Until Later, a student band here at SUNY New Paltz, is making progress on recording their first single and rocking the local music scene.
The classic rock inspired three-piece band has been performing since the fall of 2022 but working closely together as musicians since fall 2021 as first year students. Members of the band include Justin Ruszczycki on drums, Paul Julian on guitar and Evan Harden on bass, keys and vocals.
Each are music students, Harden and Ruszczycki as music majors and Julian a music minor. They have each spent years working on their skills, with Ruszczycki starting to learn from his father, a fellow drummer, in kindergarten.
Since the start of 2023, Until Later has quickly made strides in the music scene after their appearance in Battle of the Bands hosted at Snug Harbor back in February. The band says they owe many thanks to Alli Dempsey and Ari Cummings, two former New Paltz students, for organizing the event. Competing alongside the other well-established bands in town gained them some notoriety and future gigs.
Until Later became a staple band at The Pickle Jar, a house show venue from 2022-2023. “They provided us with the space to play the most shows last semester and that was all from Battle of the Bands,” said Julian. They have since remained in contact and booked shows with the previous Pickle Jar organizer who now runs the house venue Nebraska.
Over the summer, they continued to perform throughout New York State. One unique show was at Meadowlark Mountain Bike Trail on Long Island. “I raced,” said Julian, “and then directly after I cut up my whole knee, we played a set.”
Until Later is working in the Center for Student Media studio as of late, recording their original single, “The Mistress.” The song is described by Harden each time they perform it. “This song is about when you walk into a social setting and you and a particular person keep making eye contact. You’re supposed to be there with someone else but you’re drawn to the other person for some reason. The law of attraction.”
Working for the past couple of weeks with John Roy, fourth-year marketing major, to record and mix the track, they are anticipating a release date at the end of November across various streaming platforms.
In the meantime, they have also been working to compose even more originals. One was recently debuted at their last performance called “Duality of a Man,” or D.O.A.M. for short, with a ballad rock sound. Another, still in the writing process will have a more “punky” sound according to Ruszczycki.
To keep up with Until Later and find out the official release date of “The Mistress” and other future projects, follow them @ulband_ on Instagram.
