Junior Carrie Bather and Senior Bradley VanTatenhove have joined together with two alumni, Avery Bather ‘18 and Garrett Meier ‘19, to make one well-known band both on and off campus. The band was formed about a year and a half ago, when Carrie had heard that her sister, Avery, had started performing with Meier.
“Avery and [Meier] started out themselves by doing lots of duets and stuff and performing at nursing homes so when me and Carrie caught wind of that we started throwing ideas of starting a band. Then one weekend up north at the Bather’s cabin, the four of us attempted to learn some songs and we all blended together pretty well starting our little journey of making music together,” VanTatenhove said.
“Not only is it fun to just perform with each other and make music, what makes doing this so rewarding is when everyone wants to come out and listen to us and enjoy the music that we’re playing.”
-Bradley VanTatenhove
The name of the band, “My Sister’s Boyfriend”, was created based on the relationships between the band’s participants.
“The name was a clever thought that one of us had, I think Carrie came up with it, that not only sounded decent for a band name but was also relatable to us as a group because we consist of two couples, Carrie and I, and Avery and Garrett. What drives the whole name together is that Carrie and Avery are sisters, hence the name ‘My Sisters Boyfriend’,” VanTatenhove said.
The band has played at multiple venues since its creation.
“We’ve performed at Friendship Village, a nursing home, a number of times. We’ve played at Grandview Lodge up North, and Patricks here in St. Peter. We’ve also played at the Coffee Hag in Mankato. We’d like to start to try and play at breweries as well which will help get our name out there more,” VanTatenhove said.
The band has had to work through some challenges like half of its members being alumni of Gustavus, so they aren’t on campus as often as Avery and VanTatenhove.
“Because Avery and [Meier] graduated from Gustavus and are in Grad school right now, it’s hard to find time for us to get together a lot and rehearse. We usually make commitments to rehearse for about a week before upcoming shows that we have since we do have a lot of songs learned already. For the most part though wherever and whenever we are all together at one time, we make the effort to get some practicing in, whether that be at the Bather’s house up in the cities or at Garrett’s house in Mankato,” VanTatenhove said.
VanTatenhove went on to mention that these challenges are natural, but do not hurt their band.
“Luckily we all manage to get along fairly well but it can be frustrating when our busy schedules don’t line up for making it to rehearsals and stuff. For the most part though we all truly enjoy each others’ company and playing together and don’t really have problems with who takes the lead in some songs and what not,” VanTatenhove said.
The band is hoping to continue playing at their favorite venues, while also looking to expand their venues to find more audiences. “We aren’t one-hundred percent sure where we will be performing next. We’d like to maybe get some shows up in the cities or, even better, another show at Patrick’s, but, as of right now, nothing is set. We’ll send info out about our next performance though for sure,” VanTatenhove said.
“My Sister’s Boyfriend” is grateful for the support that they have gained and is excited about their work ahead.
“Not only is it fun to just perform with each other and make music, what makes doing this so rewarding is when everyone wants to come out and listen to us and enjoy the music that we’re playing, so thanks from all of us for making that effort to come out and support,” VanTatenhove said.