Petite League Biography

Biography

Despite coming from various regions of the world, seniors Lorenzo Cook and Henry Schoonmaker share a deep love of music. Their two-piece band, Petite League, consists of Boston-based geography major Schoonmaker on percussion and Brussels-based Bandier student Cook on vocals, guitar, and bass.

Even though they were both musicians before enrolling at Syracuse University, this is their first time collaborating. Cook has been writing music since he was 13 years old, and while attending high school in Brussels, he played in a band.

Similar to Schoonmaker, who played percussion in high school but didn’t begin playing in a band until his sophomore year of college when he joined the four-man ensemble Conroy Blanc, Schoonmaker is a percussionist.

Career & Projects

When Cook recorded his song “Surviving October” and asked Schoonmaker to play drums on the track, the two came together to form Petite League in 2014. Cook’s idea for the band’s name came to him as he was considering a side project for himself years ago. He coined the phrase “Petite League,” which is French for “small league.” Cook composed the music and lyrics for their debut album, “Slugger,” which was made available online on October 26.

Cook and Schoonmaker rejected a major label, so they chose to record “Slugger” in an innovative way. Cook granted them the rights when two of his tracks were released by a lesser label called Mermaid Avenue Records. After being approached by a larger label as a result, he chose to independently record the band’s music.

They began recording at the band’s off-campus home, which they refer to as “The Scarier Dome,” in order to discover what they might accomplish on their own. They begin by using an audio interface Cook possesses to record the guitars to an artificial drum rhythm. He then records the vocals and takes off the dummy drum so that the percussion may be taped.