If you step into a show featuring the local band heaving., you will notice three things: a shiny mask, a distorted metal sound and wild mosh pits. But behind these aspects are four musicians passionate about self-expression and local music.
While the region has multiple melodic indie rock bands, introspective singer-songwriters and loud hardcore bands, the now two-year-old band has an uncommon sound for Central Illinois.
“It just depends on who I’m talking to. If I’m talking to someone’s grandma, I’m probably going to say it’s heavy metal,” Tyler Spatafore, heaving. drummer and brother of guitarist Trevor Spatafore, said.
More specifically though, the band could be defined as a mix of post-hardcore and grunge.
Bands like Deftones and Static Dress share this unique sound. The group’s love for these artists is what brought them together.
Vocalist Morgan Stricklin and bassist Bowie Adams are the Spatafore’s friends, who they met through the local music scene. When the four realized they all shared similar music tastes, they decided to start a band together.
“Morgan and I started talking about potentially starting a heavier band,” Tyler Spatafore said. “There are not that many heavy bands in our scene, so we wanted to do something a little more aggressive.”
While the aggressive sound of heaving. ended up being one of their most defining elements, they also have a strong visual aesthetic to go with it. Their marketing materials are glitchy and sometimes uncanny.
Just as unsettling is the name of the band. The idea for it came from Tyler Spatafore’s notebook, the same place many of the band’s lyrics originate.
One of the main symbols of heaving. is the disco mask of Trevor Spatafore. It is almost always worn at their shows and is even on some of their merchandise, such as stickers and t-shirts.
But the band did not always have their now-iconic mask.
“The idea probably started because we did a Halloween show, and we all wore the same ski mask. That was really fun, and I didn’t want to play another show without it,” Trevor Spatafore said.
The disco mask originated from an EP release show at Castle Theatre in Bloomington, where they brought the disco mask to switch out in case the audience wanted them to play an encore.
However, Trevor’s original mask broke before their set. As a result, he played the entire show in the disco mask, which made the pictures look “in hindsight, really cool,” according to Tyler Spatafore.
While heaving. has, quite literally, a flashy exterior, but they also have deeper messages they want to share with the world through their music.
The lyrics of heaving., which are mostly written by Tyler Spatafore and Stricklin, harken from the grunge movement of the 1990s with a focus on angst-filled and often introspective topics.
“I tend to write about traumas more than anything. Anxiety, loneliness and vices are regular for me,” Stricklin said.
The song “breathe” reflects this, with lyrics viscerally expressing the feeling of trying to calm down from a panic attack. The refrain “close your eyes” is sung and screamed with passion at different points.
The song “Lesser,” on the other hand, personifies addiction tempting someone through lyrics like “Get better for lesser/you know you want it.”
In an increasingly atomized society, these kinds of messages can make people feel a little less alone in their struggles.
“I want people to relate; I want people to not feel alone. But I also want people to be able to escape with our music,” Stricklin said.
This escapism can be seen at their shows, with the audience frequently forming mosh pits, dancing and making friends.
“I personally love the atmosphere. Every show always has people jumping up and down,” Jay Martinson, a local musician who has attended multiple “heaving.” shows, said.
This has built a strong local music community in Peoria, one not just concerned with escapism, but changing society around them for the better.
This summer, the band helped raise $6,595 for the Center for Prevention of Abuse by playing at Mt. Moon Fest, a multi-day indie music festival in Peoria. They gathered a large and energetic crowd for their set, which was the last one of the night.
Through events like these, heaving. has used this position of influence in the community to share messages about improving society.
“We have a song called ‘Do Something,’ and that is one of our most dialed-in messages. It’s about gun violence and school shootings,” Tyler Spatafore said.
Another more personal message both Stricklin and Adams said was one of encouragement to those interested in music.
“Anyone can do what we are doing,” Stricklin and Adams both said.
“If you want to make music, find people who want to do the same and do it,” Stricklin said.
You can listen to their EP, “Just Take Everything,” which came out earlier this year, on any major streaming platform.
If you want to see heaving. live, they are on tour this month and have a show at Cafe Santa Rosa at 7 p.m. on Friday.
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