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<\/div>\n<\/div>\nStark County teen pop band COMPASS to play new songs with symphony<\/p>\n
The teen rock band COMPASS features three siblings. The Jackson Township group will perform new music on May 21 with members of the Canton Symphony.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/story-highlights> JACKSON TWP. \u2212 The teenage Kefalas siblings seemingly get along with ease, whether it’s sitting at a picnic table and chatting about their pop rock band COMPASS<\/a> or crafting songs in their basement studio.<\/p>\n Brotherly and sisterly rivalries are non-existent, and any joking is in good nature. Fielding questions about their new album and upcoming concert, they politely took turns, offering alternating perspectives and insight. And their rapport and bond are even more obvious when listening to their recently released self-titled album<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arianna Kefalas, 19, belts out vocals and plays bass. Harrison Kefalas, 17, both strums and shreds on guitar. And John Kefalas, 14, bangs the drums.<\/p>\n “We’ve learned how to kind of communicate with each other like I feel that most people cannot,” said Harrison, a student at Jackson High School. “And I feel that’s the advantage of being siblings.”<\/p>\n Arianna, who recently completed her freshman year at Kent State University, said the album is the product of their evolution as a band.<\/p>\n “I think we all personally did a lot of growing and grew together as a group musically and emotionally,” the fashion design major said. “I can confidently say we put everything into the album.”<\/p>\n New songs will be on the setlist May 21 when COMPASS performs live with an ensemble from the Canton Symphony Orchestra at The Auricle Venue + Bar<\/a> in downtown Canton as part of the Divergent Sounds Series.<\/p>\n For tickets<\/a> and more information about the 7:30 p.m. concert, go to cantonsymphony.org\/compass\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n For Arianna, the concert will be a full circle moment. She’s a former violinist in the Canton Youth Symphonies.<\/p>\n COMPASS<\/a> selected four symphony instrumentalists to complement the band \u2212 cello, violin, French horn and trumpet.<\/p>\n “This is one of the biggest accomplishments of my high school career,” Harrison said. “I’ve always dreamed of playing guitar for things like this, and the fact I get to do it with my siblings, it’s really one of the coolest things I’ll ever get to do.”<\/p>\n COMPASS released a self-produced, five-song EP, “Stay A While,”<\/a> in Spring 2024.<\/p>\n Work on eight songs for their debut album began a few years ago. Most of the tracks were written as of late 2024 before being finished, recorded and mixed, with mastering by Justin Colletti <\/a>from Joe Lambert Mastering in New York.<\/p>\n The sibling trio’s father George Kefalas, a pulmonary and critical care doctor, also assists COMPASS in the studio and plays keyboards and synthesizers. Kefalas has a diverse musical background, including composing music for GlenOak High School’s jazz band as a student; playing trumpet in a jazz quintet in college; performing in an R&B cover band; and recording an EP and touring regionally with the alternative and grunge rock band AXIS in the ’90s.<\/p>\n Musical influences for COMPASS include Olivia Rodrigo, Maggie Rogers, Lizzie McAlpine, Paramore and John Mayer.<\/p>\n Songs on the new album range from mellower acoustic numbers to up-tempo tracks with keyboards, synthesizers and filtered vocals. Many of them possess a breezy, upbeat cruise down the road vibe.<\/p>\n Balancing home studio time with academics, extracurriculars and life was challenging for the teens.<\/p>\n “But I never viewed it as a thing to do,” Harrison said. “For me, I thought of it as a thing to do after I have homework and studying. I thought of it as more of a relief.”<\/p>\n Inspiration came in spurts, John said, describing the process as “boom, boom, bang.”<\/p>\n “We all had different aspects that we added to each song,” Arianna said.<\/p>\n Messages in some songs are born of their lives. The lyrics of others tilt more abstract. Subjects range from heartbreak to happiness to introspection.<\/p>\n “Every song we write is about an original experience that is 100% true,” Arianna said. “We want to be true to ourselves and real things that people go through. Hopefully, some good art and music can come out of experience.”<\/p>\n Playing with the symphony won’t be the band’s first big show.<\/p>\n In the winter of 2024, COMPASS<\/a> advanced to the final round of the Tri-C High School Rock Off at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n COMPASS also has performed smaller gigs, including Canton First Friday and PorchROKR<\/a> in the Akron neighborhood of Highland Square.<\/p>\n\n
‘Boom, boom, bang’<\/h2>\n
Canton Symphony joint concert will be ‘awesome.’<\/h2>\n