When asked how they spent their summer break, the Plymouth Whitemarsh High School students who belong to the band Devixe can say that they spent it rocking one of the stages at Bethlehem’s Musikfest, the largest free music festival in the country.
The rock metal band led by rising seniors Bryce Monsell and Liam Myerow formed in late 2019 and has recently been picking up some gigs at high-profile locations like the Hard Rock restaurant in Center City Philadelphia and Musikfest in Bethlehem. The band took the stage Aug. 14.
“Our style is hard to pinpoint,” said Liam. “We all come from different musical backgrounds. Of course we fall under the broad umbrella of metal, but we have thrash metal, death metal, nu metal, and hardcore influences.”
Devixe (pronounced Deh-VICE) performs covers and original music and is described as a “djent” band. “Djent” is a subgenre of heavy metal. Liam said the band enjoys this intense style of music for a variety of reasons.
“We all love metal because it has energy. When we play, there’s movement and it’s just plain fun. I love playing metal because it’s loud, challenging, and exciting. It’s a very energetic genre and playing drums in metal is always fun but rarely easy. Plus, it just sounds cool,” said Liam, who plays drums and keyboard for the band.
Liam said he and Bryce, who plays guitar, formed the band after meeting in PW’s Guitar Club. Both students also attended the School of Rock, where they met the person who would become their first frontman. That individual left the band early on for personal reasons. Liam later met Interboro High School student Quintin Seifer (better known as Q) in a mosh pit at a Slipknot concert, and he joined as the band’s new singer. Rounding out the band are bassist Connor Capizzi, also a PW student, and Dom Hancs, an Abington Senior High School student who plays guitar.
When the Plymouth Whitemarsh students aren’t thrashing it out, some of them can be seen performing in high school groups. Liam plays for the Jazz Band, serves as the Indoor Drumline Captain, and plays lead snare for the Marching Colonials. He said his participation in these groups has helped expand his “skill set” in percussion. Connor plays upright bass for the Chamber Ensemble and Orchestra.
While Liam notes that live hard rock performances in general don’t draw large crowds, Devixe has been able to perform in a number of venues such as Chaplin’s in Spring City, Sweeney’s in Philadelphia, and The Nail in Ardmore. They have worked with Future Stars Show to book events, and Liam is using skills he learned through the high school’s International Baccalaureate Programme to network. Word-of-mouth about the band has also been helping them and led them to Musikfest.
To prepare for the Aug. 14 show, he said the musicians will be doing what they always do.
“We have to tone down our setlist more than usual, but we’re going to bring the same energy as always,” he said.
Their biggest show is coming up on Sept. 9, when they will open for Tommy Vext at The Reverb in Reading. The band is also recording its first single, “Bald/Wyertpants,” to be released in a few weeks. The students are also working with Drowning Fish Studio to produce an EP as well.
To learn more about the Musikfest appearance and the band, click here. To watch Channel 6 ABC's coverage of the band's appearance, click here.