Two Lutheran South seniors advance to final round of Teen Talent competition

Had Lutheran South seniors Fin Clark and Joey Roggen not been sitting next to each other in their Christian Living class last semester, their band “Hurry” never would have formed. The two have both attended the Affton private school since freshman year, though for whatever reason, their paths never seemed to cross until Roggen noticed Clark working on a project in Pro Tools, a music software program used to create, record, edit and mix audio. 

“If you have (Pro Tools), you know what you’re doing,” Roggen said. Roggen’s intrigue sparked a conversation between the two, and soon enough, they found they shared a similar music taste and talent. 

Quickly after becoming fast friends, Roggen was made aware of the Teen Talent Competition held annually by the Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation. Though not in an official band prior to trying out for the competition, Roggen has consistently played music every week with his friend Ray Rieser, who attends Heritage Christian Academy in Fenton. He contacted both Clark and Rieser about the opportunity, hoping that the three of them could enter as a group despite never having played all together. Once it was decided, the trio — who are now officially known as Hurry, a play on words as they are a Rush cover band — practiced together only a handful of times until they were thrust into the preliminary round of tryouts.

“We showed up, and our first reaction was, ‘Oh, we’re probably not gonna make it,’” Roggen shared. 

“We didn’t know what we were getting into. We were maybe 20 minutes late to our loading time that first day,” Clark added, explaining that they had forgotten a guitar stand, a requirement for the audition. “Our name is Hurry, and we were not in a hurry that day.”

This slight timing mishap —  coupled with technical difficulties, including the fact that Roggen’s amp was incorrectly set up, meaning no guitar or its effects were heard — initially confirmed, in their minds, that they would not move on to the next round. Luckily, they decided to record their practice that morning, uploading it to a flash drive that they brought to the tryout “just in case.” 

“We handed (the judges) that flash drive, like, ‘Please just consider it, because this is not what we can do,’” Clark said.

“And then they did, and here we are,” Roggen added.

Next up were semifinals, which were “definitely more pressure” according to both students. Less than half of the over 100 groups that auditioned during the preliminary round advanced. Of the approximately 45 semifinalists, just 14 lucky groups were chosen for the final show.

 

It all became real for Hurry once they went to The Fox to meet the other finalists and learn more about the show.

“For me, getting to The Fox was the win. You know, whether we win or lose in the finals at the end of January, I think just getting this experience is a very real deal,” Clark said. “It’s just so cool that they do this, that they give this opportunity to high schoolers. It gives us experience with this field, we’re meeting all the other contestants and people in the industry (who) can definitely help with our dream careers in the music industry.”

Lutheran South student Aleka Detter will also represent the school at the final performance. She will appear in the opening dance number ensemble, which she has done every year since her freshman year.

Catch Hurry, the thirteen other finalists and Detter in the dance ensemble at The Fox on Jan. 24. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with the show to follow at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are free and may be obtained online through MetroTix. 

“Playing in front of 4,500 people is definitely going to be something that I’m not really going to be fully prepared for, and I’m also always going to remember, because that’s just crazy,” Roggen said. “Even if we don’t place, I’m still going to be grateful. They told me last practice that they’re going to hand me my guitar. That’s crazy, that’s what you see with the big stars.”