How the Wentzel Brothers became a Band?!
Ivan has an interest in music
It all started with Ivan Wentzel at the age of 8. His parents bought him a small boom box with a CD player. The gift came with a single cd…. AC/DC Back in Black. As the next few weeks passed Ivan listened to the album on repeat. He was completely intrigued with all the instruments and how they worked together. His appetite for music grew and it wasn’t long before he was digging through his parents’ cd collection. Some of the first bands he discovered were hard rock, and southern rock, there were Lynyrd Skynyrd, Black Sabbath, and Fleetwood Mac. It wasn’t long before he had discovered a whole new world of music.
A knack for the drums
At around the age of 10 Ivan’s father Elton Wentzel had noticed his interest in music. When he saw a drum set for sale for $200 he bought it. Ivan was immediately excited to learn the instrument. In less than a week Ivan was jamming along with a several of his favorite classic rock and hard rock songs. Ivan played drums on and off for a few years but because he didn’t have anyone to jam with he got out of the habit of playing.
A sports injury leads to a life in music.
Ivan was a dedicated wrestler from the 7th grade all the way through Junior year. He suffered a devastating back injury during Junior year that lead to him having to leave to the team. It was devastating because he had put years of work into better himself and his team. After making the mistake of attempting to complete his final season as a wrestler, he was hardly able to walk . It took doctor months of visits and repeated misdiagnosis before they finally pinned down the problem. It was two herniated discs in his lower back. The only solution was surgery. Luckily after months with no answers he saw a way out when he was booked for a potentially life changing surgery.
During all the time Ivan spent out of commission the only thing he could do to take his mind off of the pain and troubles was play music. However, the pain from the injury kept him off his drum set. He ended up dusting off one of his dad's old guitars and started learning all his favorite songs. By the time he was recovered he had a pretty solid understanding with a basic skill set on guitar.Time to start a new southern rock band.
It wasn’t long after Ivan started playing guitar that he realized how much fun it would be to have others to play with. It was then that he noticed that there was not really that many peers of his that could play an instrument and were interested in playing with others. He then started inviting anybody he knew over to jam to create a new southern rock band.
The Basic facts
One of the first people invited was a friend of his named Jacob Newcomb who loves grunge, hard rock, and countless other genres. He seemed to be a little more serious than the other kids so Ivan asked him if he was interested in learning to play bass. He took about 3 seconds to think about it and answered with a solid “Yeah Sure.” The rest is history.