Past the squeal of tires and frustrated honking, the Crescent Hill Parking Facility is home to rock music that pours out into campus sidewalks and a community waiting to be found by students walking by. 

On the fifth floor of the garage is Mossheads, a local band named after the members’ curly hair, playing almost every Thursday night. They’re one of several bands that have made the parking garage their stage.

Mossheads started with two brothers, Rafael Kaiser and Gabriel Kaiser, playing in their garage at home. Armed with a drum set bought off Facebook, the pair decided to form a band, which grew to five members this year.

Performing in USF’s parking garages offers a creative outlet for the band and is a way to connect with the USF community, said Elijah Carter, the band’s bassist.

Related: USF’s new music curriculum gives more freedom to students

Even though none of the band members are pursuing music-related majors, they still enjoy being in the band and playing shows to whoever wants to listen.

“Getting to hang out with my friends and play music people seem to enjoy is the most rewarding thing ever,” said Carter, a sophomore environmental science and policy major.

After Carter joined, the band moved out of the Kaiser family’s garage and started rehearsing at Richard A. Beard Parking Facility. 

They moved to Crescent Hill Parking Facility to be “closer to people,” said Rafael Kaiser, a senior philosophy major and lead singer of Mossheads.

In his first two years at USF, Rafael said he would hear the band Hot Honey play at Crescent Hill Parking Facility while walking around campus. 

Rafael said he went up to watch them perform a few times, which inspired him to do the same.

The acoustics of Crescent Hill Parking Facility and the proximity to dorms and the Marshall Student Center help draw people in to watch the band, Carter said.

“It gives people something to look forward to,” Carter said. “Live music, no matter what genre you like, is always good. Just being in person while the music is being played is a really good experience, like a spiritual thing.”

Carter said he met Rafael in high school, lost touch after the COVID-19 pandemic and reconnected with him at the 2022 Bullstock, a spring music festival hosted by USF.

The band has The Strokes as their biggest reference, as well as “early days” Nirvana, Rafael said. 

Spiro Cromwell, a senior electrical engineering major, and Ethan Chiappetta, a 2024 Erwin Technical College alumnus, joined the band over the summer to play electric guitar.

Around 15 people jammed along as the group performed their original songs last Thursday night. 

Aaron Santos, a junior computer science and math major, said he watches them play at the garage to support local music.

“You have to support your local community,” he said. “Even if it’s just smaller businesses, and this goes for restaurants, cafes or even the music they play because there is some solid talent here.”

Related: OPINION: Support local USF bands

Santos said people are “struggling” to find a place outside home and work where they can connect with others and relax

“This fills a very necessary hole in today’s current state where it seems like everyone is very disconnected,” he said. “Having these bands present themselves here regularly is very important in having a sense of community.”

Cromwell, a guitarist for Mossheads, said the bands’ rehearsals are important for the USF community because music “expresses things that can’t be said with words.”

“What we do matters,” he said. “There could be people that hate it, it’s fine, but if one person likes it, that means it says something to them.”

Related: USF becomes home to a ‘Tampa Tunes’ piano

Rafael said it’s hard being a small band. 

He said he doesn’t think he is a “great” singer, Carter is playing with a broken finger and Cromwell is using a borrowed guitar. 

“We’re not rich. We don’t have a bunch of lessons and we’re not super good,” Rafael said. “We’re just getting better and putting ourselves out there.”

Mossheads will play next at 7 p.m. on Dec. 5 at Rock USF’s Winter Showcase, hosted by USF’s Rock Music Club, which will happen on the top floor of the Richard A. Beard Parking Facility.