foreshadow the beginning of the next phase of the band.
When we found out we had to leave Chapman, the realization that the future of the band was on pause was really a lot to take in. I went back to Missouri, Casey to Illinois, Z to Colorado and Quinn to Connecticut. It completely sucked, and I really took it hard.
Casey Hoerman
Bassist
Junior screenwriting major, Chapman University
Living together has been great for developing our sound and our friendships. After having all been separated for over a year, I think we all started to feel very defeated in terms of the future of the band. Now, at the home of The Botanicals, we can jam all day and all night. We had a house show with some of our close friends at the start of the summer as a way to kick off finally getting to play live together (shout out to Mr. Manager Jenna Bolena and Merch Consultant Jack Rumack for their work and dedication to the show’s success). The concert was electrifying, if I do say so myself. Playing gigs has been a blast, and I’m really grateful to be doing it alongside my bestest buds!
So there you have it people, a glance into the life of a Botanical. We do appreciate you taking a little interest in what we’re doing. If you want to learn a bit more about us, you can check us out on Instagram at @thebotanicalband.