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UPDATED: Dec. 9, 2021 at 5:01 p.m.

Luke Anaclerio, a Syracuse University senior from the suburbs of Chicago, wants to be taken seriously. He tries to reflect this with his band, Winter Beach.

“Ever since I wanted to devote a lot of my time and hopefully my career to playing music, if I can, I’ve been looking for a lot of people who are down to do it,” Anaclerio said. “I think that’s where my seriousness comes from because I need to share that feeling of wanting to just do music with other people.”

Anaclerio started the band in 2017, when he was a junior in high school, and originally named it The Martins. He created the band with his close friend Bill Crimmins as they looked for an outlet outside of their high school jazz band. But, when the duo could not create a Spotify account as The Martins — since the name was already taken — they changed their band’s name to Winter Beach, in reference to a beach on Lake Michigan that Anaclerio and Crimmins would run to for their high school’s cross-country team in the winter.

Anaclerio started at SU in the fall 2019 semester, and the move separated him from Crimmins. At first, he tried making music by himself, but Anaclerio said this new transition came with some growing pains.

The band attempted to create music through long-distance — Crimmins goes to the University of Illinois — but it was hard for them to create music at the same time because of their separation, and the band only released two singles in that time.

“That was frustrating because we wanted to do it, but it just wasn’t working out. So, Winter Beach sort of turned into my solo project shortly after that period,” Anaclerio said.

The two close friends agreed it was best for Anaclerio to bring Winter Beach to Syracuse. While Anaclerio has maintained the band’s name, he doesn’t make music all by himself now. Samm Grass, a junior at SU, joined the band two years ago as their bassist.

Along with this change in personnel came a change in the music, Anaclerio said. Although Winter Beach started as lighthearted and more influenced by indie rock, the band now makes heavier music as Anaclerio’s music taste changed. Winter Beach’s most recent album, “The Great and the Grim,” combines elements of indie rock with Midwest emo. For Grass, however, categorizing it in one genre can be tedious.

“It’s just heavy,” Grass said with a smile.

When making music, Anaclerio said he doesn’t try to hide his inspirations. Whether it’s English singer-songwriter King Krule or heavy punk band Worlds Worst, the music Winter Beach makes is a synthesis of all the music Anaclerio listens to.

“The way I see it is that I only ever want to be making music that I want to hear,” Anaclerio said. “And for whatever reason, I’m listening to more heavy music now.”

While Winter Beach initially made lighter music, they’ve now transitioned to a heavier sound.
Arthur Maiorella | Staff Photographer

What Anaclerio and Grass look forward to the most as a band is performing live shows, Anaclerio said, as both musicians love to play on stage and completely let loose. Grass said he personally likes “to go wild on stage.”

When he’s writing songs, Anaclerio finds himself getting excited to play them on stage. He still remembers the first mosh he started with one of the band’s most popular songs, “Service Dog.”

“One of the shows, we played at a place called the Deli. A couple years ago, my friend Dan ran it, and he played in the band at the time. And it was our first mosh, and it was ‘Service Dog’” Anaclerio said. “That was exactly what I wanted the song to be like.”

Even musicians who play with the band part time feel the energy of Winter Beach after their set. Grady Collingbourne, a sophomore at SU, played drums for a few of Winter Beach’s most recent performances. Collingbourne saw playing for Winter Beach as an opportunity to release a lot of energy and have a cathartic experience from performing.

“(The performances are) aggressive. So, it’s a good way to get energy out,” Collingbourne said. “Music is always a good expression, which sounds cliche, but it really is.”

When it comes to making new music, the process is sporadic. Anaclerio likes to write when he has time, which there hasn’t been much of recently, as projects and finals fill up most of his free time. But Anaclerio is more excited than ever to write for Winter Beach.

Whether Winter Beach changes their style again or not, one thing will always remain: they want to be taken seriously.

“You could be the weirdest, craziest person, but if you seem confident and serious about yourself, people will take you seriously,” Grass said.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Luke Anaclerio is a junior and that he started at SU in fall 2019. Anaclerio is a senior, and he started SU in fall 2018. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on December 8, 2021 at 2:28 am