Deer Creek isn’t known as a birthplace of rock music … yet. At Long Last, a band of four Deer Creek High School students, is on the rise, having opened for the likes of Forever the Sickest Kids, Go Radio and Greyson Chance.
Singer-songwriter Jordan Lindley and drummer Carson Hawkins started playing together at their fifth-grade talent show. Caden Castelli joined as lead guitar in sixth grade, with bassist Cole Verble following soon after in seventh grade.
“I saw them perform for the sixth-grade talent show and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s cool,’ and I liked them and they sounded really good,” Castelli said. “I talked to some of the guys who were in the band, and I tried out and made it.”
The alt-pop group has been working hard to reach its goals, including a release of a debut disc in the fall.
“Our album release is really what I’m kind of hoping for, because I actually wrote one of our songs,” Verble said. “I’m really excited for that to come out.”
While Jordan wrote most of the songs for At Long Last’s album, Caden and Cole have both collaborated with him. The four guys have learned a lot about working together as a team.
“It’s just listening to other people and getting their thoughts and being in their head and getting ideas and cooperation. It’s knowing and respecting what other people know,” Caden said.
Agreed Carson, “Whenever we put songs together, each of us does our own part and we don’t interfere with others, and I think that’s given us a lot of respect with each other. It makes us like a family.”
Not only has the band become a family, but gets a lot of support from the members’ families. Caden’s mother, Denise Castelli, manages At Long Last and is excited about its future.
“We’ve all jointly made the decision that being an incredible Oklahoma band until after graduation is the way it’s going to stay,” she said.
Besides, the boys aren’t ready to leave the Sooner State behind just yet.
“I’d like to be the biggest Oklahoma band we can be and see what happens from there,” said Jordan. “I think we all want a role in the music business at some point, and this is just kind of a good starter for us.”
Hey! Read This:
• Forever the Sickest Kids interview
• Greyson Chance interview
This article appears in Jul 18-24, 2012.