Local band The Fretters caters to Ohio State student audience

The Fretters at their Halloween show dressed at the Beatles at Midway Block. Credit: Courtesy of Kaitlan Harlan

Nearly every Wednesday night at campus bar Ethyl and Tank, The Fretters can be found playing popular cover songs for an audience they’ve grown over the past school year.?

Although many of The Fretters had previously been in bands, the idea started with drummer Antonio Vitale, a fourth-year in industrial and systems engineering, finding inspiration in his friend’s name, Finnegan Fretter.?

“In sixth grade, me, my brother and Finn [Fretter] were sitting around the table . . . I said, ‘[Finnegan Fretter is] a funny name. We should have a band one day called Finnegan and the Fretters,’” Vitale said.?

Fretter and Vitale reunited when they were both first-years at Ohio State and lived in the same dorm building. However, with no space to practice, the idea was shelved once more.?

“It never really happened because I didn’t have anywhere to set up all the equipment,” Vitale said.?

Vitale said he moved on to playing in other bands around the Columbus area. He said he realized through these other bands that people enjoyed them more when they played popular songs. He said he then set a goal for himself.?

“I wanted a band with people who were good at their instruments, playing songs people actually wanted to hear,” Vitale said.?

In 2024, at the end of his second year, Vitale finally found a practice space and The Fretters officially formed. He gathered his brother Domenico — an Ohio State alum — on bass, Fretter on vocals and Cameron Weir — a third-year in mechanical engineering — on guitar, then started practicing.?

Vitale said the band began by playing smaller house parties, and they eventually gained popularity.?

“We initially started just kind of playing private parties . . . and then bars started reaching out to us,” Vitale said.?

With Vitale’s brother graduating shortly after the band was formed, they now needed a new bassist. Weir invited Jeremy Frolo, a first-year in music education, from a different band they were in together to join The Fretters.?

“We were in a band together in high school . . . and Jeremy played a lot of instruments; keys, bass and saxophone,” Weir said.?

Vitale met Frolo at a show he was playing at, and he was a part of The Fretters shortly after that.?

“We had a show together . . . [Vitale] was invited to play on that show, and it was mentioned that they needed a bassist,” Frolo said.?

Along with Frolo, the band added two other members after its formation, Ty Jacobs and Jenna Smith on vocals.?

Playing popular songs is an important part of The Fretters setlists, so Vitale said he consulted different Ohio State students living near him to figure out which songs would work and which ones would not.?

“Our neighbors were in a sorority, so if someone suggested a song, I would knock on their door and be like ‘Do you know this song?’” Vitale said. “If they were like ‘Oh my god, I love that song,’ I’m like ‘OK, we’re going to add it,’ and if it was not, I’m like ‘We’re not going to play it.’”?

Weir also said they wanted to play on their own instead of opening for other artists, so they had to come up with a lengthy setlist to fill the time.?

“We realized we wanted to play as the headlining only band playing because we’re setting up all the equipment and it was all our equipment,” Weir said. “So we realized we had to learn two to three hours of music.”?

Another aspect that sets the criteria of their songs is the limitations they have with their equipment. Although Frolo can play the keyboard, he said it is too difficult for the band to set up before every show, so sometimes they have to perform without it.?

“Sometimes we can kind of make do with what [Weir] has, because he can mimic some of the key parts,” Frolo said.?

Although the Fretters are only a cover band now, Vitale said he hopes to write original music in the future.?

“That would be the next step,” Vitale said. “I would really want to do that, and that would probably look different than playing at bars, playing at parties.”

Vitale said there are several challenges that come along with original music, including not being able to play as many popular songs as before.?

“My other bands I’ve been in have been like that, and it’s definitely more annoying,” Vitale said. “Like, getting people to come out and pay to see you, and they don’t know the words to your songs.”?

Another setback is their practices. Vitale, Weir and Frolo are all students at Ohio State, and with demanding classes, they said it can be difficult to manage school and music. Currently a cover band, they are able to practice once all together and are then ready to perform, but Weir said writing original music could change that.?

“Front loading all the songs sophomore year when we first started the band was probably the most heavy lifting I did because I had to learn two-and-a-half-hours of songs, plus keep up with my schoolwork,” Weir said. “But now it’s more of just, I know all the songs already. It’s not preparing more, so just having available time to play.”

With the semester coming to an end, many of The Fretters members will not be in Columbus over the summer. Vitale said, however, the band is very flexible and they hope to get together whenever they can.?

“It would be awesome to play over the summer if we could . . .? This is always something I’ve wanted to do, and I hope that we continue as long as possible,” Vitale said.?

While the band members are still in Columbus, they perform at Ethyl and Tank every Wednesday night. Other information about their future gigs can be found on their Instagram.??