If there was one word that sums up how young Newcastle rockers feel when they pick up their drumsticks, plug in their guitars and grab the microphone, it's exhilarated.
Every night, every venue and every gig is different, but the feeling never changes.
As rock-inspired beats course through Thomas Gagliano-Buckley, Teddy Kime, Jacob Thomas, Charlie Plummer and Joshua Taylor, the teens wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
"Some gigs feel like an out-of-body experience," lead singer Gagliano-Buckley said.
"Being on stage is one of my favourite things for sure.
"Every gig is slightly different, some go amazing, others not so great, but it's all about how you feel in the moment."
The year 11 Hunter School of the Performing Arts students have been hard at work performing and producing music for their band, STOMP.
Kime is on drums, Thomas and Plummer on guitar, Taylor on bass and Gagliano-Buckley on lead vocals.
They took out the top spot in their school-sponsored rock band competition Bandwidth in 2024, and more recently, won statewide school band competition YouthRock.
YouthRock is one of Australia's biggest band competitions for students, with alumni including Alex Lloyd, Hayley Warner and Newcastle's Silverchair.
Prizes as part of the competition include a fully produced recording, music video shoot, and a professional photo shoot.
"I felt really proud of us, we didn't think we were going to win, we were just having fun and meeting new people in Sydney," Thomas said.
"It was our first time playing Sydney and I think we're all so grateful that we did win," he said.
Plummer said he was a bit nervous for the state competition at first.
"I thought everyone was going to be butting up against each other, but when we got there it was less of a competition and more just bands playing together," he said.
Judges' comments from the show likened the band to having "early Silverchair vibes" and applauded their lyrics as "showing a depth of range that goes beyond standard adolescent writing themes".
"The energy just pours off the stage," YouthRock coordinator Alan Smith wrote on the judges score sheet.
Two years ago, when the teens were in year nine, Thomas, Taylor and Gagliano-Buckley, and their former drummer started a band to play cover songs at their school assemblies.
"It was really just for fun," Thomas said.
Then Kime and Plummer started at the school, and they got serious writing songs for Bandwidth 2024.
"We won and were like, this is so fun, so we kept doing it, and now we are here," Thomas said.
"It feels good when you're just one with the crowd, and it feels like you are locked in together," he said.
The boys described their music as having elements of grunge, rock and hard rock with a focus on big vocals and guitar harmonies.
"Our music has changed quite a bit, you don't start a band immediately and know what you want to sound like," Kime said.
"In our later songs that we are writing, we're more trying to shift towards vocal-driven and making sure the lyrics connect with every part of the song," he said.
The name, which is always capitalised for maximum effect, was created by Gagliano-Buckley in a brainstorming session with his mum.
STOMP was inspired by Silverchair's debut album Frogstomp, Gagliano-Buckley said.
"We thought that it would be a great, punchy name," he said.
Each band member has been playing their respective instrument for a long time.
Taylor first picked up a guitar when he was five, then a saxophone and bass guitar, two or three ago.
Kime has played drums for the last six years, Plummer has played guitar for nine, and Thomas started playing guitar in lockdown six years ago.
"I've been singing since I was a kid, my mum would always hear me putting myself to sleep by humming," Gagliano-Buckley said.
Kime's mother Sarah Head said the parents enjoyed seeing the teenagers getting to do what they love.
"It has been such an exciting 12 months for them, and it is just a lovely thing for them to do as a group of friends and get to play music, which is the thing they all love the most," she said.
She said Bandwidth 2024 kicked off their journey and they then got support from the local industry and music professionals who became their mentors.
"It is amazing that they came away and won at YouthRock, we couldn't quite believe it," she said.
"They've got really good energy and they're really working towards having as many original songs as possible."
Ms Head said while the band does all the creative side of things, the parents jump in when they are needed with driving, helping find rehearsal spaces or filling out paperwork.
"They all study music at school, so they get a chance to work on their music there as well as doing music lessons outside of school," she said.
She said they tried to practise as a band at least once a week for about two to three hours.
"Because it's what they love to do, it kind of doesn't seem like any extra work, it's what they want to be doing," she said.
They've played at venues across the city including King Street Hotel, Hamilton Station Hotel and West Best Bloc Fest.
"It's not just playing the music but it's also hanging out with all your friends and getting to do something every week that's creative and really fun," Kime said.
Their songwriting process is typically a collaborative endeavour, the band said.
They currently have two songs officially released, The Chance and Behind the Veil, and were working on recording two more, which they hoped would be released by the end of the year.
Behind the Veil had racked up more than 38,000 streams on Spotify while The Chance had 8414.
Thomas and Plummer had mostly written The Chance for Bandwidth in 2024.
"It was about people telling you can do things but then they put a limitation on that ... they'll say they will give you a chance but they don't actually," Thomas said.
Plummer said he prefers to write lyrics that capture a feeling or mood rather than a literal topic.
"We're experimenting with a lot of different stuff and new ways to write songs," Thomas said.
The band said they want their audience feel "exhilarated, excited, pumped and inspired".
"We want to make you feel like you should go pick up a guitar or bass or the drums or your vocal cords," Thomas said.
At the end of the day, the teenagers see themselves as best friends who create music together, and they would recommend anyone give it a go.
Kime said it was great to find people to connect with and that he enjoyed making and creating cool things with.
"I think joining a band is one of the best things you can do as a musician because I have improved so much because we all push each other," Thomas said.
"In an age full of phone addiction and social media, put your phone down and learn how to play an instrument," Plummer said.
