St. Petersburg College offers several benefits for students: getting an education that can easily be covered by financial aid and scholarships, several locations for convenience, a smaller setting so students have more one-on-one time with their professors and other students, along with several other factors. But do students know that SPC also offers a wonderful music program? Music schools are hard to get into, and if you are fortunate enough to be accepted you have a huge tuition to pay. Several musicians in the area caught on to this and are taking full advantage of SPC’s benefits along with studying what they’re most passionate about: music!

Meet two bands whose members are from the area: Creatures of Habit and Dysmorpha. Two bands extremely passionate about metal and some of the members of these bands attend SPC.

“[Playing music] always starts off as a hobby,” says Andrew Glunt, guitarist of Creatures of Habit.

Creatures of Habit was formed just this past fall by drummer Jordan Jensen and guitarists Glunt and John Filipazzo, during a typical jam session. When they realized they had something bigger going on, they recruited bassist Patrick Dunwoody and vocalist Michael Palmer. Glunt and Filipazzo state they have been playing guitar for the past seven years and Palmer has been doing his intense, low growls for two and a half years.

“I’ve been playing bass for eight months,” Dunwoody laughs when asked how long he played. “But I’ve been playing guitar for six years.”

How Glunt described his band’s sound: “Death metal. No other, nothing but, no tricks. Death metal.”

(Listen to some of Creatures of Habit‘s tunes here)

Another fast-paced and skilled band is Dysmorpha. Drummer Scott Spasiano received his Associate’s in Arts degree from SPC and was involved in the music program.

“Elementary School I started playing drums and I thought it was pretty fun,” says Spasiano about his drumming past.

Dysmorpha was formed when guitarist Steven Gross received a call from another guitarist who mentioned he was looking for another guitarist to jam with. Gross brought vocalist Brian Black and they met Spasiano when they went to their first band practice. They let their former guitarist go because of personal reasons and added vocalist, saxophone and guitar player Josh Lowe and bassist Jared Smoot. When asked about their sound, Gross replied, “melodic, technical, death metal, experimental, ambient.”

SPC’s smaller setting allows these musicians to meet up, jam together, learn from each other, and grow as musicians. Students can easily learn from their professors, expand their horizons, and use the latest technology in music. Both bands added they benefitted from attending SPC.

“I met a lot of drummers and we bounced ideas off of each other,” says Spasiano. “There is this one teacher, Patrick Hernly. He is an awesome drum teacher and a really cool dude.”

“If you’re a resident of Florida, go to SPC,” says Filipazzo.

“They have a good [music] program,” adds Glunt.

Other than playing in bands, these guys enjoy nothing more than jamming, practicing, and writing new material.

“I’m not in any other groups or anything but I write music when I’m at my house. But Creatures [of Habit] is everything to me,” says Glunt.

“I definitely do a lot of drum solos and am always down to jam,” says Spasiano.

These guys obviously have the motivation, the skill, and the love to make it in the music industry. They enjoy attending SPC and speak positive when SPC is mentioned. So what do they say about future SPC students?

“If you’re a beginner than definitely,” says Filipazzo when asked if future students should attend SPC for their music program. “They have a great beginner’s course.”

(Listen to some of Dysmorpha’s tunes at Soundcloud.)

Whether playing gigs with the band or just practicing on their spare time, these guys are doing what they love and are headstrong on making this their career. With either little knowledge or several years of experience, SPC can be a great preparation for any musician’s future music career.