How a local band came to be:

“If You’re Not Different, What's The Point?"

Lead Singer Cole Ward playing guitar and bass player Keith Luffman watching

In small town Southern Illinois there’s not surprisingly a lacking music scene. Finding a good band or solo artist that you want to see is hard. A small local band HY-80 wants to change that. Members Cole Ward on vocals and guitar, Keith Luffman on backup vocals and guitar, and Cole's cousin, Gerrick, the drummer- a group of black sheep all idolizing pop-punk artists from the 90’s came together to make something that they are proud of. From a smoke break at work to their first live show in a bar, HY-80 never cared about what will sell; they care about what lights their soul on fire.

HY-80 like many other bands is facing a multitude of struggles trying to jumpstart its way into the music scene. The band is made up of a group of welders and a barber with families and busy work schedules, making any time they can on the weekend to practice. On top of that, some of them are learning how to play at the same time they’re learning how to write and be in a band. During an interview with the bassist Keith Luffman, he said, “the weekend after I bought a bass we got together and started playing.” This wasn’t Keith's first time picking up an instrument, yet it shows how driven they are to be something.

What does HY-80 Mean?

Credit: Bass Player Keith Luffman Welding in His Home Garage

The name HY-80 came about in a very poetic and creative way. The bassist Keith said that “the hardest part of being in a band is the name.” Together the band hated the idea of being another group with a name starting with “The.” After some thinking, they came up with HY-80. HY-80 is the type of metal they use the most at their job together as welders. Bassist Keith said, “It’s the type of metal we work with everyday, and it's how we found each other…I think it's just fitting.”

HY-80 chose to go with the genre of pop-punk because of lead singer and rhythm guitarist, Cole Ward. According to the bassist Keith, Cole's favorite band of all time is Blink-182. Keith said, “he lives and breathes Blink-182 and all things pop punk, and I'm not far behind.” Along with Cole’s love for a more modern punk sound, other members are also inspired by older punk bands. Keith mentioned that he likes to let bands like Agent Orange and Suicidal Tendencies influence him. Keith said, “Old Punk, Old hardcore, Old thrash… that's what my personal influences come from.” They have the sound of pop-punk with the intensity of thrash and hardcore.

Writing their first song

HY-80 have only recently completed their first song called “Sober Pass.” The intricacies of their creative process heavily rely on Cole’s past experience. Cole Ward has been playing many instruments and singing for years; he is the leader in the creative process. The name Sober Pass came about when Keith mentioned the phrase during a conversation at work. Cole quickly had a light bulb go off in his head when he heard it. After hearing the phrase, Cole looked at Keith and said, “there it is, there's our first song.”

Bass Player Keith Luffman Practicing

HY-80 practices in Cole's garage at his home. With limited time together playing every week, they have to make their time count. Recently they have also started hosting open mic nights in the Town Square Pub in Harrisburg, IL. Just last week Keith had his first live performance in front of people. Keith said, “It was honestly kind of scary… Cole kind of carried me through it.” “We played three songs. I was so nervous, I don’t even remember the last two.” HY-80 will continue slowly making their way onto the scene, letting their emotions lead the way, not caring about how to appeal to an algorithm. As a band they are not a copy of any other group, according to bassist Keith they are “completely original.”