Skyhawk Drive
Hear it Now
The road to a successful career in music can be long and difficult. Luckily for the members of Skyhawk Drive, there's a direct route with their name on it. "Skyhawk Drive is a street name down the road. One day we drove past it and said, 'That would sound cool.' Now people take pictures next to it," said lead singer and guitarist Ronnie Bingaman. Like locating their band name, pursuing a career in music was natural for Bingaman and his brother Ridge who plays the keyboard and piano. "I come from a musical family. My brother, who is also in the band, [and me] have always been around music."
Both brothers began playing instruments in middle school. Ronnie started taking trumpet lessons and took up guitar. Even before he was in high school, his destination was set, "I knew I wanted to be in a band someday after I went to a Skillet concert." When Ronnie was in high school, gears shifted and he took his songwriting skills for a spin. "I had an assignment where I had to write a song and create a music video about a book I read," said Bingaman.
So, it was Animal Farm by George Orwell that started his journey down Skyhawk Drive. "It was pretty fun, so we said, 'Hey let's just keep doing stuff like this," he explained about his project. In 2006, when Bingaman was in eleventh grade, he formed his band Slap Dash, a pit stop on the way to his current pop-rock band which officially formed a year ago with his brother Ridge, his high school friend Chad Smith, who plays bass, and drummer Josh Swartz, a friend they met at a youth conference for church. The band counts Reliant K, Hawk Nelson, All Time Low and Forever the Sickest Kids as influnces.
Now the band is in overdrive after recording their first EP, Center Stage Shout Out and singing a manager. The band also released their first music video for "Their Dance Their Chance." Based in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, Skyhawk Drive plays "sporadic shows," but plans to go on a national tour and record a full-length album in 2011. "Being able to share our stuff," added Bingaman, "is the coolest thing the world." —Christa Fletcher
Both brothers began playing instruments in middle school. Ronnie started taking trumpet lessons and took up guitar. Even before he was in high school, his destination was set, "I knew I wanted to be in a band someday after I went to a Skillet concert." When Ronnie was in high school, gears shifted and he took his songwriting skills for a spin. "I had an assignment where I had to write a song and create a music video about a book I read," said Bingaman.
So, it was Animal Farm by George Orwell that started his journey down Skyhawk Drive. "It was pretty fun, so we said, 'Hey let's just keep doing stuff like this," he explained about his project. In 2006, when Bingaman was in eleventh grade, he formed his band Slap Dash, a pit stop on the way to his current pop-rock band which officially formed a year ago with his brother Ridge, his high school friend Chad Smith, who plays bass, and drummer Josh Swartz, a friend they met at a youth conference for church. The band counts Reliant K, Hawk Nelson, All Time Low and Forever the Sickest Kids as influnces.
Now the band is in overdrive after recording their first EP, Center Stage Shout Out and singing a manager. The band also released their first music video for "Their Dance Their Chance." Based in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, Skyhawk Drive plays "sporadic shows," but plans to go on a national tour and record a full-length album in 2011. "Being able to share our stuff," added Bingaman, "is the coolest thing the world." —Christa Fletcher
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