Patrick Matey is a sweater-wearing, guitar-playing indie hipster. Tom Garwig is a laid-back bass player that enjoys Black Sabbath and a cold brew. Zack Scocchera is a guitarist-turned-drummer who just “goes with the flow.” This unlikely trio is the Youngstown-based band, Trojan Horse.
The band began in the mind of Matey, who had the desire to start a two-piece group with Scocchera in December 2012.
“I wanted to start a two-piece band. … It’s easier when there are only two people to please. I had just finished playing with Knowledge Dropout and was looking for something new,” Matey said. “I was into the two-piece sound of Japandroids, who could create extreme amounts of depth with just two people. … I liked that. I knew of Zack [Scocchera] at this point, but didn’t know him well. I called him up and said I was looking for a drummer. A week later he came and I showed him some of my music, it clicked, and there was the beginning of Trojan Horse.”
Scocchera said that he remembers the night Matey proposed forming Trojan Horse relatively clearly.
“Pat called me when I returned from Toledo. He said he wanted me to play drums in a two piece band,” Scocchera said. “I usually play guitar, but I said I’d join. To be honest, I just really wanted to play drums in a band. I had never done it before until now.”
Matey said after a few live shows, he became aware that the band didn’t sound complete. That was right before Garwig spotted them at a local show and insisted he be a member of the group.
“I just happened to be at the show that night. I heard them play and it didn’t flow quite right — like it was missing something. I approached Pat after the set and asked to join the band as a bassist,” Garwig said. “I knew I could add what they needed. I played with them one night soon after and I’ve been playing with them ever since.”
Garwig said the band members really didn’t know much about each other in the early days of Trojan Horse.
“All I knew was that Pat and I had the same birthday, and one day in [Boardman] high school, he approached me and said, ‘Hey, I’m not emo anymore. I’m indie now.’ That’s really it,” he said. “Zack and I only knew each other through the Ukrainian people in our schools. We smoked weed in a car at a mutual Ukrainian kid’s party while listening to the album ‘Loveless’ by My Bloody Valentine.”
Not too much has changed between the members in the two years that the group has been together, according to Scocchera.
“We are all completely different people. I mean, look at us. The only thing we really have in common is that we like the same music,” Scocchera said. “Pat works at Pizza Joe’s and is a sociology major. I work full time at a prosthetics factory and study political science and economics. Tom doesn’t go to school and works full time. I don’t know how it works, it just does.”
According to Matey, Trojan Horse will continue to progress as a band and make new music, possibly with another member. Plans have been made to record new songs for another EP, as well as increasing their number of live shows.
“We are thinking of adding another guitar player,” Matey said. “I don’t know — that’s a maybe. We want to continue playing what gigs we can. All I know is we like making music, so we are going to keep doing it and experimenting with different styles and sounds. Shows will be played, songs will be written. … As long as we all like where Trojan Horse is going, we’re going to keep doing it.”
