In the summer of 2016 two Winthrop alumni, Matthew Johnston and Joe Levi, moved in together. The two thought they would just be splitting rent, but the talented pair would soon discover their shared love of playing music. After that fateful summer, the two roommates decided to collaborate.
“I was thinking, why don’t we try to write some stuff?” Levi said. “I was house sitting for a friend and he (Johnston) came over, we set up some recording equipment and we just started jamming and it felt good.”
The rest was history and the two would come together to form the band CYAN.
After about a year the band formed they added Brittany Winans, a senior vocal performance major, to the mix.
“We got her involved February of this year. Me and Matthew were brainstorming; we wanted a fuller sound and we wanted harmonies, so I suggested Brittany. She plays piano really well, she’s got a killer voice, so I asked her,” Levi said.
All three members were drawn to music at a young age.
‘I was born into it,” Winans said. “My mom is a pianist and my dad sang, my mom said I sang before I talked.”
“My grandfather is really the one that got me started playing guitar and singing,” Levi said. “He handed me a guitar he was like, ‘I’m gonna teach you some chords’ and I just got hooked.”
Johnston was self taught with guitar until going to college.
“I started at 12 when my twin brother picked it up, and he started playing and I thought it was cool and I wanted to learn,” Johnston said.
When the three are not rehearsing together, their love for music still correlates to their everyday lives. Winans performs in musicals at Winthrop when she can. Levi curates music playlist and produces at one of the local studios in Rock Hill. Johnston teaches guitar at the Winthrop academy and at a local music studio.
The band members hope to become serious and able to tour as they build their name around the area.
“I wanna tour, I want to get paid to travel around the U.S. and make music. We are all in agreement with that, we sat down and talked about it,” Winans said.
CYAN aims to spread their message to a wide audience and wants to inspire and bring others together. They want all their listeners to take away a message of peace, love and harmony.
“Emotionally it’s just so fulfilling to sing to other people. I love brining beautiful sounds and the emotions that come from music to people,” Winans said.
The band has an EP in the works that will be out soon and will be having a show with Digiorgio Student Union at Winthrop on October 18th. CYAN’s next performance will be Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. at Amelie’s French Bakery in Rock Hill.
The band can be found on Soundcloud under the name CYAN, and on Facebook at musicofcyan.
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