Activism

Members of local band 13th Insight woke up Sept. 11 expecting a normal day, just like most of the rest of America. But 3,000 miles away, terrorists were attacking the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

“My first reaction was silence,” said lead singer and guitarist Asher Fay. “It was hard to believe this was happening in our country.”

After not knowing how to react for a couple of days, Fay said he knew what the band should do, something they were already familiar with doing: write a song.

Fay called his brother Dru Fay, who plays keyboards for the band. Dru was already thinking along those lines and had started work on a song. By the night of Sept. 13, the lyrics—scribed by Asher’s wife, Paige—were complete, and the band was ready to record with the help of producer Tom Gordon.

The resulting song, aptly titled “9-11,” fits 13th Insight’s modus operandi of eclecticism: hard rock, classic rock, punk and opera thrown together, with an ABC News broadcast from the morning of the attack at the beginning of the song and “Taps” at the end. Lyrically, the song is stripped down to convey their initial shock at the events and America’s steps to recovering as a nation.

Bassist Joel Secunda said that he felt it was important for the band to do what they could to help out. Playing the song live brings him back to the morning of the attack.

“It pumps me up, and at the same time, gives me a lot of reflection on the day everything occurred,” he said. “It gives me a feeling of hope for the situation.”

Asher said the situation was so emotionally draining for him that he needed help from his wife to write the lyrics.

“I just couldn’t think straight,” Asher said. “I was too involved emotionally.”

Band members observed that the attacks have helped bring the nation together.

“At first I was upset,” Dru said. “Then I saw unity—America coming together. This is what should happen.”

He paused for a moment, then asked: “Why does a building have to come down for this to happen?”

Understandably, 13th Insight members want their single to go national. But that’s not the only goal.

“I just hope we get enough money to send to the victims,” drummer Jake Thornton said. He wore a shirt emblazoned with an American flag and the words, “America. Together We Stand.”

The single, airing on several local radio stations, should be out by Oct. 1. It will cost $5 and be sold at Mirabelli’s and Tower Records, with all proceeds going to the victims and their families.