In a small music practice room in Middlebrook Hall last fall, members of Toadstool began perfecting their craft.

With a bass player, guitarist, drummer, keyboardist and lead singer, the band is composed entirely of second-year students and collaborates on every song they create.

Maddox Wurzbacher, a second-year student who transferred to the University of Minnesota from North Dakota State University, said he went around asking people if they played instruments during his first week on campus. If they said yes, he would add them to a Snapchat group chat, which garnered about 100 members.

From that large group, he plucked a few people who stood out to him, such as James Chiri, who would later become Toadstool’s keyboard player. 

Wurzbacher also met David Steiner, the band’s drummer, in Middlebrook Hall and Pierce Brown, the lead singer, through a mutual friend. Bass player Eddie Tidball recently joined the band in October.

Wurzbacher named the band after a story about his brother from when he was young. 

“When I was yet to be born, and my brother was three years old, he told my parents to name me Toadstool because he obviously did not have a concept of what a socially acceptable name was yet,” Wurzbacher said. “So, I was going to be called Toadstool if my brother had any say in it.” 

The band usually meets once a week to practice in Wurzbacher’s room, where they keep their drums, guitar, keyboard, amp and soundboard. They released their first EP, “Germination,” in May. 

“James is my roommate, and we have two others who like to jam with us, so we have a little, mini apartment jam session every week or two,” Wurzbacher said. 

The band played its first live show at The Subterranean in October, which is located in the Como neighborhood in the backyard of another local band. 

Toadstool will be playing at the Subterranean again Friday. 

Wurzbacher said his main goal in performing is for the audience to have fun, and if they are having fun, that is all that matters to him. 

“I hope people can resonate with what we are singing and playing about,” Brown said. “I hope we are clear in communicating about who we are, and I hope that someone can feel more connected and see themselves in us.” 

When the band is playing music, Wurzbacher said they are showing people what goes on inside their brains. The music shows people a part of them they would not otherwise know. 

Chiri said he enjoyed seeing the community that formed the night they had their first show. It was special to see different friend groups all come together in one space and bond over the band’s music. 

“The fact that we can make anyone feel anything, if they hate us, love us or feel anything, is just awesome,” Wurzbacher said. 

Wurzbacher compared performing music to moving a boulder. He said it takes a lot of work, and you may not know if you achieved anything specific, but you do know you changed something. 

Wurzbacher said he could not imagine being a student without being in a band.

“I am probably a better student because I am in a band,” Wurzbacher said. “I have a time crunch I actually have to hold myself accountable to, and if I want to have a good show, I have got to get my homework done.” 

Chiri said as a landscape architecture student, he is constantly learning about ways to foster creativity and to create something from nothing. He is inspired by the more mundane things in life.

“I really translate that education into my music playing, or at least I try to,” Chiri said. “And that is how I view my improvising and what I try to bring to the band whenever we get together.” 

Brown said being a part of the band fulfills a part of his soul, and he is happy to be a part of something that feels good and everyone cares about. 

“It is fulfilling to get together with a group of guys and make something that sounds good,” Steiner said. “It is fun to do, but it also fulfills yourself as a musician, being able to create something that not only I enjoy listening to, but other people do as well.” 

Correction: A previous version of this article said James Chiri was the guitar player. He is the keyboard player.