Emily Zomoroudi
Contributing Writer
Only a few weeks into fall quarter, Isla Vista’s (I.V.) freshest band Lot 22 is now notorious for being the soundtrack of every UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) student’s walk to class.
The newly-formed band, which consists of UCSB students Ema Nastic, Nina Lim, Luc Pardehpoosh, Noah Baum, Harrison Arakawa, Adrian Cunningham, and Ben Krohn-Hansen, rehearses weekly on the top floor of UCSB’s parking lot 22. The band performs unique renditions of songs from other popular artists, which gives anyone walking past Lot 22 an enjoyable listening experience.
The creation of Lot 22 all started with a fateful Instagram post. “I posted something on the Instagram page for 2023 transfers and all these members came out for a jam session […] I liked them, and then we started a band,” Pardehpoosh, the lead guitarist of Lot 22 and a third-year data science major, told The Bottom Line.
Nastic, lead singer and first-year psychology & brain sciences major, mentioned how she recently joined the band when she coincidentally caught them rehearsing and was enamored with the music she heard.
Most of Lot 22’s members have had extensive musical backgrounds and lots of performance experience. Lim, a drummer and third-year communication and percussion performance double major, told us: “My mom signed me up for violin lessons as a kid, and afterwards, I started to grow a liking for violin when my sister and I made music covers together. Then, I started doing marching band in high school, and I fell in love with music performance.”
Cunningham, a bass player and third-year music major, has also amassed musical experience from a very young age. “I’ve played in many different bands and orchestras with a wide variety of instruments.” His interest in music skyrocketed when he was able to learn about audio engineering in high school.
Like any up-and-coming band, some of the members in Lot 22 have confronted challenges in their musical careers. Krohn-Hansen, third-year keyboardist and biochemistry major, had to adapt to practicing completely new genres of music. “It’s a big learning curve,” Krohn-Hansen said, noting that he was still getting used to the different varieties of music. Before joining the band, he mainly stuck with classical music and only recently started playing pop and rock songs. Although the learning curve is steep, it’s expanding his and the other members’ skillset as musicians.
Despite each member’s individual shortcomings, Lot 22 garnered a substantial amount of success only three weeks into the formation of their band. “I’m excited that people come out to our local shows and give us lots of support,” said Baum, a second-year rhythm guitarist and physics major.
Although Lot 22 is currently a cover band, its members say they look forward to producing and performing original tracks, with the possibility of recording an album in the near future. Arawaka, a third-year trombone player and economics major, “hopes that Lot 22 becomes the biggest band in I.V.” Lim is also optimistic that the band can grow beyond UCSB: “I see us expanding our outreach and performing in venues outside of I.V.” Lot 22 often does weekly local shows at various properties on Del Playa. To find more information on their future setlists and home shows, you can follow the band on Instagram here.
This band is the future.
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