Junior Lana Tosic and her Electric Lunch band members  have continued to make waves within the school community. This year, they gained two new freshman band members, and had their first performance in early December right before midterms in the Upper School’s new Central Park. 

Electric Lunch was founded in 2019 as an entirely student-organized group, and was passed down to Tosic after her freshman year. She said she was eager to carry it on because she had such a good time in the band during her first year.

“I played the bass that year and I was the only person in the band who was not a senior,” Tosic said.

The support and kindness of the band members drove her excitement.

“Everyone was very kind to me and took me under their wing in the band and I always enjoyed making music with that group of people, so I wanted to continue doing that with others,” she said.

Band members include Tosic on drums, sophomore guitarist Isaac Mayer, freshman Bryce Goldstein on vocal and guitar, junior Stella Helander, who is also a vocalist and guitarist, sophomore Helen Ren on keyboard, and freshman Jack James on bass.

Electric Lunch rehearses once a week every Friday during lunch. They do mostly rock and indie music. While they gravitate toward this music, they try not to tie themselves to one genre.

“We like to do Fleetwood Mac songs and just classic rock songs that people know,” Tosic said. 

Tosic has played the drums, bass, guitar, piano, cello, banjo, and she is also a singer. She started as a student at School of Rock, an after-school music education center, where she was in many bands.

After leaving School of Rock, she was invited to join an alternative rock band called Cerebellum, whom she sings with at Houston venues such as BFE Rock Club. She also recently started a yacht rock band called Vantage with old friends from School of Rock, and is currently the lead vocalist.

Her creative process has been largely making sure everyone in the group is represented, and that there is a cohesive setlist.

“I try to be picky with our songs because it ends up being beneficial in the long run,” she said.

She doesn’t have a drum kit at home, so her process for learning songs has differed from others.

“I essentially have to listen to the song over and over again and visual play with my hands to get a grasp of the rhythm and fills,” she said.

This contributes to the drums being her least favorite instrument to play.

As an experienced band member, Tosic shared advice for new musicians, advocating for practice.

“Often in bands, there can be drama or discourse around certain subjects, but it is important to not let those people get in your head and ruin your experience,” Tosic said. “Being a musician is about playing the music, and helping your other bandmates around you by being strong in your own instrument.”

She said that learning a new instrument can be challenging, but there is frequently a moment where things just click.

Students can enjoy the fun and soft rock rhythms of Electric Lunch several times throughout the year in The Quad and the new Central Park, but they also perform for Field Day and for other special events.

For updates about upcoming performances, students can follow the Electric Lunch Instagram page.