Sam Fleury ’10
THE ROUNDUP
Matt Holmes ’10, Nick Weiss ’10, Matthew Xuereb ’10 and Parker Jones ’12 get together at Brophy events to rock students for the night in their band, Nate’s Fingers.
Holmes described the music as alternative rock with a punk attitude. Weiss called their music “loud and fast,” words that fit a punk bill.
They play at most Brophy functions that call for a live band: Friday night lights, Thursday night lights, Battle of the Bands and the Fine Arts Extravaganza. They have also begun branching out.
The band almost played at the Big Fish Pub in Scottsdale; unfortunately the gig was canceled but they are currently hoping to play a few shows over the summer.
The band started playing together seriously in junior year. But there were events before that, which lead to the state the band is in today.
It started in freshman biology when Xuereb met Weiss and Nick Petsas ’10.
With Xuereb on the drums and Weiss on guitar they had all the makings of a band. However their material didn’t really develop until later in the bands career. Petsas left the band during freshman year and Holmes joined in.
Both Xuereb and Weiss said they learned to play their respective instruments in grade school, but Holmes learned to play guitar freshman year.
When junior year rolled around they began to write their own material, learn some more covers, practice and play shows.
They started out playing in Xuereb’s basement when he got a PA system. They practiced frequently but without a name.
They had a series of names before their current one stuck. “His Boy Elroy,” a reference to the cartoon “The Jetsons,” was Petsas and Xuereb’s favorite name.
However, one day Xuereb’s dad was talking about a guy at his gym that was missing fingers, named Nate.
Out of that came “Nate’s Fingers;” at first Weiss said they hated it but they needed a name desperately.
When asked about their favorite songs Xuerub replied with “You Belong with Me,” by Taylor Swift.” Other interesting covers they play include the Power Rangers and Pokémon theme songs. All these covers are changed to fit their style of music.
They also write their own music. Weiss said that his favorite piece is “Three Cheers for the Old Days.”
All the members are going off to different colleges next year and will not be able to carry on the band. They did say they hope to play a final show over the summer, and there has been talk about reunions in future summers.