One of the strongest attributes you notice about the Columbia-based band Tripping On Bricks, whether they’re on stage or all sitting down for an interview, is that they have chemistry among themselves that is hard to replicate or fake.
“We were brothers before we were bandmates, so that’s the important part,” vocalist Ridge DeVuono said.
Tripping On Bricks consists of USC students Ridge DeVuono on vocals and guitar, Jonathan Bruney on guitar, Evan Tyler on bass and Evan Harper on drums. After meeting each other through Facebook and mutual friends, the group came together about a year ago and has been going strong ever since. Their name, Tripping On Bricks, draws from one of the most notorious parts of the school’s campus.
“There’s always a pun that when you walk across the horseshoe the bricks are uneven because they date all the way back to 1801 when our University was founded,” Bruney said. “So the pun goes that you can’t walk across our campus without tripping on a brick.”
The band started out by playing charity events for USC and that helped them launch an audience and experience to build upon.
“That’s kinda got us spread throughout the student population, which then connects to Greek life and the city hearing about us,” Bruney said.
This past week, Tripping On Bricks played at Bonnamu, a series of shows at Music Farm that raises money for one of Phi Mu’s charities. They covered songs ranging from modern day classics like Kings of Leon and The Killers to another Carolina home-grown band, Rainbow Kitten Surprise.
Tripping On Bricks also have original material which they played recently at New Brookland Tavern. However, playing original music or covers doesn’t change the feeling they get when they’re playing together.
“The general spirit of music, man, it’s crazy,” Harper said.“When you’re up there with three good friends it makes it all that much better. Being able to get together and just create something, there’s really nothing like it honestly."
They have the drive to become an even more successful band in the future, but they still have the same problems that every college band faces.
“Scheduling, since we’re in all these different schedules now,” Tyler said about the hardest part of being in a band in college.
“It’s been pretty ... broken up because we’ve been in different places this summer, but now that we’re back to school we'retrying to do like two or three practices a week, gig on the weekends if we can. That’s the goal and we need it, I guess,”DeVuono said.
They have short term goals but focus just as much on their long term goals as well.
“My particular goal and dream and I hope its with these three guys,” DeVuono said, “is to get an EP recorded. We have enough stuff for it, record an EP, keep playing in the area until we finish up school here and then tour, ideally.”
Tripping On Bricks is a raucous band with a strong enough bond to get through the usual struggles that befall other groups. They know having a strong fan base can be the lifeblood of what keeps a band going.
“We’ve had fans that have been there every single gig since the beginning so we wanna thank them and just USC for the opportunities,” Bruney said.