As he finishes working on the third song of their first album, Noah Schmitz, lead guitarist of Nightstand, reminisces about how far the band has come. Growing up surrounded by music, Schmitz always hoped to be in a band, but he never expected to make his dreams a reality. He now plays in Nightstand, a self-described “basement-rock” band based out of Columbia, alongside his four best friends. The five young men released their first EP, Mom’s Tool Box in November 2025, and are currently preparing to release their first album. From cramped house shows to concerts at Rose Music Hall, the band has built a reputation for not only their gritty, guitar-driven sound but also for the raucous, inviting atmosphere at their shows.
The idea of Nightstand began in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, when Schmitz and Rob Huhmann, the band’s charming lead singer, first discovered that they both played guitar and jokingly talked about starting a band. At the time, the idea felt like a far-off dream. The two had met in high school, along with introspective pianist Eric Warnecke, but it wasn’t until their freshman year of college that they began taking music more seriously together. Schmitz said he even chose Huhman as his roommate with hopes of eventually forming a band. The lineup expanded as the band recruited the thoughtful Collin Murphy to play drums. The final touch was bassist Matthew Lasswell, whom the band connected with through KCOU, the student-led radio station at Mizzou.
The group began playing together more consistently in the fall of 2023, when they started rehearsing as a five-piece in their apartments, but Nightstand truly took shape in 2024 with the production of their first official show. What started as small backyard shows with friends and family soon gained traction. The turning point for the band was when their growing popularity caught the attention of the managing team at Rose Music Hall, who offered them the opportunity to open for larger artists on tour. Nightstand has also played shows at Cafe Berlin in Columbia and Skate Bar in Kansas City. The band described playing in these large venues as a natural process: “They saw our game, and they liked what we did!”
The future holds exciting possibilities for Nightstand. For now, their biggest goal is to perform in other cities. They’ve conquered Columbia and hope to expand their horizons to St. Louis and ideally build an audience in Kansas City. Additionally, they plan to travel to Chicago to experience the music scene, as a few of the members hope to move to the city in the near future. Schmitz emphasized that even if they live apart, they’ll always play together: “Nightstand will live forever… Forever and ever!”
