One day,two students at Plainfield North met through the choir and drama department.  One was a freshman and the other was a junior.  They sang and acted together throughout high school, in North’s auditorium.  

Flash forward a few years, and those two students are playing in concert venues across the country, a long way from Plainfield.  

Graduates Ryan Argast and Matthew Gaudiano, are in a pop-punk band named Marina City.  What started out as just a dream, became a reality.

Argast started off as a solo act called Ryan Alan.  He asked Gaudiano to be his piano player after they had been friends for a while. He and the rest of the backup band are what now make up Marina City.  The band also includes Brian Johnson, Eric Somers-Urrea, Aaron Heiy, and Todor Birindjiev.

“I was signed to a production company who wanted to make me the next Justin Bieber.  I wasn’t feeling the music anymore. I wanted to start over and write with my backing band,” said Argast.  

In 2012 they released their first EP called “In The Wake of Dreaming.”  They debuted the EP at a sold out House of Blue show in April of 2012.  After that the band has gained an online following of about 13,100.  They call their fan base The Lost Boys.

“I just wanted people to hear our message when we first started and here we are now, touring and playing shows every night.  My dream come true,” said Gaudiano.

After “In The Wake Of Dreaming,” they didn’t release their next Ep, “Chimera”, for two years.  

“We drafted up a plan and envisioned where we wanted to be. We set goals for each year.  I’m pretty proud to say we have reached every goal we have made for ourselves.  A lot of sleepless nights and hard work,” said Argast.

This past summer they played at the Tinley Park date of Vans Warped Tour.  The date was the largest show of the summer, with attendance nearing 20,000 people.  

“In high school I was always at Warped, so to be one of the bands that got to play was insane, sometimes I still look at the pictures in awe,” said Gaudiano.  

After ending the summer with Warped Tour in late July, the band debuted their newest EP, “Wanderlust” during a release show at Reggies in Chicago.  They recorded Wanderlust with successful producer Casey Bates traveling nearly 6,000 miles to Seattle. Shortly after premiering “Wanderlust” they took off on an East Coast tour called the “It’s So Much Friendlier With…” tour.  

“We did set goals for ourselves I don’t think any of us, in high school, would have believed that we would do; play sold out headlining shows, tour across the country, play a sold out House of Blues, be played on the radio, and play Warped Tour.  We still don’t believe those things happened,” said Argast.

Argast and Gaudiano have made many accomplishments since their days at Plainfield North.  To them Marina City is their job and they will continue to release more music.