A Natick High School grad’s 11th-hour decision led to a big win this past May in the Rock ’n’ Roll Rumble, a Greater Boston battle of the bands that can catapult victors to greater visibility and success. 

George Danahy, NHS class of 2020, found the Rumble application the night before the submission deadline. He threw together the application, including creating a cheap website for the band, between the hours of 9 p.m. and midnight. 

Eventually, Danahy’s late-night cramming paid off. Despite barely expecting to get to semifinals, Danahy’s band, The Ghouls, won the entire competition. 

The Ghouls are made up of four UMass Lowell music students; three of the members just graduated. Danahy handles vocals and guitar for the group, and is joined by Peter Trainor on guitar, Jacob Babcock on bass, and Bryce Maher on drums. Danahy describes The Ghouls’ sound as hook-driven alt rock or power pop, influenced by The Strokes, The Cure, and Weezer. 

How did The Ghouls go from a new band at college to winning the Rumble? “I barely know the answer myself,” Danahy laughed. 

Danahy himself developed his musical abilities early on at School of Rock Natick, which he loved attending. He especially valued being able to perform often and with a group of people who knew what they were doing. In his last year there, Danahy got into the School of Rock AllStars. 

As a group, The Ghouls started out playing in basements in Lowell, and slowly began getting more gigs through Instagram DMs. Even though The Ghouls did not originally expect to win the Rumble, they thought the competition would be a good opportunity to meet people in the Boston area and to shift their focus from Lowell to Boston. 

After the response they got on the first night of the Rumble, however, The Ghouls realized they might have a shot. 

Part of this response came from Danahy’s dynamic stage presence.

“When I play guitar live, I have the most fun when I kind of shut my brain off and [think] ‘All right, what would be fun now?’” Danahy said. 

For example, when Danahy sees a chair on stage—or a very large speaker that he probably shouldn’t stand on—he stands on it. 

“If I’m having fun, generally that kind of stuff is contagious,” Danahy continued. 

During the competition, The Ghouls played it safe with their set, performing what they thought the audience would most enjoy. For them, this was mainly originals. The Ghouls only have only one song, “Hellbound,” out now, but they have an hour and a half of music written. 

Winning the Rumble has changed things for the band in many ways, including getting studio time as part of their prize. They have been scheduling as much studio time as possible, hoping to finish recording by the end of the summer and release new music in the fall. 

The Ghouls have also been receiving far more gig offers since winning the competition. 

“If we really wanted to, we could be booked virtually every weekend,” Danahy said. “Which is cool, but it’s also a little bit stressful at some points. I have a chance to always basically live and breathe this band and I’m not. Sometimes I want to leave space so I can let the other aspects of the band grow.”

For example, Danahy likes to set aside some of his weekends off to write a new song or just hang out with the band. 

The Ghouls currently have a ‘you only live once’ attitude when it comes to the band. They are treating the group like a second job, and would be very happy if it became a full-time thing. They are still gauging the extent to which that is possible, but they all want it and will keep working for it and taking the opportunities they have. 

“Everyone is very invested, and we’re all going at it with the attitude of ‘how far can we push it?’” Danahy said. 

To stay tuned about The Ghouls’ next haunts, follow them on Instagram, where they post most of their gigs, and keep up with them on Spotify and on their website. 

Reach out to natickreport@gmail.com for possible concert & festival coverage

More: Beyond Natick: Boston Calling ’23 music festival recap