One part of Colgate University that makes it feel like home for so many people is the sense of belonging and community everyone can find in different parts of campus. For members of The Proof, one of Colgate’s student bands, music is what brought them together and keeps them together.
Senior Luke Lostumbo, a member of The Proof, emphasized the importance of bringing everyone’s influences to the table. Lostumbo and sophomore Jack Shannon, two guitarists for the band, bring aspects of different genres to their songs, which allow them to create a unique sound for themselves. Lostumbo mentioned preferring subgenres of rock and high energy music.
“The band sort of leads me to pushing to have more of a rock drive to it,” Lostumbo said. “We’ve got two guitarists, myself and Jack Shannon, who’s on acoustic guitar. He’s much more folk-indie-based. So I feel like those joint influences that the two of us have kind of [give] us a very solid folk rock sound.”
Junior Georgia Porter explained the smooth but collaborative process of songwriting that developed through their connection.
“I vividly remember Luke inviting us all out to dinner once when we were first starting the band with the express purpose of — and he said this himself — that he ‘really [didn’t] want us to feel like co-workers.’ We started this because we’re friends and because we like to work together, and we’re going to keep being friends through all of this,” Porter said.
For Porter, The Proof’s success as a band stems from their friendships with each other and their appreciation for the various talents each member has.
Jack Shannon expanded on the ideas expressed by his bandmate.
“It’s such a varied group of people that being part of a band has put me in front of and helped me to — I don’t want to say network, but — just become friends with all different groups of people,” Shannon said. “It’s helped me expand my campus presence and feel more comfortable.”
Their blending of seemingly opposite genres speaks to the cohesiveness of this group. While some of them knew each other prior to the creation of The Proof, some only knew each other in passing or not at all. The band ultimately brought them together with a singular, unified mission to have fun playing music. Each member stressed the ease with which people can find each other around campus through music.
The common theme expressed by The Proof’s members is that there are many ways to connect with like-minded students around campus who enjoy music as well. Porter and Shannon detailed how joining a band helped support them as first-year students. Porter explained how upon her arrival to campus, her father wrote her a letter with a list of recommendations for her first year.
“One of the things on that list was to ‘join a band, start a band, or involve yourself in music,’” Porter said.
The Proof serves as a testament to the power of music and friendship at Colgate. Student bands are just one example of how each student can contribute to the larger academic and local community.
