Teen band is acting its age only off stage
May 18, 2010
From left, Madi O'Brien, 13, Olivia Eigel, 12, and Noni Andersen, 13, practice in Glenview. The Springman Middle School seventh-graders, and 24-year-old Devin Owens are members of Purple Apple, an up-and-coming rock band.
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They yell at each other. They laugh at each other. They interrupt each other.
Your first impulse is to think of them as rock stars behaving badly. Then you realize, of course, they're just 12 and 13 years old.
Once they start playing, though, they are the vision of rock stars once more.
Meet Purple Apple, an indie pop band that includes three Springman Middle School seventh-graders, who are slowly but steadily making a name for themselves.
It started when Olivia Eigel and Madi O'Brien were kids at Lyon School.
"When we went to YMCA camp, when we were 5 and 6, we wrote a song on the bus ride there," Olivia began.
"Ever since then we've always called ourselves a band," Madi continued. "It was just for fun. We had a lot of, 'Oh, I kicked you out of the band' and it was crazy and stuff."
The two played one of their songs for classmate Noni Andersen.
"And I loved it," Noni said. "Then when you guys made up songs I knew guitar by then. It kind of grew together from there."
Devin Owens joined the band as the drummer a few months ago. The 24-year-old has been the Eigel family's babysitter. "It's fun, like nanny by day and playing music at night," the Chicago resident said.
The fun, though, has come at a cost.
"There have been times, because of other things and all the stress, I think, 'OK, this is a lot' -- practicing and balancing your social life and school life," Madi acknowledged.
Families and friends provide a support structure, which makes it all worth it, they said. And they remain active in sports and school teams.
"We have to be doing something all the time," Noni said.
The group practices at Olivia's house and fits gigs around the four member's schedules, the most notable a May 7 performance at Metro Chicago.
Rhythm guitarist Olivia sings lead vocals; Madi, who plays bass and piano, and Noni, the lead guitarist, provide the harmonies.
The band's prospects kicked up a notch when family friends and Chicago-based musicians Michael Wilson and Blake Smith became its producers.
They're not particularly crazy about the band's name -- taken from a school music project done by Madi's older sister.
"We were 8, and I liked it at the time," Madi said. "Now we have it and now we regret the choice."
Is rock and roll their future?
"Right now it looks as though we're heading that way, but it can always change," Noni said. "I don't look at this as a career right now because I'm 13 years old. Unless it works out and we become mega-famous it's not going to be my career when I'm older."
--Lynne Stiefel
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