Expression is at the heart of all music, especially rock and metal. This is what Central Coast New Tech High School student J Miller (‘26) discovered when they began to explore playing music covers with their friends.
During their freshman year winter concert, Miller joined with fellow students Sabrina Wilkening (‘26) and Miles Reazner (‘26) to play their first song together, “Money” by Pink Floyd. Eventually, the group found the punk and metal scene in SLO County and gained inspiration from the plethora of bands around them, leading them to form their band, “Bandwidth.”
Bandwidth consists of vocalist J Miller, Guitarist Logan Rogers (‘27), Bassist Reazner, and drummer Wilkening. The band began their journey together with their first gig on August 31, 2024. After their first show, they began playing together more, everything from openers to headliners.
“August 2024 comes, and next thing you know we are playing a gig,” Miller said. “Then, we’re playing another gig, and then, next thing you know, we are playing so many gigs, it’s f****** insane.”
While music became a larger part of their lives once they began performing, their musical journeys began much earlier.
Miller began their journey during quarantine when they got a Macbook and discovered GarageBand—an Apple exclusive music production software.
“I started using all of the preset keyboards and tried to make songs for a video game that I was working on with my friend,” Miller said.
Over time, Miller got used to GarageBand through small projects and game development before metal and punk took their interest.
“One thing leads to another, and I get really into Pink Floyd,” Miller said. “Then I get this device that allows me to record my guitar straight into GarageBand.”
Miller, inspired by artists such as King Crimson and Frank Zappa, dove further into progressive rock using their piano and guitar. They slowly transitioned to genres like progressive metal after integrating into the metal scene. This expansion of music taste is what eventually led to the creation of Bandwidth.
Rogers began his musical journey with the violin in second grade. He experimented with different instruments until he found the guitar in fourth grade. In his freshman year of high school, he started going to metal shows and integrating himself into the metal scene while continuing to practice the guitar.
“I learned off of things like Pink Floyd and random blues,” Rogers said. “With metal, inspiration came from just going to shows and hearing everyone else.”
Wilkner began their journey with the trumpet in sixth grade. They began making music once they reached freshman year and tried out the drum set. They tried the drums to help Miller play their cover of Pink Floyd’s “Money.” Since then, they’ve practiced drums and created new songs based on their main musical inspiration. Wilkner entered the metal scene around the same time as learning drums, growing into the community that surrounds it.
“[The metal scene] gives people a palace to share their art, make friends, and [access] affordable entertainment,” Wilkner said.
Together, the members of Bandwidth express their love of music.
“[Making music] is my entire life,” Miller said. “It’s really meaningful for me to have an outlet to express myself artistically.”
On top of expressing a love for music, Miller uses their band and lyrics to promote a safe space and fight against oppression of freedom in the spirit of punk rock.
“Punk, as well as being a musical movement, is a politically progressive movement,” Miller said. “It’s inherently a political genre, anti-authority, anti-just about everything that oppresses [freedom].”
Bandwidth uses these messages to create an inclusive and hardcore environment for their listeners. Bandwidth has quickly grown within the metal scene, performing consistently all across SLO County, with an upcoming show on February 22, 2025. New shows are announced on their Instagram account, @band_width805. Their music is on Spotify, Apple music, and Amazon Music, under the name Bandwidth.
