Westerville South has talent leaking everywhere, and music is one of the most used creative outlets by students at South.  Whether it’s listening to music, singing in a choir, or playing in a band, music is everywhere.  

Currently,  South has 207 students involved in music classes, and 86 students are in marching band. However, five Westerville freshmen have taken it up a notch.

Sucker Punch Cult is a new alternative band started by four freshmen from Westerville South and one freshman from Westerville Central. The band consists of Moira Hogan, Parker Burghy, Eden Sellevaag, and Milla Wright who are all from Westerville South, and Elise Boeshart who is from Westerville Central. 

The band came together recently over winter break when they were all hanging out and they wrote a song. “We were just making music with random instruments in [Moira’s] house…,”said Hogan. They all loved playing music together and decided they should start a band. 

The band mates were friends with each other before they decided to start a group. Hogan said they met, “in sixth grade when we sat at the same lunch table, but some of us knew each other before from elementary school.” 

At first, the band said they struggled with finding a unique title. Hogan said, “[we tried] out random band name generators.” Hogan is the lead guitarist; she also plays the ukulele.

The band said that the word ‘cult’ kept coming up, and they all thought it would be funny to include it somehow. Then one day Burghy texted ‘sucker punch cult’ in their group chat; and all the members liked it, so they decided to use it. Burghy is a vocalist and enjoys songwriting.

Sucker Punch Cult’s members have been involved with music for a long time. Most of the band members are self taught, but Hogan said Wright has taken piano lessons for five years. Wright is the drummer and pianist, and she is also in the marching band and Jazz band at South where she plays tenor saxophone.

Boeshart said, “Moira has been playing guitar for almost a year. Eden just started learning bass, and Milla has been playing piano for almost five years.” Boeshart is also a vocalist and enjoys singing and acting in theatre.  

The vocalists have been singing as long as they can remember. 

“Whenever we would hang out we would sing or play songs together,” Hogan said.

Sellevaag is the bassist and likes to expand her mind by doing puzzles and building with legos. 

When practicing, they usually stay in Hogan’s basement, where they have a dedicated room for practicing and recording their music. The band usually practices after school or during the weekends. 

They haven’t had the chance to perform anywhere yet, but Sucker Punch Cult is hoping to perform as soon as Fourth Fridays in Uptown Westerville start back up. 

According to the band, their style of music from what they’ve written could be described as indie or alternative. 

Being young and in highschool can be hard when trying to release music. Hogan said, “The most difficult part is probably trying to record and put out music in a timely manner. Especially when we’re not working with professional equipment, and [we] have had to re-record our songs multiple times.” 

However, she also said, “The most fun part is definitely that we get to see each other outside of school more often. Also, we get to express ourselves with our music.”

When Sucker Punch Cult releases their music you should be able to find it on major platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.

You can also follow Sucker Punch Cult on Instagram @Suckerpunchcult and on TikTok @Suckpunchcult (where they have over 12,000 followers!). Help support local artists in Westerville and stream Sucker Punch Cult.