“Some people never go crazy, what truly horrible lives they must live”—a saying that drummer Ben Hoffman of Nigeria swears to live by. “Good music comes easy, and were all about easy in Nigeria,” states Ben. Nigeria is an international collection of musically talented individuals—and they love all things Nigerian. When asked about the controversial name of their band, guitarist Seth Hoffman simply responded, “Why not? We could be another band with another ‘meaningful’ name but who cares? All that matters is the music, names are superfluous.” The band was formally formed in late 2008, when college-attending members of the group returned for winter break. “We put our demo together in two days,” recalls bassist Andrew McGuire. “I think I may have slept for a total of 3 hours. The amount of music we wrote could make babies cry.” However ridiculous Andrew makes it out to be, writing and recording a two-track demo in two days is an impressive feat to accomplish. “We’ve known each other for years. Playing and writing music together is second nature to us,” describes Ben. Ben, Seth and Andrew played in multiple bands before the formation of Nigeria: The Kavourka, Seth Hoffman and Friends, and Four Trees and A Consultant. What catalyzed the fateful reaction that produced the group Nigeria was the arrival of British member Mike Billingsley. “When Mike came to the states we used to just jam together some afternoons. Nothing serious, but it was always magic…It was a problem because I was already in a formal band,” describes Seth. As Seth and Mike began to coalesce their ideas, dreams of playing in a band together were shattered by one word: college. “Its funny how things worked out. Once we really got into jamming with one another, we were split up across the world. Utter rubbish,” states Mike. He was not exaggerating. Seth ventured to the bitter cold, miles north to Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Mike trekked across the Atlantic to the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom. Andrew journeyed across the states to the University of California in Los Angeles. All the while Ben, a year younger than the others, was left alone in Gaithersburg, Maryland to finish his last year of high school. “It seemed like the end of something that might have been great. A flower bud crushed before it had the chance to blossom,” Seth solemnly recalls. “But, a couple weeks into college Mike and I discovered just how useful the combination of a guitar, an Internet connection, and ‘Skype’ is.” “We would just play bits and pieces of songs we would write in our downtime at college. Throw ideas back and forth. When winter break came around, we knew we had to get a whole group together. Wherever this band goes, we owe it all to the advent of ‘Skype’,” laughs Mike. Their music is a subtle fusion of rock, pop, and a hint of reggae. “We don’t really like to classify our music. Don’t get too comfortable, we might throw you guys a musical curveball just to change it up. Who knows, one of us might be an underground rapper…” dreams Ben jokingly. Their influences? Tenacious D, The Beatles, Bob Marley, The Doors, Peter Tosh, The Police, Queen, The Skatalites, The Who to name a few. “No one knows the future—our personal futures, the future of the band. We can only hope that we can get our music out there and make people excited about it. We love our music, everyone should,” says Andrew. Fortunetellers or not, one thing is certain: watch out for Nigeria. Right now they may be in between “Skype” sessions and practicing in a dank, dark basement that looks like a beach shack. But tomorrow, they could be giging across the nation.