Band of Perfect Strangers

It didn’t take long for Sarah Mootz, 20, of Buford, to find some like-minded people to start a local band. In fact, after some minor prodding from her parents, Craigslist was where the band draws its roots.
“I was on vacation in Ocean City, NJ when I got her email,” Alex Kowalchuk, 26, Lawrenceville, notes. “I had an ad up on Craigslist with a good framework of what I would love in a band – would love to be in a band!” “We emailed a few times back and forth and the rest is history.”
Alex then noticed an ad about a drummer looking for something fun and not the next touring tribute band. It was all coming together.
One night in August 2016, the trio all met for the first time in John Bailey’s, 30-something, Buford, basement. They jammed a few songs and as soon as Sarah started singing, Alex and John knew they had something good. After some deliberation, they were “Mootz & Company”, a great name, but often hard to be understood and pronounced correctly.
They lacked a bass player – but in some way, they didn’t. Mootz & Company was strong as a double-guitar and drum band. But something lacked. After a couple of months, one of Sarah’s friends recommended a friend who plays bass. Turned out, he was a flake artist. Then the band turned to the lucky roulette wheel of Craigslist and quickly heard from Ethan Dillon, 30-something, of Dunwoody, who played bass for a few bands on the side. The rest is history – again.