The Serendipitous Formation Of Syth, STL-based ‘Wizard Rock’ Band

Syth isn’t just the last four letters of the street, Forsyth, but a house of memories and a band full of rocking, creative guys. 

Syth is made up of four WashU students– Xander Georgoulis ‘26, Carlos Pena ‘26, Maxwell Mitchell ‘27, and Mark Jennings ‘27.

Xander, lead vocalist, credited Carlos, guitarist, for Syth’s formation when he spontaneously signed the group up to perform for the WashU Architecture Formal on March 26th, 2025. The boys recently played the same event, marking the band's one year anniversary. 

Maxwell, bassist, discussed Syth’s fortuitous formation.

“I just really wanted to jam with some of the closest guys I know. What’s beautiful about WashU is that you meet so many different people, and we all have very different musical backgrounds, and I think that’s really what makes the band work is how we just all melt together.”

“I had no idea that this was what was going to come out of living with these guys, but it just organically happened to form that way, and it’s been a solid almost two years,” Maxwell said. 

Mark, drummer, shared that he played when he was much younger, but only picked it up again after coming to WashU and meeting his best friends with similar musical visions. 

The house has deep roots in WashU football tradition, being passed down through previous players and now to its current residents.

“We did a little re-vamp, and now it’s something totally unique to us, and it’s never been in this light before,” Carlos said. 

Confining Syth’s music to one category is a challenge, as their songs have a wide range and diverse incorporation of different genres. 

Carlos and Maxwell study jazz guitar, both having music minors. Carlos shared how some of his musical preferences influence his work as a guitarist. 

“Max and I both study jazz guitar; we’re both music minors. I love the 90’s era of rock and roll, like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Alice in Chains. I sort of try to emulate that in my guitar playing, but it always comes off different because it’s a fusion of all that.”

“When I got into playing the guitar, it was all kinds of just singing in bluegrass, pretty simple stuff, but more country, folky, bluesy. I think Mark and I were able to sit together and jam out because he had more of a jazzy, bluesy kind of influence and rhythmically it synced well,” Maxwell said.

Maxwell discussed how Mark and his tastes in music differ from Carlos’ and Xander's, shaping Syth’s complex and thematically unique music. 

“It’s been very interesting to see how that fusion works with Carlos and Xander’s more grungey, ‘90s era musical styles. It’s really hard to pinpoint exactly where our music falls under a category, but maybe grungey psychedelic fusion with a hint of jazz,” Maxwell said.

Much like the band’s origins, their songwriting process follows an organic flow. 

“It’s really interesting how things unfold because we never have a plan going in. We never sit down like ‘alright, let’s write a song about this or this, and we want it to sound like this.’ It just happens,” Carlos said. 

“Everybody has something different to contribute. I predominantly play bass, but sometimes I think of chords, and sometimes Xander will think of something cool to play on bass or guitar,” Maxwell said. 

While the band primarily performs covers during parties and small bar gigs, they are in the process of writing an EP right now and anticipate its release this semester. 

“I just want to get that done, put it out on Spotify, get people listening to what we really do and what we have to offer, like the musical spirit of WashU. I think it’s going to be really special and be remembered for a long time,” Carlos said. 

One of the band’s most unique shows goes back to a performance for Sam Fox students’ senior 

capstone project. Maxwell described the show as a huge milestone for the band, where they debuted their first-ever original song, “Bei.”

“It was about an hour-long show because there were visual installations and auditory immersions. It was like an avant-garde art experience, and that was really cool to expand our boundaries,” Xander shared.

Maxwell credits his favorite memory with the band to a show they performed at Vintage Wine Bar.  

The band recently performed for Strike’s Halloween party on October 25th, 2025, and the Strike Crush Party on February 12th, 2026.   

The members also live with WashU student Andrew McCarthy ‘26, who serves as the band’s informal manager, having designed the band logo and website, as well as running their Instagram. 

Syth is currently working with support from STRIKE to promote their band to WashU students in hopes of being the student opener for WILD (Walk In Lay Down). The student band preference form, available soon, will hopefully garner enough votes for Syth to play at WashU’s annual spring WILD concert.

Strike Out,

Written by: Natalia Jamula

Edited by: Harrison Arons, Eleanor Bare

Strike STL