TEENAGE ROCKERS SET SIGHTS ON WEST ISLAND CONCERTS
Four 18-year-old West Island boys that met through the Beaconsfield High School Music program and have joined forces to form a band will be playing its soulful music at two open-air concerts this month.
Four Quarters consists of bassist Noah Nicodemo of Beaconsfield, lead guitarist Anthony Saidah of Kirkland, lead vocalist Devyn Sherry and drummer Liam White of Île-Perrot. Playing the smooth blues and hard rock tunes of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Black Sabbath, Pearl Jam, The Who, Eric Clapton, the quatro are sure to be crowd pleasers.
“If you like rock, you’ll like the music we play,” said Saidah. “Rock ’n’ roll is becoming a forgotten medium in terms of music; it is nowhere near as popular as it used to be,” says the lead guitarist who taught himself how to play when he was only 10 years old from playing Guitar Hero. The passionate musician loves to rock out at home with his multiple guitars.
The band was assembled for a school variety show back in 2016 but has stuck together and jammed out ever since.
White started playing the drums when he was just nine years old with a Roland E-Kit but was recently offered a drum kit no longer being used by his former high school.
Sherry surprised the band members with his singing; he also plays guitar and violin.
Saidah enthusiastically shares the story of his fantastic music teachers in high school, who would let them “borrow their guitar, bass and amps, and let Liam play on the drums together to jam out at lunch sometimes. The room we practised in, though, was right next to a popular hallway, so we played loud enough for some of the people outside to hear and come inside to listen.”
The memory of how one of the teachers joined them to rock out at lunch was a memorable one for the young men. They credit it with being the first time they played in front of a crowd.
The young musicians have all started to slowly “drift apart in terms of career paths. Noah and (Anthony) are both pursuing sciences at John Abbott College, while Liam is pursuing social sciences at the same school. Devyn, however, went to Vanier College in music, but he’s now pursuing journalism at Dawson College,” said Saidah.
When he saw an opportunity at the Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue 2018 Battle of the Bands, he messaged the guys. Winning Battle of the Bands provided the quartet both bragging rights as well as a massive boost in self-confidence.
The young men are thrilled with the opportunity to play two outdoor concerts for the broader community.
“Come and check us out at the Beacon Hill Corn Roast on Sept. 8 and at the Star Show on SteAnne St. in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue on Sept. 15,” said an enthused White.