The 307 is a local band based outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Members Jake Baringer, Michael Frentzen, and Garrett McKenzie first started this band in 2021. The 307 released their first full album on December 21, 2022, titled “Ignition”. This album includes 10 different tracks that span a variety of styles, while maintaining its foundation of hard rock. The verified band on Spotify has approximately 55 monthly listeners with publicity still growing!
The three teens decided to create a band because they all enjoy playing covers but later decided to create original music. Their music is all self-recorded, produced, and promoted. All members of The 307 have been playing instruments since a young age. McKenzie and Baringer started performing together at school talent shows at Seylar Elementary School. Baringer invited Frentzen to meet McKenzie during the summer of 2021. The 307 consists of two guitarists Frentzen and Baringer, and their drummer McKenzie. Many of their songs aren’t written with a meaning behind them, but according to Baringer, “others are written about specific events.” They first planned to call themselves “The Distorters”, but before becoming a publicly-known band, they came up with the name The 307. The name was created by taking the numerical letter value of their last name, Frentzen 13, Baringer 10, and McKenzie seven. Then, the band ordered these numbers into 307.
Their first single “Blame”, released on November 30, 2022, was written in January 2022 by Baringer, the band’s main songwriter. Then, they released two more singles on December 7, 2022, and December 14, 2022, before the release of the “Ignition” album. The band members’ inspiration behind the name of their debut album came from their love of cars. Ignition means “the start of something” according to Baringer, symbolizing the current state of the band.
According to a student poll, many listeners of the band said their favorite song is “It Was Me”, although “Blame” has received the most streams on Youtube and Spotify. While each member has a preferred style of music they gravitate to, Frentzen says he was proud of “the variety on the album.” Baringer mentioned that he tends to gravitate more towards music like The Black Keys, while McKenzie prefers to listen to heavier rock. This variety can be heard throughout their album, especially in the singles released prior to the full album release.
On February 3, the group made their first breakthrough public appearance in Kehs Hall at Perkiomen School performing their album and covers such as Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana. Over 200 people attended the concert, a lot more than the band had been expecting. Many attendees agreed that The 307’s concert was a success! The band hopes to perform more in the early summer, playing wherever they can, such as in restaurants and outdoor festivals. They enjoy playing together and hope to continue.
Until then, stay updated with the 307. Follow their Instagram: @the_307_official, Youtube: @the307official, and Spotify: The 307. The band is not sure of what the future holds, but in the meantime, Baringer hopes to “make it as big as we can with the time we have”.