Contentz Under Pressure is a local band created by students of Grayslake North and Carmel. They are four friends who get together and write music and make songs in their spare time.

Their members are Declan Peterson, Jacob Spheeris, Sam Spheeris, & Anthony Nardomarino.Declan and Anthony are from Grayslake North, Jacob and Sam are from Carmel.

“We play Blues/Rock Christian based music for the most part,” said senior Declan Peterson.

Declan is the lead vocalist and plays guitar, Jacob is on the drums. Sam plays the bass, and Anthony plays guitar.

“This all started when we all were in about 7th grade. We loved similar music, so we started writing it, have kept it going, and we enjoy it,” said Jacob Spheeris.

Contentz Under Pressure’s name was not thought of by the band, though. It was thought of by a parent of one the band’s members.

“My mom came up with it and I thought she was a genius. We liked the way it sounded, so since 7th grade we’ve been Contentz Under Pressure” Peterson said .

This band has written many songs for their upcoming album, “The Different Breed”. Some song titles they have are “Not Just Survive”, “Above” , and “Fuel Our Fires”.

“Playing at my church has inspired me. Other Christian artists provide hope and positivity because everyone is focusing on negativity. I want to inspire people to search for positivity and to continue to dream,” Peterson said.

They get together to work on songs and music about once a week on the weekends because of school, sports, and extracurricular activities, but they still spend a lot of time together.

They have written many songs, so it was hard for them to pick a favorite song they have.

“Personally, my favorite is “Above”; It’s a very personal song. I wrote it as a tribute to Haylie and her dad after they passed,” Peterson Said.

The band also has recorded the songs they have created. Although they already have the songs written, it still takes time for them to record their songs just the way they want it.

“The writing process for a song can take hours, because they sometimes come in pieces. So, Recording an actual song in a studio can take many hours, up to a day to get everything right they way we want it,” said Sophomore Sam Spheeris.

This band hopes to have their album out by the time Jacob and Declan go to college, and will be releasing their first music video/single, “Not Just Survive” within the next few weeks. They also plan on playing shows with up and coming Christian artist, Paul Spheeris, in the Summer.

No matter what though, one thing is for sure, they will never forget how much fun they have had these past couple of years.