The breathtaking colors of varying flora fill your vision as the sounds of fauna in their natural habitat create a melodic symphony—Clark Botanical Gardens is truly an ecological utopia. The tranquil environment of this paradise additionally serves as a venue for a variety of community events, such as photography exhibits, holiday celebrations, and seasonal festivals. Frequent attendees of these events can also expect to hear another sound as natural and down-to-earth as the landscape itself: Great Neck South High’s very own band, Extraverse.
Extraverse, a recurring performer at Clark Botanical Gardens, among other venues, consists of juniors Chris Fukuda, Izzy Ng, and Lauren Hom. The three-person band was formed in early 2023 after live music was requested by AREA-C (the Animal Rescue & Environmental Awareness Club) for a local Arbor Day event. Fortunately, due to Chris and Lauren’s musical roles in school productions and Izzy’s love for guitar, the formation of a band for these three was not a big step up at all. Their first performance at Clark Botanical Gardens would certainly not be their last: After catching the eye of a North Hempstead Parks and Recreation employee during their performance, they were subsequently asked to perform for more live music events for the venue.
With shows being performed approximately once or twice a month, the band began to develop a dynamic and a routine. Izzy, for example, acted as the main communicator between the event coordinator and the band, while Chris managed their social media accounts. And in lieu of predetermined jam-sessions, similar to school club meetings, Extraverse periodically met for 2–3 hours in the 2–4 weeks leading up to a show. At these sessions, the band would choose songs and learn their chords, tabs, and lyrics. However, the busy schedules of Lauren, Chris, and Izzy have prevented them from regularly meeting in “off-seasons” when shows are more scarce and schoolwork starts to bog down their schedules.
Hom explained these “off-seasons,” which usually occur during the winter when the venue is too cold to play, are the toughest times for the band, as this is when motivation starts to dissipate and tasks pile up. But it is also these moments that remind the band why they’re together in the first place: to have fun, play music, and destress. Lauren added, “The biggest thing that keeps us wanting to keep performing is just the fact that we love performing in all of its aspects.”
The relatively lax arrangement of the band matches the mindset of its members—the mindset being focused on having fun and enjoying friendly company, as opposed to rigorous college-oriented grinding. The music and instrumentals mirror this mindset as well, as the trio rarely use a backing track and instead only rely on electric guitar, vocals, and the occasional acoustic guitar. The stripped back sound also meshes well with a serene environment like Clark Gardens, and eventually other venues started to open up for them.
Christine Liu, the current District 4 councilwoman for the Town of North Hempstead, had just begun her campaign in the summer of 2023 when she witnessed one of the band’s shows at Clark. After the performance, Councilwoman Liu promptly invited them to perform at one of her meet-and-greets, where she gathered potential voters at a supporter or contributor’s house and engaged in political conversation.
With Extraverse’s newly expanded experience as performers in the local scene, they’ve asked themselves: what’s next? A usually difficult question for any budding band with a clear performative talent came quite easily to Extraverse, and can be summarized by the band’s unofficial motto: “It will take us where it takes us.”
“None of us are looking to be like, ‘Oh, let’s try to become the next pop star group,’ or anything. I would just say it’s more about just having fun and… being the best we can be,” Hom said.
