Many students at WA have hobbies that are important to them. Whether it be a sport or a club, most students find something that they enjoy. For senior Evan Doherty, this hobby is music.

In the fifth grade, Doherty was introduced to Green Day, an American rock band. After hearing them, Doherty immediately found a liking for their music. In fact, Doherty says their music became a “religion” to him, and he eventually learned how to play the guitar.

Doherty took these newly learned guitar skills and then used them in his first performance, the fifth the grade talent show. Doherty on the guitar, and his friends on the drums, played together. However, this first experience was not one that he looks too fondly upon.

“It was terrible […], a few people actually still remember it and it was really bad because the microphone got feedback twice. It was kind of like a rap, rock kind of stuff […], it was comical,” Doherty said.

From this first experience, Doherty turned it into something positive for himself.

“Sure, I screwed up, but it was cool to be like ‘Hey, I played live’, […] If I screw up what I’m playing live, you just laugh it off and keep going,” Doherty said.

As the years went on, Doherty has stayed involved in music, and has even played in and outside of WA. At school, he played guitar in the jazz band, drums in the pep band, as well as clarinet in the concert band. Outside of school, he started his own band, The Surrealists, where he writes his own music with his bandmates.

In recent months, Doherty and his band have played at several gigs. These gigs included Canobie Lake Park, the Westford farmer’s market, the Davis Square Theater in Somerville, as well as the Battle of the Bands at the yearly Apple Blossom festival.

“I think it is really cool to let everything go loose and just be wild on stage because if you can still play the music and show you’re into it, then people get into it,” Doherty said.

For Doherty, music is something that is in his family, as his father, brother, sister, and even some of his relatives play music to some capacity. Doherty learned all of these instruments from taking guitar lessons, learning the clarinet at school, and even from self teaching himself the drums.

As for the future, Doherty has a big dream for his musical talents.

“My crazy dream goal would be to have a touring band and write music for them, […] and play in festivals, like Wallapalooza, it would be the biggest dream goal to hit. You might not be making a ton of money, but it’s doing something that you actually love and being creative with it,” Doherty said.

Next fall, Doherty will be attending UMass Lowell, where he will major in mechanical engineering and will also minor in music.