Everyone expresses their passions in different ways. For many it’s through a form of art, for junior Arsenio Batoy, sophomore Ilya Blazhiyevskiy, and sophomore Kenneth Kim, it’s through music.

    Specifically, the three students express their passion through their band, Vegan Fever. The musical trio found their shared interest for what they describe as “jazzy rock and roll” after spending time together in their jazz band. Pianist and drummer, Kenneth Kim remarked on how the band came to be.

“Mr. Cloyd was absent… and we naturally bonded,” Kim said.

     Although undoubtedly unique, lead singer, Arsenio Batoy, mentioned his musical inspirations, and who he mirrors in melodic realms.

“We get inspiration from bands like AC/DC, Kansas and Journey,” Batoy said.

    With its various and diverse music, fans of the band eagerly await the release of the band’s first album entitled “We’ve Got the Fever”. The band’s bassist/guitarist, Ilya Blazhiyevskiy, reported that the greatly anticipated album would hopefully be ready for the public in January.

    However, despite Vegan Fever’s growing popularity, it has stirred up questions about its connection with Sad Vegan, another Monte Vista band. But, the members of Vegan Fever assure that the similar names are no indication of a relationship between the two.

“When we created our band, we didn’t know of the band Sad Vegan,” Batoy stated.

    Unfortunately, the young band has faced other problems in its short life as well. Especially a lack of support for the members and their eccentric band.

“I have family members and friends that don’t support me the way I feel I should be… My girlfriend bought a [Vegan Fever] shirt out of pity,” Batoy said.

    However, with lacking support or not, Vegan Fever continues to persevere boldly with high hopes, keeping in mind what their initial inspiration was; the love of jazz, and their very own band teacher, Mr. Cloyd.

“We wanted to make [Mr. Cloyd] proud,” Batoy said.

    Beyond making their mentor proud, the band has other aspirations. Band member, Kenneth Kim described the band’s main goal.

“We strive to inspire people. ” Kim stated.

    If anyone is interested in showing their support for the band by buying merchandise, they can do so from contacting Arsenio Batoy at [email protected].