The West Bend Current

While high schoolers typically bond over playing video games, members of the Nephews bonded over 1970s psychedelic rock.

The Nephews are a rock band made up of five juniors at the West Bend High Schools. Cole Douglass, Graham Jablonski, Caleb Bitter, Dillinger Floyd and Tommy Zaremba have performed gigs around the area for several years. Their next show is 8 p.m. Friday at The Beat Goes On, a record store in downtown West Bend.

They plan to cover the entirety of Pink Floyd’s 1973 album “The Dark Side of the Moon.” This will be the first time they will perform an entire album in one show.

The Nephews also hope to release their own music at some point, splitting the vocals between three members.

“I’m lead for most of the songs, but Tommy sometimes does some,” Douglass said. “Me, Caleb and Tommy all do harmonies together.”

Back in October 2022, Douglass and Jablonski got together and founded the Nephews, inspired primarily by Pink Floyd, the Beatles and the Grateful Dead.

“I had been playing with the middle school band, playing percussion, and I always wanted a drum set,” Jablonski said. “One year in middle school I got one, and I was like, ‘Cole, you should play guitar.’”

Zaremba was quick to sign on, and then after the departure of another member, Floyd and Bitter joined after a jam-sesh in March 2025. They were already friends with each other and the rest of the band.

“After the previous band member had left, I got invited because I played guitar already,” Bitter said. “We jammed once, and it was good, so I stayed.”

The band has some local name recognition now, but the name “The Nephews” was actually chosen at the last minute after they had already secured their first gig. The show was in the backyard of Douglass’ neighbor, who was throwing a retirement party.

“He had tents set up and the whole thing,” Jablonski said. “There was a different band playing there and we just opened for them.”

That first gig acted like a launching pad for the Nephews, and since then WBHS students often see the band’s fliers around the school hallways. They like to keep the promotion old-school. While they have accounts, the band is not very active on social media.

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Top image: The Nephews (left to right) are Graham Jablonski, Tommy Zaremba, Dillinger Floyd, Cole Douglass and Caleb Bitter. Photo taken Tuesday by Shiloh Peters, Current Staff.