Park View’s own Indie Band — World View

It’s 2019. A young Patrick Sealy performed at his very first concert at Park View his 8th grade year — some wild little spark in his heart, unbeknownst to him, drove him to do Band. That spark drove him to join Jazz as well. The way that his heart beat until it was numb as the crashing of the drums grew louder and louder — it kept him hooked long enough to find himself at Park View High School’s Main Gym, a ball of nerves at 13. The entire day is something he can recite in intense detail three years later, that fateful evening alighting that spark in his heart and turning it into a burning flame. A wildfire kind-of-a-flame, a flame big enough to challenge the typical Californian Gender Reveal. 

World View, a band introduced as a part of the school’s Cluster Concert, came onto the stage. Or rather, the floor, after the Middle School Jazz Band finished performing. The members played an array of drums and keys, free from the restraints of sheet music, at their own beat and tempo ebbing and flowing with each other’s spirit. He watched in fascination, exhausted and battered from having just performed, unknown to him that he’d become a core member of that very same band three years later. 

 “[..] that was a big moment for me, I saw how cool everything was. How they were all jamming, bobbing their heads, having a good time — and this was when I started getting into music and all that so I saw that and went that could be me one day,” said Sealy.

World View is a uniquely cyclical band stemming from Dr. Lončar Guitar Club. The class had its humble beginnings 14 years ago, a mere year into the sponsor Dr. Lončar’s teaching career at Park View. World View started very modestly with just two students in a group who wanted to play some music outside of class, and it’s changed tremendously by adding instruments, by changing styles.

 “Each group has their own musical taste and preference and I allow them to pick what kind of music that they wanna play and work everything out and that has changed over the years a lot,” said Lončar.

Quarantine nearly broke that 14-year streak, and the perseverance and genuine dedication of Mitchell Roman (11), Matthew Perla (11), and Calliope Ruiz (11) wore through the wall of looming setbacks. Despite the infamous and often unmotivating times of distance-learning, the band was built. During quarantine, the band bloomed in size with the addition of Joanna Merino (11), Patrick Sealy (11), and Nicolette Garcia (12), becoming one of the biggest classes Dr. Lončar has seen in his years teaching it. The band officially began practising around March of 2020. From there, they’ve mastered song after song, tearing through music for private and public performances. 

“I was only friends with two of the members before any of this happened, with the other three members I didn’t even know they existed to be honest. But slowly I got to befriend them and at some point we got to know about each other and how we’re all musicians in our own way. And then we heard about this opportunity called World View and that’s where it happened. That’s where it all started,” Garcia commented.

As outsiders, it’s hard to understand the true passion and dedication of the performers. World View’s performances, both in-school and for the general-public, are often given a mere two-day advance notice and plans are shaky, prone to changing on the fly. 

“It’s a little bit nervous but more exciting because we have a couple of people who show up to every performance and cheer us on — it’s an exciting thing to show off what we’ve learned,” expressed Sealy. 

Merino describes performances as “hectic”, due to the band’s inability to prepare in advance, as in most cases they rent out spaces which are used for other gigs, and are only given 20 or less minutes to set-up all of their instruments and sound equipment.

There’s no doubt, however, that the band has bonded into a tight-knit family, which every member of World View strongly supports. Garcia cites her band members for making performances memorable, stating that their expressions while they play and respond to the crowd gives them “euphoria”. Dr. Lončar describes the bond between his students as “caring”, citing how they help each other and celebrate birthdays together, and constantly “lift each other up.” 

“Through thick and thin we’re always there [for each other]. Part of it is because we’re in a class, whether or not I have beef with one of us here we’re still joined together through music,” said Merino.

 

The members have a bond which is hard to fake. It’s not skin deep and it’s clear to see through their comradery when they set-up and clean stages for performances. Setting up, if there’s any issues, members will go around their respective areas and help tune guitars, everyone checks everyone’s mics, and manual labor is provided through nothing but kindness. Similarly, cleaning is a group effort, with assorted members packing wires, instruments, and other stage-equipment away, cracking jokes all the while.

In addition to their bonds to each other, all the members are deeply bonded to music itself.

“Whenever I had very low points I turned to music as a coping mechanism a lot and, because I listened to it so much, it made me want to play the songs that I would listen to,” said Perla.

“[…] if I wasn’t raised in such a musical environment in my childhood I would be a much more boring person than I am now,” remarked Ruiz.

 “[…] it’s had an impact on my life one way or another,” uttered Roman. 

The deepness of their bond is in part facilitated by Dr. Lončar.

“My main role is to let them know, not directly but through my actions, that they are welcome and their ideas are welcome, that it’s an open space for any discussion for any ideas to be tried out. And if that’s the case, which it is in most cases, I really have very little to do.” Dr. Lončar said, in his role for cultivating the learning environment.

Above all, the members all want their passion to be imparted on the listener.

 “We’re having fun, you should have fun too. We’re doing something we love and if you do something you love you could probably gain the same joy we do — it’s not really a message for everyone but it’s a message that I usually like to live by,” said Ruiz.