The sound grew from the early 1970s with bands like The Ramones, resurfacing in the 1990s with bands such as Green Day and Bad Religion.
Pop-punk’a mix of music that joins elements of punk rock with pop music is alive with a local band
Oakhill is a pop-punk band consisting of Goodrich graduates Martin Kibler, Connor Foley, and Brandon Birkner are looking to record their first full-length album.
‘The album is about a character whose friends all leave to go away to college and the character feels like his parents aren’t proud of him,? said Birkner, 20, a UM-Flint student who has been writing lyrics since the fifth grade.
‘It’s about a place in his life between his old life and him moving forward where he was waiting for things to go back to the old days. He soon realizes that he can’t recreate the past and that he has to move on. ‘Novel,? our single that is out for free right now, is about him letting go of his past, starting over, and becoming new.?
Oakhill put out a single in December and are using the crowd funding website Kickstarter to get donations to record the full-length album. The fundraising deadline through Kickstarter is Feb. 9.
‘There are a lot of cover bands out there’that’s not us, we are original,? said Kibler, 19, a 2013 GHS graduate who currently attends Oakland Community College and plays guitar for Oakhill. ‘Currently we are looking to book a lot of shows to really get our name out there. We aim to establish ourselves firmly within the local scene, especially after we get our album out, which can only happen if we get all the funding that we need.?
At 7 p.m., March 6, Oakhill will be at Flint Local 432, 124 West First St., Flint, Mich. along with the bands Winner Take All, Chasing the Riots, Cradle the Fall, and Sprowt.
Connor Foley, 20, is a 2012 GHS graduate and plays the drums for Oakhill. He is a UM-Flint student studying secondary education with hopes to became a high school teacher.
‘I like to write about hardships people may go through in life and having God in your heart,? said Foley. ‘On a lyrical aspect, we feel that a lot of people can relate to being lost in life and not ready to move on when it’s required. Musically the genre we fall within has been gaining tons of momentum in popularity.?
‘At some point in our lives we all have to move on even when we don’t want to,? he added. ‘Change sometimes isn’t what we want, but it can be necessary. Change allows us to grow as people and can make us new again. We came up with the lyrics by first writing about how we felt and how we thought our friends felt at the time. Then we started to develop the story with the rest of the songs. We wrote the lyrics based upon where we wanted the story to go.?
To donate see Kickstarter: http://kck.st/1yXrOIQ