It may be a cliche sentiment, but music has a way of bringing different and interesting people together. This is true of the junior band “3 Minutes Late.” While other bands have a set genre, or very similar members who sometimes coordinate even the way they dress, “3 Minutes Late” is made up of very different people with unique tastes and mannerisms. Despite their differences, they are all good friends, committed to a band that is now going into its third year.
Lead singer and guitarist James Slack from Florida is the outgoing voice of the band, who regularly interacts with the crowd. He works in admissions and with Young America’s Foundation (YAF); he is a politics major and wears a polo with long pants.
Guitarist and singer Santiago (Yago) Ramirez from San Antonio loves classic rock and usually wears a t-shirt with jeans and boots. He is also a junior representative for student government and a philosophy major.
Keyboardist and singer Nick Buono from Washington D.C. is a solemn piano man, a politics major and a junior representative for student government. He is recognizable for his classic red Heights baseball cap.
English major Stanislaus Yaceczko from Kansas is the drummer; he plays for the rugby team and he wears sweatpants and hoodies with a mellow attitude.
Bassist Anthony (Tony) Lamberti lives locally and hosts the band’s practices at his house. He silently plays off to the side of the stage with the easygoingness of someone just practicing in his room.
Regardless of the differences briefly described amongst each band member, they are all friends who love music and who love performing together.
The band started freshman year, and back in 2024, the UD bell tower gave them their name. Ramirez said, “The UD bell tower used to ring three minutes late […] so we were trying to come up with a name that had something to do with UD.”
The genre for the band is mixed according to Ramirez, “We usually play alt or pop, but I usually push for classic rock; sometimes it gets played.” Yaceczko agreed with the mixed genre aspect and he added, “We tend to put our own spin on some stuff too […] when we play pop, we try to make it more of our own and lean into a heavier sound. We have a lot of early 2000s, maybe emo is a way to describe it […] there’s a lot of angst in our music.”
Both Ramirez and Yaceczko agreed that “Stacy’s Mom” is the band’s best song. A favorite of Ramirez’s is “Mary Jane’s Last Dance.” He said, “It’s simple but it hits the spot every time.” As for Yaceczko, his personal favorites are “Closing Time” and “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” In regards to this second track, he said, “Totally out of left field, but […] we play that song really well.”
For this year as juniors, the band has goals for improving the way they play and winning big performances. For Yaceczko, “Our biggest goal is to play Groundhog next semester. For that we’ve got to win Battle of the Bands; stay tuned, we’re working on a set list.”
According to Ramirez, the band also wants a better quality sound and feel. “I know Tony is always cooking up something […] he always has some plan […] something good,” he said. “I think we’re working on our technicality ‘cause right now we kinda sound like a garage band. We want to get more refined, we want to put in some harder practice. Our practices thus far have been the best practices we’ve ever had.”
“3 Minutes Late” is truly a band made up of unique characters. But from all their performances and their time spent together, they are a band of true friends each with their own talents and personalities that work together to make music.