Paige Hanson is a Collegian staff writer.

On Friday, April 14, I sat down with the band Noddery, one of the newest bands within the music scene at the University of Massachusetts. It was the warmest day of the semester and it seemed like everyone on campus was outside basking in the sunshine. Except for Noddery. They’d booked a practice room for two hours in the Fine Arts Center, intent on honing their skills and set list for the Spring Concert. On April 30, they will be an opening act for Don Toliver.

Noddery is a five-person band comprised entirely of UMass freshmen. Lead vocalist Paige Hanson is a journalism major. Bassist Sean Thapa is a mechanical engineering major. Drummer Aidan Supranowitz is a kinesiology major with a music minor. Guitarist Jackson Williams is a chemistry major. Jasper Smith, also a guitarist, is a microbiology major.

The group, with a wide range of academic interests, came together on social media before they had arrived on campus.

Hanson said was determined to connect with people who shared her interest in music. She gestured towards guitarist Williams when mentioning their initial connection via Instagram. Through their initial conversations, they began to seriously consider starting a band. Williams reached out to students he followed on Instagram, finding Smith and Supranowitz. They still needed a bass player, however. Luckily, a chemistry conference saved the day.

“[Thapa] and I were at a chemistry conference, for our majors,” Williams said. “We were talking about science for ten minutes, and out of the blue, he said, ‘I play bass.’”

Williams was surprised by his revelation. “Cause finding a bass player is hard, there are not that many around,” Smith chimed in.

“So, everyone be fortunate,” Thapa said, laughing.

Noddery’s name came from Supranowitz, according to Hanson. “Noddery” refers to how well someone could nod their head to a song; Supranowitz would use a “noddery” scale to rate how good a song was. The name stuck.

The group started rehearsals as soon as they got to campus, in September 2022. They only had two rehearsals before their first performance at WMUA’s Battle of the Bands, according to Thapa.

“We had a very fun time…it was our first performance, and I felt very nervous about it, but these guys obviously killed it,” Hanson said.

Smith felt good about their first performance together. “You have to work out the kinks in any band,” Smith said.

When deciding what songs to play, the band’s dynamic “feels like more of a democracy than anything else,” Supranowitz said. According to him and Hanson, someone will send a song or two in their group chat and if everyone’s in agreement, they’ll try it out.

“If we like a song, we’ll come in, play it and see if it works. We’ve tried songs before and been like ‘This isn’t working’ and then we move on,” Supranowitz said.

Noddery’s sound falls under the category of rock music, yet some of the covers in their repertoire are classic pop, like “The Story of Us” by Taylor Swift or “Locked out of Heaven” by Bruno Mars. This clash in genres doesn’t go unnoticed by the band, Hanson said.

“With the pop stuff, the way I look at it is, we want a good amount of songs that people know and can sing along to. Because that gets them really hyped up,” Smith noted.

When they perform these pop covers, Noddery isn’t afraid to add their own spin. “We can take a song that’s very pop and transform it into something that’s more our style, just a little bit more rock centered,” Williams said.

The band emphasized that they don’t choose simply any song off the radio, they enjoy picking crowd-pleasing songs that show their musicality and talent as a band. Noddery performed these types of covers at UMass Got Talent on March 30. They ended up winning the event, much to their surprise.

Hanson said the group approached the show as “just a gig.”

“I definitely thought we were gonna make the top five, for sure,” Smith said. “But I thought there was gotta be someone out there that’s better.”

Their win at UMass Got Talent gave them the chance to perform at the University Programing Council’s 2023 Spring Concert. During the show they’ll play besides Jay Sean, Coi Leray and the headliner, Don Toliver.

“This is by far going to be the biggest show any of us have ever played, by a big factor. It’s been my dream to play a stadium show like this forever, so it’s gonna be awesome,” Smith said.

“I could have waited a year or two, gotten better first,” Thapa joked, eliciting laughter from his bandmates.

Throughout the interview, the group’s chemistry was apparent; they were consistently cracking jokes and feeding off each other’s answers. It was a delight to see that their chemistry is just as good off-stage as it is on-stage. I asked the band how they manage nerves, as the Spring Concert is a much larger crowd than their previous shows. The answer? By simply being together.

“The thing that we’ve found works for us, is not paying attention to the fact that we’re about to play a show. We’ll just hang out beforehand and practice, but we’re all just joking around. And that takes the nerves away,” Williams said.

The group emphasized their previous experience performing for crowds, whether it be in drumline, other bands or even theater. “The more you do it, the easier it gets. That’s cliche, but it’s so true,” Smith said.

Noddery has already performed multiple shows since UMass Got Talent, such as “The Butterfly Effect” event, which was held at the Drake in downtown Amherst, in support of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. They also played at the UMass Cannabis Education Coalition’s “Extravaganja” festival on April 15. Noddery shows no signs of slowing down.

“I plan on doing this until we graduate,” said Hanson. The other members nodded in agreement. “We’re really lucky that we found each other.”

Noddery allowed me to sit in while they practiced performing one of their favorite songs, “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morissette. The atmosphere in the room was electric, with the band members constantly smiling at each other, clearly comfortable playing together. I couldn’t help but nod my head along with the rhythm.

Noddery is performing Friday, April 28 at the UMass Band Showcase held at The O’s, a music bar in Sunderland. The show starts at 7 p.m. They’re also performing at UPC’s Spring Concert at the Mullins Center on Sunday, April 30 at 7 p.m.

Noddery can be followed on Instagram @noddery26.

Shannon Moore can be reached at [email protected] and on twitter @shannon_moore04.