Pitter Patter’s music matters – a DIY tale of local college radio

Originally published in Pittsburgh Independent print issue #1, June 7, 2023.

Pittsburgh college radio is on the lookout for DIY talent and giving bands the platform they need to succeed in the steel city music scene. Pitter Patter, a local indie-pop group, jumped on that pedestal–and it’s paying off.

The University of Pittsburgh’s WPTS 92.1 has taken a large step into the world of do-it-yourself music through college band showcases and NPR’s Tiny Desk-esque live studio sessions.

“It showcases the artists that make Pittsburgh special,” said WPTS Music Director Mina Beach. “The whole point of WPTS is to give small artists a voice and a platform while giving the listener something they haven't heard before.”

Beach said that WPTS has hosted showcases since the ’90s and uploaded the recorded sets to YouTube for over a decade, providing the world with a varied database of Pittsburgh artists.

WPTS’s vision, Beach said, is to “enrich our audience and our community by providing the best emerging and underrepresented content of any independent media outlet.” Pitter Patter held the honor of a WPTS live studio session earlier this year. 

Singing and playing guitar, you have Seth Berkin, who bandmates call “the breathing heart of Pitter Patter, the puppeteer to the puppets.” A bubbly person, who even if you don’t remember the name, will remember how they made you feel.

Brian Ihejurobi holds down the groove behind the kit and trust me, you can’t wipe a smile off this guy's face, and I don’t think he could let go of a beat if he tried. Brian, the youngest of them, embodies Pitter Patter’s chaotic-good vibe in body and music. 

On lead guitar, you have the bad boy Alex Fallon, colloquially known as just Fallon. His bandmates credit him with bringing ideas to life, and while Fallon may seem reserved on the outside, that guitar starts talking the minute he steps on stage. Fallon’s counterpart, Ben Cohen, or Benji as the PP gang knows him, lives for that rhythm guitar. Fallon calls him the silent assassin.

Dave Connuck produces some serious four-string magic playing bass for the band. The newest member of the band isn’t shy to jump on any structure in the middle of a set and let people hear him. He is sometimes known as “Nuck,” and simply put, Nuck is the funk. “Dave’s possessed,” said Nina Santucci, who is on keys for Pitter Patter. Even though she is confined to the keys she always manages, in some way, to be dancing. 

Pitter Patter’s live session at WPTS was hit by the DIY bug, but it was nothing the crew couldn’t take in stride–Brian broke the fucking kick drum.

“I looked down at the head and it was completely broken, the kick pedal had penetrated the drum head and I couldn't get any sound from it,” Brian said. 

It wasn’t long before the rest of the group realized this wasn’t going to be a normal recording session. 

“I noticed this weird whooshing sound making noise. Where's it coming from?” Fallon said. 

Once he noticed, Fallon, Benji, and Brian flipped the kick drum around while the rest of the band played one of their slower songs, “Full Circle.” They had to do this in complete silence as well, being live on the air. 

Hiccups aside, Pitter Patter got their chance to strut their stuff on live radio and they brought their best, just like hundreds of other Pittsburgh bands yearn to do every day.

“I think we did a really good job of persevering, just thinking on the fly and powering through,” Seth said.

I tuned into Pitter Patter’s live hour, and the band as well as WPTS made these mistakes nearly inconceivable. The band was frickin’ tight. Things can always go better, and music is no exception. It’s about how you roll with the punches. 

This February, Pitter Patter played a WPTS-sponsored College Rocks! showcase at Bottlerocket Social Hall in Allentown. My band, Social Haul, played on the same bill. 

The showcase at Bottlerocket gave me some perspective on why things not going to plan is okay, and why getting the platform to perform live makes it all worth it.

The band I play in has been a thing since my 22-year-old friends and I were in middle school. I wasn’t a part of the group until the fall of 2021, but the lead singer Rich Krausa and the lead guitarist Aidan Marsh were founding members. Throw in our long-time friend and drummer James Lang and you have concocted the four-piece indie-alternative group Social Haul. 

We started playing South Pittsburgh church picnics and other small music venues around the city in early high school, but in recent years, we have been playing larger venues, with this show we played at Bottlerocket being our most important to date in my opinion. 

I work at Bottlerocket as a bar manager, and being a part of a platform that promotes and showcases local bands is important to me. I know I'm biased, but I see firsthand the effort and care the staff puts into curating a memorable experience for concertgoers as well as musicians. Now all we need is a bunch more venues to generate some serious scene currencies in the years to come.

“Back in my day, I played Bottlerocket Social Hall,” I’ll say, swaying in my rocking chair in 60 years. “I remember when Iron City was only four dollars.”

Opening up for local powerhouse Pitter Patter, combined with the pressure of playing in front of both friends and coworkers, is a recipe for fuck ups, and boy did I do that. A plethora of missed and wrong notes and general stage blunders plagued my performance. No amount of Iron City could have quenched my nerves that night. 

“You know, we had a few hiccups but what band doesn't have a few hiccups?” Rich said, and he raises a good point. Shit happens, and you know what, we didn’t stop, we never let it get to us. We are doing cool shit, and people are recognizing that by being here. 

“Holy shit,” I thought, as I became self-aware mid-set, “I am on a stage playing music for people right now, and I think they’re liking it. I could totally chug this beer in the middle of the song.” 

Chug I did, and the people cheered. 

Seeing the crowd dancing and enjoying the music we created made me realize at that moment that we as a band have been given an opportunity–one that few bands who start in garages get. We had been given the platform to be seen and stoke the fire of the music scene, which for around 30 minutes in February of 2023 was at our fingertips, and WPTS was largely responsible. 

Pitter Patter made the most of that opportunity and rocked the hilltop that night, and no one could bring them down. 

“We wanted to embrace our personality on stage, and let's make sure we're not just being musicians, but performers as well, and to be as memorable as possible,” Seth said talking about Pitter Patter’s WPTS set at Bottlerocket. “What I remember the most from that show is picking up a pocket full of confetti and throwing it during our song "Dream Catcher," which was super pizzazzy of me.”

Memorable, the show was. The crowd couldn’t get enough of Seth and the rest of the band for their entire set. For one moment, I thought Bottlerocket was going to blast off to the moon. 

“The audience was lively,” Dave added, “It’s a beautiful thing honestly, the way the scene comes together. They're not just going to show up–they’re going to show out.”