“Welcome to Clayton High School.”

Dr. Guchewsky stood outside the glass doors of CHS, saying hello to all the freshmen walking into the high school for the very first time. Everyone was walking into orientation in groups, threes, or pairs. Everyone, that is, except for David Hess.

Hess had moved to St. Louis just three months earlier, right after school let out in his hometown of El Paso, Texas. “It was a long drive, took about two days,” he said of the move, “when I got to St. Louis I was really bored because I didn’t know anyone until school started.”

But after school started, Hess quickly made a bunch of new friends, including Abraham Park, Tony Lee and Nick Parker, all freshmen who would eventually come together and decide to form a band.

It all started on August 13, 2012: Freshmen Orientation. “This kid started talking to me and he introduced me to one of his friends [who] was as into music as I was,” Hess said, “then we started hanging [out] during school, we chilled at my house, and we started talking about music and he said he always wanted to start a band, and since I had a band back in El Paso, we both decided to make [one].”

The band back in Texas was called Run This Through. He described the experience as “a bumpy ride” because of all the problems they had to deal with, but it was ultimately really fun and something he’ll never forget.

Now he’s in Page Avenue with the boys from CHS. When asked where the name “Page Avenue” came from, he said he was riding with his sister once and passed Page Ave. Something he really liked about the street was the bridge, he found it beautiful. A second reason (which really made him decide on the name) was that a band that really inspires him, Story of the Year, had a debut album called Page Avenue. So Hess figured that the name would work well for the band he was starting at CHS.

“We all have a different taste in music.”  Those words could sound like trouble, but Page Avenue turned it into an opportunity, creating a unique sound that combined all their tastes and that they all liked.

“Music is something I love so much, I love the smooth and calm kind of music, [actually] it depends on the mood I am [in], I mainly listen to soft music and post-hardcore music. It’s hard for me to explain why I love it so much.”

Page Avenue is coming out with an EP soon and will eventually start booking some shows (possibly some at CHS) in the future.