Here at Princeton Day School, student organizations are not hard to find. From Model UN and student council, to Mock Trial and a capella groups, students never fail to produce talented and impressive work. However, one group stands out in particular: Room 152, a student-created band, with sophomore members Max Miller, Tommy Batterman, and Naveen Bhatia. Though the name seems strange, it stems from Bhatia’s mistaking their practice room, Mr. Cara’s Room 254, as Room 252. “Over time, the two changed to a one so now it’s Room 152, which turns out to be the middle school drama room,” explains Miller.

The group was founded last year, when the three met during Freshman Orientation. The initial idea came from Batterman, who confronted the two about their interest in music. “He just came up to me, and said, ‘Max plays the bass, I play the drums, I heard you play the guitar. Do you want to form a band?’” recalled Bhatia. Miller remembered a band teacher from eighth grade telling him about Tommy’s dream of forming a band, so he really looked forward to meeting him at orientation.

Since then, the trio has played at school events and concerts, and has even been invited to perform at weddings. While most of their pieces are covers and jazz music, such as “So What,” “A Night in Tunisia,” “Autumn Leaves,” with their best song being “Black Orpheus,” they add their own personal touches with self-composed solos and harmonies tacked on to the original. “While it seems crazy, there’s definitely a method to the madness,” said Miller. He then explained how they are even beginning to use these skills to write original music. After all, the thing they enjoy most about their music is “the way they work, and the natural feel they have for each other’s styles,” said Bhatia. With this mentality, they plan “to expand their horizons” in the future, perhaps in a different direction from their jazz roots. Their next goal is to release a record or album, showcasing their skills at composing and performing. The band hopes the PDS community will embrace it, and they “will drop the album soon.”