Power chords and husky vocals filled the air as Jake and The Nowhere Men, a band composed of Ithaca College students, performed on Sept. 23 during Ithaca’s 12th annual Porchfest.
Senior Jacob Sullivan is the founder of the alt-rock band, for which he also sings and plays guitar.
Sullivan said he has been interested in being a musician from a young age, due to inspiration from his mother.
“She wasn’t a musician, but she really got me into cool music,” Sullivan said. “I picked up a guitar in eighth grade and I began writing songs.”
The band played on Second Street, and drew a crowd of approximately 60 people over the course of its entire set. Several people sang along with a few of the songs, such as “Your Parents are Getting a Divorce” and “Beach Bum.”
Sullivan had previously founded a band in high school called Fetal Smudge, but the band broke up after his class graduated. He wanted to form a new band when he came to Ithaca College. His first opportunity arose in the spring 2016 semester, his freshman year, when he was invited to play on ICTV’s After Hours along with then sophomores Matthew Porter and Katy Trosch.
The group has gone on to play several other gigs at various venues.
“We’ve played at house parties, a warehouse in Syracuse, we’ve played in Whalen at a bunch of benefit shows I put on, we’ve played in New Jersey … in bars, kind of all around.”
Sullivan, along with Porter, Trosch and Hale Douthit started a record label called Ded Sullivan Productions, which will be promoting and releasing the band’s music.
“We try releasing our own music, giving it releases, nice video, nice media … we’re trying to really build the brand and get our music out there.”
Jake and The Nowhere Men made approximately $50 off of the release of their newest EP, “Going Nowhere,” which was on sale after their performance. The albums were created by burning the music onto blank CDs.
Senior Ben Brown-McMillin, a fan of the band, said he sees them play whenever he gets the opportunity.
“I heard about this through Facebook, and decided to come out,” Brown-McMillin said. “They sounded really good. Every time I see them there’s something a little different going on, and I think it’s pretty cool.”
The members of Jake and The Nowhere Men exist in a state of flux, according to Sullivan, and the band members at Porchfest had never performed together before. This was sophomore Chris Anderson’s first gig with Jake and The Nowhere Men. Sullivan and Anderson met through their work with IC Macabre, a theater group, and Sullivan invited Anderson to play keyboard with the group at Porchfest.
“I thought the set went really well,” Anderson said. “It was a lot of fun, and I hope that we get to play more together.”
Sullivan said he plans to keep playing after college if he can.
“I’ll probably try pursuing a real job, as my parents would call it, but the music will always be here in some way.”
