What began as a handful of self-taught musicians learning instruments in their dorms and garages is now Frontier, the fast-growing band playing LSU’s bars and nightlife every weekend.
The ensemble is made up of LSU juniors Nico Sciullo, Jake Maples, Noah Adams, Doug Ricalde and Zach Montz, and their majors vary from construction management to industrial engineering.
Sciullo, the band’s lead singer, started singing his senior year of high school in a band called S.O.L. He said on top of singing, he aims to be a true entertainer and always get the crowd excited.
Frontier played its debut show in December of 2025 at The House in Tigerland under its original name, River Would. Since then, the band has stayed booked with events, bars and fraternity parties.
While they may have gone through a name change, everything else is constant as they steadily progress their way through the LSU music scene. The band recently played at JL’s, marking the first live performance at the bar in seven years, and Frontier got hired back immediately after.
College cover bands aren’t an anomaly, but the members of Frontier try to set themselves apart by focusing on their own enjoyment when playing as much as the audience’s.
Maples and Ricalde both grew up with a paternal musical influence, as both their dads played guitar and encouraged them to take up the art. Maples, one of the band’s guitarists, said that though his dad wanted him to explore music, he was never interested until he got older.
“Our whole house is full of guitars,” Maples said. “I hated hearing him play all the time until I understood it myself.”
Guitarist and backup vocalist Ricalde said he was always interested in music. Along with guitar, he learned other instruments like drums, bass and keyboard; he started playing when he was 12.
“My dad used to play in his room,” Ricalde said. “One day I picked it up and started strumming. I didn’t know what I was doing, but he told me he thought I had good rhythm and told me I should play.”
As of now, the group only plays covers, but Sciullo said the next step is writing original music. Ricalde currently works on writing songs on his laptop and shares them with the group for feedback. Inspiration for the writing comes from other bands like The Strokes, Kings of Leon, Red Hot Chili Peppers and sometimes Metallica.
When the band plays live, its setlist is made up of crowd favorites mixed with each musician’s preferred song. They said they fight about what to play at every practice.
“We argue a lot about it,” said Maples. “Everyone wants to play what they want because there are certain parts of songs that are cooler for one instrument.”
From classic staples like “Free Bird” to “Sex on Fire,” the band works to make sure everyone in the crowd has a good time.
Frontier has been trying to cater to the crowd more, playing songs like “Iris” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” and has been successful in doing that.
Sciullio said the priority isn’t always the setlist and more the songs themselves. Longer songs like “Purple Rain” need to be trimmed to keep the crowd entertained, while other songs might be extended with solos. Montz said some songs are heavier or more energetic, and they rarely play solos exactly like the originals.
“We’re all musicians that are together as a band, so however we play a song is going to be different than whoever played it first,” Maples said.
Adams, the bass player, said Ricalde got him into playing during their freshman year at LSU when they lived together. Adams has played piano and drums since he was little, so he already knew some music theory, but Ricalde helped him read a fretboard and got him started with the new instrument.
“It was a lot of learning on YouTube,” Adams said. “I’d find a song and then find another song that’s harder and keep going.”
The two of them practiced in LSU’s dorms without the amp plugged in to avoid any noise complaints.
Montz on the drums started playing when he was 9 years old. He likes that the instrument is naturally eccentric and joked that sometimes it’s a way to get his anger or stress out.
Being a student band unleashes a different set of challenges for the men of Frontier. The members said their schedules rarely align, and balancing class, practice times, gigs and studying can get difficult. They often practice the same amount as some students work.
Beyond shows, the group thrives on rituals and their brotherhood. They go to Waffle House after a show and alternate speeches in a huddle before a performance.
“We’re all friends who just happen to play music together,” said Sciullo. “It’s a lot of fun and we all appreciate each other.”