Local youth band with big dreams performs at Seattle’s MoPOP
Before 2022, Eastlake students Noah Yo and Isaac St. Aubin, both 16, had no experience playing music, but that did not stop them from wanting to start a band. Nearly three years later, on Feb. 8, 2025, Yo and St. Aubin, together with their five-member rock band, Pruett, took the stage in Seattle at the Museum of Pop Culture’s (MoPOP) Sound Off! event, an annual program featuring selected groups of local youth musicians.
In 2023, Yo was in the audience at Sound Off!, and he recognized musicians from Pilot Seat, another local youth band. Even though Pruett was still in its early stages, Yo said he immediately aspired for his band to “get to that level one day.”
After hearing about the event from Yo, St. Aubin was inspired by how much a youth band could accomplish.
“[Pilot Seat] [was] similarly aged, yet so much talent, and we had the confidence that we could possess that too,” St. Aubin said.
However, it would take years of hard work and perseverance before Pruett stepped into the spotlight at MoPOP.
In 2022, after sharing just a single class in middle school, Yo felt an unexplainable pull to pursue music with St. Aubin, despite neither having any experience. That summer, Yo approached St. Aubin and pitched the idea of forming a band. St. Aubin agreed immediately and took his first guitar lesson the following week.
“I originally just had the idea throughout 7th grade that I wanted to do music with Isaac, for not really any particular reason but that I thought he was the dude to do music with,” Yo said.
Yo and St. Aubin are both lead singers and guitarists for Pruett. Over the years, the band gained a saxophonist, a bassist, and a drummer, all students at Eastlake.
Besides finding band members and learning to play music, Pruett discovered that booking and playing shows are two equally important obstacles to being a successful group. They were patient, though, and played their first show last year.
In late 2024, after several months of practicing their instruments, learning songwriting, and grasping the logistics of running a band, Pruett finally felt prepared to audition for MoPOP’s Sound Off! They submitted a recording and hoped for the best.
St. Aubin was careful to acknowledge the risk that they might fail, but he knew the reward would be worth it.
“We had the courage to audition for MoPOP. If we were more stubborn, obviously, we wouldn’t have received the opportunity to play. But, of course, being realistic is also huge. If we didn’t receive said chance, we aren’t allowed to be upset,” he said.
And to the band’s delight, their risk paid off.
“[We] didn’t really expect us to get accepted, but when we did, we all freaked out and were so excited,” Yo said.
For Pruett, their Sound Off! performance marks a milestone in their confidence as musicians.
“Everyone in the crowd [was] chanting ‘Pruett’ as we were taking our equipment off,” St. Aubin said. “I can’t believe we made that happen.”
To learn more about Pruett’s music, visit their website.
