Beginning as a hobby without direction, Shippensburg native band Nothing Planned is beginning to grow in the heart of central Pennsylvania. 

The band formed and started performing at parties in 2018, when Shippensburg University senior and drummer Brandon Morgan, and senior Tristan Sieben, lead vocalist, were looking to start a band. They joined forces with Shippensburg resident and guitarist Spencer Godlewski, as well as former SU student Lane Alleman, bassist. 

With no plans for the band, the name Nothing Planned seemed to be the right fit. 

Nothing Planned has played at about six venues, including The Thought Lot, located on East Garfield Street in Shippensburg. The band is also moving on to bigger places, and is going to play at the Millennium Music Conference in Harrisburg on Feb. 23.

The conference selects bands to perform there from around the world. Nothing Planned will share the stage with Single By Sunday, a band from Glasgow, United Kingdom. 

“They bring in up-and-coming bands and showcase them at night. Then during the day, there’s panelists and everything for musicians to go to learn more about the music industry,” Alleman said. “All the bands that were selected get to perform at the showcases that are from venues ranging from Mechanicsburg all the way to Lancaster.”

The 23rd annual conference will host 275 performances during its two-day-long event.

Nothing Planned defines its music as “party punk,” with punk and heavy metal influences. Each member brings his own genre to the band so the band does not become pigeonholed into one genre.

“My favorite songs to perform are ‘Hold On’ which is about suicide and trying to take the message out of like ‘hold on it will get better,’” Sieben said. “And one Lane wrote the lyrics to called ‘Blast Off’ that one’s pretty much about trying to make it big and getting out of the every day routine you’re stuck in.”

What Sieben also likes about those two songs is that they are different stylistically. “Hold On” is one of the band’s slower metal songs, whereas “Blast Off” is an energetic song that falls more into the pop punk genre.

The band’s first single, “Arizona,” is Alleman’s favorite song to perform. He considers it his go-to song.

“I wrote it three years ago about this girl that left and moved to Arizona. It’s such a really fun song. It’s fast and upbeat,” Alleman said. “Even when you mess up during that song it doesn’t even matter because there’s that much energy in it that you can just power through it.”

Sieben enjoys seeing how the band’s music affects people when they are attending its concerts.

Sieben recalled a time the band was playing “Hero of War,” a song by Rise Against about soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder, and saw a man crying with his girlfriend. “I remember one time we were playing an open mic and we were playing “Hero of War” [by Rise Against] and I saw in the corner this guy just breaking down along with his girlfriend,” Sieben said. “I went up to them after the concert and they were saying that they were so thankful that we played that because that’s what they went through.”

As the band plays at more venues, it hopes to tour the country in the next five years, or even a “DIY tour,” as Sieben said.

“It would be fun to just get an RV and get all our stuff and just drive around the country,” Sieben said.

Nothing Planned has a few more shows coming up, and Alleman is working on arranging another benefit concert for the Drew Michael Taylor Foundation.

“We did one last year in October, and got a bunch of bands together,” Alleman said. “The Drew Michael Taylor Foundation is here in Shippensburg and they help out grieving families. And they helped out mine tremendously, so it’s my way of giving back.”

To learn more about Nothing Planned, visit its Facebook page @NothingPlanned and its Instagram @NothingPlannedOfficial.

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