Meet the band that formed from a Craigslist ad, The Forum
You can find anything on Craigslist, even a band
Four UF students have come together to form a band called The Forum after finding each other on Craigslist. The band includes sophomore Michael Higgins on guitar and lead vocals, senior Nick Wheeler on guitar, sophomore Jacob Farrell on bass guitar, and graduated UF student Alex Klausner.
They’re a normal group of musicians who all have the same passion for music. Other students at UF have heard of the band and enjoy their music. Jackson Harris a UF sophomore says: “I really like their sound, they remind me a lot of The Strokes and I was really excited to have them play at my party a few weeks ago.”
The Tab got the chance to sit down with the group and find out how their band is going and where they want to go from here.
Nick Wheeler (left), Michael Higgins (middle), Jacob Farrell (right). Alex Klausner (not pictured)
Why ‘The Forum’?
Michael: We all met through Craigslist plus there’s four of us, so it just worked out,” says Michael Higgins lead singer and guitarist of The Forum.
So how did you guys decide to form a band?
Michael: I wanted to find other people in the Gainesville area to play with so I went to the Gainesville Musician ads on Craigslist. First I found Jacob, we started emailing and eventually ran into each other on accident through a mutual friend. Then we found Nick who we had both contacted and eventually we all came together and decided to form a band.”
Nick: Yeah I posted a few ads and got a response from Michael, we eventually started meeting in the computer science building.”
Who writes most of your songs?
Michael: Well, I write most of the lyrics but as for the actual music it’s typically a group effort.
Jacob: I typically listen to what Nick and Michael have come up with for their parts and use that to work in my part on the bass.”
What are some of your favorite songs?
Jacob: I like Indifference. I just like the structure and it’s fun to play.
Nick: We have a lot of different sounds but it represents our sound the most.
Michael: Yeah, I like how it builds throughout the song, the sound just sounds do good and it’s the kind of song I can see myself listening to.
What inspires your lyrics?
Michael: Stuff that’s happened. I can’t just make up a story, I have to write when something has happened to me, something that I feel strongly about.
Who have been your main supporters?
Our friends have all been really supportive and we’re really grateful for that.
Where do you see The Forum going?
We’re kind of taking it as it goes at this point, as of now we just released our EP, unfortunately we didn’t have our drummer at the time, we just found Alex recently who also plays with ‘The Savants of Soul’ and ‘Bridget Kelly Band’, but Michael was able to play for the EP.
We’re taking this very seriously but we’re just looking to make and play music while we’re all here because we’ve played music for a very long time and it’s something we’re all really passionate about.
The band just released their EP this month and are looking forward to playing more venues this coming fall when they all return to Gainesville. If you’d like to know more about them make sure to check out their Band Camp, Facebook, Instagram, and SoundCloud.