Courtesy of 17o1 Records

From its start in a first-year common room to two performances at Spring Fling, Strictly Platonic has become a campus staple. For four years, the group has been swaying students across campus with captivating performances and heartwarming pop-rock originals. 

The band started when lead singer Audrey Hempel ’25 and keyboardist Keith Bruce ’25 met during a first year math class. One thing led to another, and the pair was joined by guitarists James Licato ’25 and William Min ’25, bassist Declan Finn ‘26 and drummer Hugo Lehrach ’26. Since then, the group of six has performed in a New York City dance club, signed with Yale’s student-run record label, 17o1 Records, and released their own studio album, “Superpositions.”

“Wrapping up is very very bittersweet,” Hempel said. “It was something that I’ve literally been involved with since freshman fall, so it’s really been kind of indivisible from my experience at Yale.” 

Now, as four of the members of the band prepare to graduate, the end of Strictly Platonic at Yale has arrived. 

However, Hempel said she plans to pursue a musical career and will move to Los Angeles to continue writing music and performing.

“The band completely changed that trajectory,” Hempel said in regards to her career plans. “I don’t think I would have ever had the confidence or realized how deeply passionate I was about [songwriting] without having started the band.” 

Min said he plans to continue writing with Hempel online, whilst relocating to Uppsala, Sweden, to pursue a master’s degree in machine learning. Looking back on everything Strictly Platonic has accomplished, he mentioned that it was “really special” to see how much the music has changed while still remaining true to their sound. 

“Over a break we all got together and did a tier list of our songs,” Min told the News. “I’d forgotten about some of them, and seeing the variety of moods and flavors was a lot of fun.”

Licato will also be going to graduate school at Stanford University, where he will study chemical engineering. 

As someone with limited prior musical experience, he said the group showed him how simple songwriting could be. “Now I know that you can write music with really just a bass line.” With this understanding and more confidence in his musical abilities, Licato plans to continue writing music as well. 

Bruce said he felt sentimental about the group’s disbandment. 

“Like Audrey, I’ve been a part of the band since freshman fall … It’s gonna leave a big hole in my life,” he told the News. 

Reminiscing on the creation of “Superpositions,” which took hours of work in the studio, Bruce also noted the band’s regret at not finishing their second album. 

“We had everything lined up,” he said, “but seniors had too much on their plate with theses and whatnot.” Bruce plans to return to his home state of Alaska, where he will pursue fishery science. 

Lehrach and Finn — both rising seniors — aren’t leaving Yale just yet. The two will continue playing together in another band, called Don’t Sell Me the Dog. 

Lechrach said the two are “super excited” about the new band, but acknowledged that it will never be “quite the same” as Strictly Platonic, which he called his “family.”

Hempel extended her thanks to the students who have supported Strictly Platonic throughout its time. 

“To the people who came to all of our shows, our friends, and who knew all the lyrics and were singing it in the front row, especially at our last show, everyone who was crying while we were crying on stage — thank you to everyone,” she said. 

Strictly Platonic is releasing its last single, “Eurydice,” the week before Commencement.