UHart Talent: Meet Roseate

J.P. Simmons, Staff Writer

Roseate is a musical trio that has been a part of the University of Hartford’s music scene for about a year and a half. Since they came together in 2016, they have released their own music, gained a following, and have played in various places in the region to expand their ever-growing audience.

The band, made up of guitarist/vocalist Kevin Henson, bassist Trevor Okonuk, and drummer Joe Lutter, first met during their freshmen year of college at Uhart in 2016.

“Kevin and I met through being audio majors back when we were freshmen at the University of Hartford. We had a bunch of classes together,” said Trevor.

He added, “I met Joe…and we started talking bands. He was in a lot of bands, and I later realized that he was really good friends with Kevin and through Kevin, I became even closer to Joe. We talked more about bands and bands and then it came to the end of the first semester of freshmen year and we said, ‘We should do a band”.

“Joe and Trevor are big metalheads […] and I grew up listening to a lot of post-punk…and that kind of evolved into just listening to anything weird,” said Kevin.

About their band’s sound, Kevin said it is “A lot of post-hardcore, specifically.” Trevor agreed while adding that Roseate are skilled at using effects as part of their unique sound with, “We definitely have a touch of shoegaze […]” Trevor also described the band’s sound as “[…] loud, sad, and also angry, and pretty”.

The band has already made inroads with recording music. Last year, they released their self-titled EP, Roseate, and earlier this year, they released their first LP, titled Wiltaway, which contained the single “Wet Leaves.”

They have played at Uhart’s own Hawk’s Nest a couple times and they also displayed their musical abilities onstage during this year’s most recent Spring Fling back in April.

About the band’s future, Kevin remarked that, “We have an EP that we’re planning […] We have a lot of plans for next year that we wanna keep, a bit, under wraps […] But, I think our overall goal is to connect with more people, and play with more bands, and listen to more music, and include more people”.

Trevor added, “We definitely have a lot of plans for 2019…it will be a year for us.”

Everyone can check out Roseate’s music out on Bandcamp, Spotify, iTunes, TIDAL, and Apple Music. People can also check out Roseate’s social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.