The Lamont School of Music produces a lot of talented musicians, six of whom came together a few years ago and formed a band. Their moniker? Judith Hindle.
In the spring quarter of their freshman year, the now seniors Jess Maltzman, bass and vox, studying recording and production, and Ava Bross, vox, studying music performance formed the alternative indie band.
“[Bross and I] were transfer students here at DU, and were roommates randomly placed together, and just became the best-est of friends,” said Maltzman. “We wanted to start a band.”
The two have been a dynamic duo ever since. Bross and Maltzman held private meetings at the dining hall looking for potential bandmates for Judith Hindle. They’ve since added four additional members from the Lamont School of Music to complete the ensemble. The band also includes Silvia Miller, guitar and vox, Ben Wojnarowski, guitar, Kevin Ostrowski, keyboard and Bryson Miller on drums.
Miller graduated last year with a performance major for classical guitar, and is pursuing her master’s in classical guitar performance at Lamont. She was the first member to be scouted by Bross and Maltzman, who took interest in her classical guitar-playing skills.
“We hadn’t really met Silvia yet,” said Maltzman. “We’d seen her in the halls and we were like, ‘we know she plays classical guitar… [and] she’s just so cool, we want her in our band.’”
The rest of the band members came together quickly after Miller joined. They took the time to practice together and develop as a band before playing shows at and around the University of Denver campus.
“Spring quarter freshman year, we hadn’t played any shows yet. We were just kind of figuring out how we worked as a band, getting some songs all together,” Maltzman stated. “Then, we had our first show in October.”
Many more shows have followed suit, ranging from D3 and the Skylark Lounge — their most recent show — to the Marquis and Levitt Pavilion, a result of winning the annual DU Battle of the Bands hosted by DUPB. Judith Hindle dropped their newest track, “The Clock,” just over a week after their outing at the Skylark Lounge on Feb. 12.
“We do everything ourselves,” Maltzman said. “Half of us, myself included, are in recording and production. You know, we just kind of experiment until we find what we like.”
Maltzman mixed and mastered the track. In the final mix of the song, she included a beautifully heart-warming addition to the bridge: a voicemail from her mom during her first week at DU.
“I think for the band as a whole, we have a very nostalgic pull,” Maltzman explained. “I was mixing the song and I was like, ‘I don’t know what I can add here.’ I spent two hours going through and listening to every single voicemail I had because I wanted it to be authentic. I listened to that voicemail and I was like, ‘Holy sh*t. It’s perfect!.’”
And perfect it was. Though that specific part of the bridge isn’t included in the music video accompanying the track, don’t let that discourage you from basking in its nostalgic, prom-themed charm.
“It involved us breaking into a high school at four in the morning,” Maltzman half-joked. “It’s so beautiful and so gorgeous. It fits very well with the meaning of the song as well. There are a ton of DU students that are in the music video, which is really cool.”
“Extra shoutout to the photography and film students who helped us,” Miller added. They acknowledged Emily Maiwat and Delaney Pascuzzo as important assets to their project.
“All of it was just one big group effort that I think we are all very proud of,” said Miller.
Maltzman and Miller announced that an album is in the works titled “Garden Youth,” which they plan to release sometime this spring. The album will feature “The Clock” and an assortment of genre-blending songs, a few of which have already been released on streaming platforms.
Be on the lookout for more from Judith Hindle this spring. In the meantime, enjoy “The Clock” when you’re off it.
