New Band High Speed Brakes Performs at The Mill

Bella Chirkis ’27

Staff Writer

This past Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, The Mill, in collaboration with Trinity’s radio station, WRTC, entertained a large group of Trinity College students with student-run performances, including a new band called High Speed Brakes. The band opened the concert for another student-run band called Fat Morgan.

In the opening performance, High Speed Brakes performed a variety of songs that they have been perfecting since the fall semester, including their hardest cover yet, “Something” by The Beatles. The band played songs ranging from “Boys Don’t Cry” by The Cure to “Lovefool” by The Cardigans and will play their own original music in the near future. The band gained many positive reactions from the crowd, increasing The Mill’s popularity as a fun and exciting place for students to spend their Friday night. The band’s high quality performances are causing them to receive multiple new offers from a variety of organizations to play for them. High Speed Brakes formed this past semester, and I was lucky enough to get to speak with Victoria Camuy ’27, lead singer, about the process.

Before Victoria got to college, she made a list of things that she wanted to do and complete during this pivotal change in her life. Once Victoria came to Trinity from Chicago, she had the idea of wanting to start a band. At first, it started as a joke, going up to students during orientation week and asking them if they played an instrument and wanted to join her band, jokingly learning about the talents of her peers while connecting with people and making new friends. The process became real when she met Emeline Avignon ’24, singer and guitarist, on Quest, sitting by the fire and talking about both of their passions for music. Until finally, they came to the conclusion that they wanted to actually start a band, and they fully launched the idea together. Before they knew it, they had recruited Robert Switek ’27, guitarist, and Max Campbell ’27, drummer, for their band, and High Speed Brakes was formed.

During each rehearsal, the band warms up by playing a song that they already know and have learned and then work on new songs for their setlist. The band writes their own music as well and are hoping to release their first EP in the near future. The members of High Speed Brakes became very close friends, and they hang out outside of their rehearsal time in order to ensure that their time at The Mill is the most effective. Although each of the members practice individually, their time is focused on how they spend it as a band and how they work together.

High Speed Brakes has an upcoming show at The Mill on February 17 for a Valentine’s Day special, and hope to have a similar outcome as they did this past Friday. “The Mill is such an accepting place and we love going and playing for our friends,” Camuy states. You can find @highspeedbrakes on Instagram to keep up with their performances and listen to new music brought to you by your peers.