Runaround, in 2025, from left to right: Hamilton, Esler, Doyle, Quirk, Phillips, Holford, Newsom, and Berry.
Courtesy | SAB

Students pressed up against a crowd rail. On stage, a group of nervous sophomores readied their instruments. Neon lights flashed, smoke filled the air, and the lead singer, now-senior Daniel Doyle, clutched his microphone and shouted: “All Aboard!” 

The barricade rattled as students pounded it and cheered. Runaround, the last band to perform at Centralhallapalooza in 2024, launched into its set with “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne. 

“I was banging the stage on rhythm, because I just got a huge surge of adrenaline,” Doyle said. “I was banging to the sound of the kick drum. And I legit thought I broke my hand because I was hitting it really hard.” 

Runaround, an all-senior band, could perform at its final CHP later this month if it earns a spot at this year’s CHP Showdown on April 10, from 8 p.m. to midnight at the Phi Sig Pavillion.   The seniors have played at the past two CHPs. With Doyle and Rachel Dunphey as the band’s lead singers, Mikey Berry on violin, Joel Esler on trumpet, Jake Hamilton on piano, Jeremy Holford on drums, Judah Newsom and Ezra Phillips on guitar, and Aidan Quirk on bass, the band’s last run could mark a three-peat.

“It’ll be a nice way to kind of cap off senior year and the Hillsdale experience altogether,” Esler said. “This is a really special group of guys, and I was very lucky to be a part of it, and I’m gonna definitely miss playing with them.”

They formed the band as freshmen in Simpson Residence in the spring of 2023 for Simpson Date Party, according to Doyle. Initially, they called their band One Night Band.

“We kind of just formed on a whim,” Doyle said. “We knew Ezra played guitar, we knew Jeremy drummed, we knew Mikey and Jake played instruments. Joel was one of our friends. He played trumpet. We knew Quirk played bass. So we collected together, and then we played a gig, and we really liked playing with each other.”

JUMP

Doyle said when the set went well at Simpson Date Party, they decided to continue playing as a band at student events in the fall semester. They toyed with the band names “Fling” and “Date Party Band” before settling on Runaround, according to Quirk and Doyle. 

“We’re all very busy, and we all do our own various different things on campus, so it’s been very difficult to organize sometimes,” Quirk said. “So when we do organize, we’ll show up at different times. So we say we’re gonna meet at 7:45, and we plan to start practice around 8:15.” 

Phillips said at his freshman CHP, he wondered if the newly formed band could play the following year. 

“That was our whole goal,” Esler said. “The whole year leading up to CHP Showdown, that date was circled, and we almost missed it.” 

The band almost forgot to sign up for CHP Showdown in 2024, Doyle said. 

Throughout their years at Hillsdale, the Runaround guys have played at other major campus events such as Battle of the Bands, Jukebox, and Olds Glow. They hope to play their last set at Centralhallapalooza April 25. 

“At this point to have been the Simpson Date Party band, and then be one of the rising bands, and now be for all intents and purposes the band on campus, to have this be our last big set is just gonna be amazing,” Phillips said. 

Phillips said instead of feeling sad about the bands that are leaving after graduation, younger students should start forming their own groups to carry on band culture. 

“There’s gonna be a bit of a hole after this year, but I think it’s something that this campus can definitely fill,” Phillips said. “It’s gonna be amazing to see who takes that mantle up.”