Theo Lorenzen saw a scrappy, indie-rock band play a house show in the spring of 2024. His favorite songs in their set were their debut single, “Sweet,” and a cover of “Hey Ya!” by OutKast.
Over a year later, you could find him lugging guitar gear around The Big Apple, ready to play a sold-out show with that same band: The Nancys.
Lorenzen, frontwoman Ella Norris and drummer Shane Barrera have propelled their DIY college band to new heights this past year. Ever since “Sweet” released in September 2024 — it now has over 170,000 streams on Spotify — The Nancys have hoped their musical passion project could be their future.
In the past seven months, the Gainesville trio has released its first EP, embarked on two back-to-back tours and performed at venues 1,000 miles away, full of fans singing their songs back to them. Not bad for a scrappy college band.
Though Lorenzen, a 22-year-old UF information systems senior, is still in school, and Norris and Barrera graduated from UF this past spring, their music has taken precedence over their academics.
While 23-year-old Barrera enjoyed his computer science and digital arts studies, he didn’t want it to define his future.
“I feel like there'd be a lot of things missing in my life that I really feel fulfilled by if I wasn't in this band,” Barrera said.
The drummer caught The Nancys’ very first show with its original lineup in October 2023. It made him miss playing live music with people.
Two years later, Barrera said the band has grown stronger and more confident every day. They’ve gotten to the point where they finish each other’s sentences, musically speaking.
A big step in their career came May 9, when the band released its self-titled debut EP.
Though three tracks off the five-song EP had already been released, April was a busy month for Lorenzen, who produced it front to back. He had a month to record and mix the tracks, but he dedicated a week to manically cleaning his girlfriend’s apartment.
It was also a stressful period for Norris and Barrera, as they frantically prepared for graduation and final exams.
But the band looks back on the time with fond memories. Barrera’s favorite moment during the making of the EP was recording three drum tracks in one night, staying up until 2 a.m. at Little Wing Studios in south Gainesville.
Many more late nights would follow in the next few months as the band embarked on its summer and fall tours.
After travelling up and down the state, The Nancys landed in New York City with pedal boards, a suitcase full of merch and around 20 of their friends from Swamp Records. They borrowed guitars from Guitar Center for their gigs and made do with the venues’ fidgety amps.
Lorenzen, who remembers carrying his gear while his girlfriend led him around rush-hour Soho, said the trip was chaotic at times.
Also overstimulated – in a good way – Barrera felt the trip was “enlightening and surreal,” and it gave him motivation to overcome the burnout he was experiencing before NYC.
Unlike Lorenzen, however, he felt spoiled not having to lug his drums around town; he walked around holding his sticks in one hand and his girlfriend’s hand in the other.
Norris was spoiled too, getting to pick out a handful of free items at Brandy Melville after the band stopped to record three songs in the store. But her new clothing haul couldn’t compare to the excitement of their fall tour’s final shows.
The Nancys sold out at Main Drag Music in Brooklyn on Nov. 8 and played at The Bowery Electric the next day, again to a packed room of fans singing their songs back to them. The band and their Swamp Records team started planning the shows back in June.
Amanda Hiatt, the marketing director of Swamp Records, felt proud when she realized the number of fans the band had in New York.
But even to concertgoers who hadn’t heard of the band, Hiatt said, The Nancys’ positive reception comes naturally.
“They're a very easy band to market,” she said. “It's not difficult to make people love them. I think they have this unique power to move a crowd without that brand name familiarity, and because of that, they've been so successful.”
Hiatt, a 22-year-old UF political science and women’s studies senior, donning her Nancys T-shirt, said she remembered excitedly texting Norris when the band's Instagram reached 1,000 followers in January.
Now, the band has nearly 5,000 followers and over the past year has amassed almost 70,000 listeners on Spotify.
Back around the start of their “Where the Hell is Nancy?” tour in July, the band moved in together, and Norris said she feels like Jessica Day from “New Girl,” living with the two guys.
Thanks to a home studio, built by Lorenzen with the help of his dad and girlfriend, the trio doesn’t have to travel far to get to work.
There is certainly more in store for The Nancys, and Norris said in addition to the two singles released this semester, there is much more in the chamber.
The band members did a lot of travelling this year, playing around 100 shows, she added, so it’s time for them to take a break from touring. The frontwoman wants to dedicate more time to writing and recording.
The Nancys are hosting their first concert at their new shared home on Dec. 6, going back to their intimate house-show roots.
Looking back at the success of her band, 22-year-old Norris attributes their growth to their consistency and passion. The past year of their ever-evolving career has given the frontwoman much to be proud of.
“It kind of sneaks up on you, and then you look back and you realize how much has changed and how much your life has changed,” Norris said. “That’s something to be grateful for.”
Contact Isabel Kraby at ikraby@alligator.org. Follow her on X @isabelgkraby.
Isabel is a general assignment reporter for The Avenue and is starting her first semester with The Alligator. She is a junior journalism student and transferred to UF from Daytona State College after her freshman year. When she's not writing for Ave, she loves going to concerts, crocheting and designing spreads for Rowdy Magazine.
