Following his discovery of an early 2000s hit “American Idiot” while playing a video game, senior Hal Fischer found his passion for music at 11 years old. He is currently a member of two bands outside of school: Submerge the Oppressor and The Haze. Along with playing in the bands, Fischer also participates in the jazz ensemble and is the captain of drumline at WJ.
With the other members of The Haze including Torben Mucchetti, Bradley West and Oliver Forrest away at college, working as the lead singer for Submerge the Oppressor has become Fischer’s main focus.
“Hal usually writes stuff and then teaches me to play it. It’s a lot of fun and I’ve learned a lot from him,” senior Submerge the Oppressor member Nolan LaCount said.
The group has performed live several times, featuring mainly original songs at those performances. Fischer is perfecting a process in writing those songs.
“A lot of the time I will think of another song that I want my song to sound like and I’ll just pick up a guitar and start playing around,” Fischer said. “I come up with a few different parts and figure out how they are going to fit together.”
In the middle of his school day, Fischer plays bass for jazz band. He joined his sophomore year and hasn’t looked back since.
“I’ve been in jazz for three years,” Fischer said. “It’s probably my favorite class at WJ because it is really fun and I’ve built a strong connection with all of the other people there so playing music with them is the highlight of my day.”
Due to his honing in on the fundamentals of drumming and taking initiative, Fischer has been captain of the drumline for two years. During practices, his responsibilities are to help each part figure out what to play and also write some original cadences, one of which is going to be performed at homecoming with the WJ Step Team.
“It has been one of the more challenging music experiences I’ve had because I’m not really a drummer,” Fischer said. “I just picked it up because I thought the drumline was cool in ninth grade.”
As for the future, Fischer plans to major in music production and technology.
“It’s been great working with Hal, he’s able to not only learn parts quickly but he’s also been able to improve what’s already been laid out,” Mucchetti said. “He played bass, lap steel and sang in our band. I hope he keeps doing music if that’s what he’s most passionate about and I’m excited to hear Submerge release some music. Hopefully he also keeps jamming with me.”
