What does it take to get Purchase College students grooving? A soulful and catchy beat that can only be perfected by one of the college’s up and coming bands, The Buffalo Theory.

One stop in the Student Center or in front of Theater X to check out The Buffalo Theory has students hypnotized in its funky movement. It’s normal to see students jiving in the crowd, caught under the rhythmical spell.

The Buffalo Theory is made up of studio composition major, Jared Martin on vocals, arts management major, Joey Doino on drums, studio production major, Dan Berry on guitar, studio production major, Nash Kocur on bass, and jazz/piano performance major, Mike Zeffiro on keys. The horn section includes  jazz/trumpet performance major, Nick Fields on trumpet, jazz performance major, Eric Jellison also on trumpet, saxophone/jazz performance major, John Troy on the saxophone, and jazz performance major, August Cook on bari sax.

The band formed when Martin and Doino met in 2009. Doino was playing the drums in a friend’s band for the year’s Battle of the Bands at Purchase College and they needed a singer. A friend in the band pulled in Martin and after working together, Doino and Martin decided that they wanted to form their own band. Already friends with the bassist, Kocur, they took him in. When they heard about Berry, they invited him to jam.

“Dan Berry fit in really well, he fit in perfectly,” Doino says. “We were excited to start. We knew this was going to be great.”

The band later pulled in Zeffiro and then the horn players, Fields, Troy, Jellison and Cook, who Martin and Zeffiro already knew.

The Buffalo Theory sees themselves as a steady, well-formed band that will remain withstanding. Berry explains that it’s all in the name.

“It’s based off nature,” he says as he ties back his shoulder-length blond hair. “When there’s a herd of buffalo in the wild, the predators hunt the weak ones. When the weakest ones are killed off, it makes the herd as a whole a lot faster and stronger.”

Zeffiro says that when it comes to writing the songs, all of the guys bring in ideas. “When someone comes in with a good idea, the band develops it,” he says. “We work as a group.”

The Buffalo Theory played their first show in Doino’s apartment on campus in the fall of 2009. Many students came out that night to catch onto the nifty lyrics while hustling to the beat of the jazzy funk that shook the walls. Despite the small amount of room in the apartment, The Buffalo Theory’s fans did not stop dancing.

“Our first show was a lot of fun but I wanted a bigger venue,” Berry says. “From there, we kept playing shows and more and more people showed up. I love our fans. They keep showing up in strong numbers,” he says. “That’s what makes us want to play.”

“We’re influenced by artists like Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson,” says Martin. “Our fans like that stuff, our fans like us. They’re always screaming for one last song.”

Freshman studio production major, Delia Drumm, is a “big fan” of the Buffalo Theory. “The Buffalo Theory finds a way to bring back all the great things about funk and make it their own by adding catchy riffs and lyrics,” she says. “They’re just a fun band to listen to and constantly keep their audience entertained.”

“If The Buffalo Theory was food, they would be pizza because pizza is the best food,” says James O’Donnell, junior journalism major. “That’s how good they are.”

The Buffalo Theory is currently working on their first EP, which will include four to five songs. They are hoping for it to be out by the end of the semester.

Check out The Buffalo Theory at http://www.Facebook.com/TheBuffaloTheory