Groovitational Pull's in Phoenix Club crowd

By mixing reggae with rock, jazz and funk, Groovitational Pull is easy to identify. The band has won each UW-Oshkosh's and UW-Eau Claire's Battle of the Bands contest and performed at Summerfest in Milwaukee, to promote its debut album, "Flavor Grenade." Groovitational Pull rocked the Phoenix Club Sept. 30 raking in a large crowd. Groovitational Pull is from UWO, where the members are juniors. The band consists of four people, Caleb "Papa Sanga" Nordhaugen, Brett "Father Zerubbabel" Miller, Jon "The Prophet" Kertzman and Kevin "Kev Bounce" Israel. The members would rather go by their stage names. "When you are in a band, you're not a person, you're a personality," Kertzman said about the stage names. That's why they randomly created the names and created their own image of this new band. Groovitational Pull formed in the dorms on campus during its member's freshman year. None of the other students or staff seemed to appreciate they were a band in the dorms, with all the noise. "We were on the top floor of the tallest tower, in Oshkosh, but now we all live together in a house and have our own little jam space," said Nordhaugen. Now that they all live together, it's easier for them to write music and practice. They have all been part of the original band and joke around with each other. Nordhaugen joked about wanting "She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain" at his funeral. Miller joked about his nickname and how he wanted it to be the band's name. Israel didn't crack many jokes, just about how he likes huffing gas, but it was more like the band was picking on him, perhaps because he's the newest comer. Before Groovitational Pull gets ready to go on-stage, the band has particular ways of getting ready. Nordhaugen washes his hands right before he's ready to go on-stage. "I never wear shoes, and after every show I have to collect the money, because I'm Jewish," said Israel. Right before the show, Miller likes to lead a little service to get them energetic and ready to perform. The band started the night by bringing lively personalities to the stage. The band sang their hit songs from "Flavor Grenade," such as "Morse Code" and "Skanq Party." They sang another song called, "Makes Me Wonder," in which Miller rapped. The band drew a small crowd at first, about 20 students, but it grew immensely after awhile. Groovitational Pull's set included original songs and a few covers, including Sublimes' "Loves What I Got" and Modest Mouse's "Float On." Nordhaugen and Kertzman provided the vocals for the cover songs. The band also put its own twist to the songs to make them fit Groovatational Pull's style. Ethan Caliva, a freshman art major at UW-Green Bay, attended the concert and sat near the front. "I liked all the music," said Caliva. "I thought it was a nice blend of different types of music. I thought the people in the crowd should have danced a little more, but they did a pretty good job." The band just started touring, trying to move off college campuses and into other venues. The band has been performing in lounges, clubs and bars. Its debut album has been out since June and has already sold-out its initial 200 copies. "I would definitely buy their CD," said Caliva. "I wanted to but they didn't have any here." Groovitational Pull has already put an order in for more CDs. The band only sells them at concerts, along with t-shirts and other souvenirs. Get them while you can.