Mommy's Little Helpers: Meet the high school band from Jacksonville that's cooler than you

Three punks walked into a bar — and none of them are old enough to drink there. In fact, they didn't even drive there themselves. But that's become the regular routine for Mommy's Little Helpers, a high school band out of Jacksonville that's been climbing the ranks locally.

The trio, comprised of Ava Clark on guitar and vocals, Abdullah Ibrahim on bass and vocals and Jack Webb behind the drums, formed in 2021. Only together a few months, they've quickly become regulars locally, gigging at Kona Skatepark, Jack Rabbits, 1904 and more.

"Ava and I were sitting outside and talking about forming a band," said Webb, 16. "We were looking for a bass player ... About a week later we had our first practice."

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Clark and Webb found Ibrahim after posting on Instagram about looking for a bass player. As for the name, Clark's dad suggested it a while back and she thought it had a good ring to it.

The group uses social media — mainly Instagram — to promote their music and shows. Their friend from Kona Skatepark invited them to play their first show there and they've been adding to the setlist since.

"After that day, I knew that this was the beginning of the rest of our lives," Clark said. "We played shows non-stop over the summer, and by August, the band had started to take off."

Despite playing dozens of songs, they struggle to describe their sound easily, but the music primarily falls between pop-punk, punk and grunge.

"We are all very versatile with what we can play, and I think our goal is to try and incorporate as many things into our music as possible. Why put a label on it?" said Clark, 15. "We want to experiment and make each song sound different from the last."

Together, the group is still experimenting and figuring out what they like. They say that's what makes it fun. Their repertoire is comprised of a mix of originals and covers. They all have a hand in the songwriting process.

"Some of my favorite covers are 'School' by Nirvana, 'Fell in Love with a Girl' by the White Stripes and 'Skulls' by the Misfits," Webb said.

They hope to record an EP soon to start selling at shows.

Nationally, musicians have commented on the difficulties of being in a band during the coronavirus pandemic, which ravaged indie venues, slashed ticket sales and virtually erased event calendars for months.

But Clark, Ibrahim and Webb have never known how to operate any other way.

The band formed during the pandemic. One member attends a different school. None of them even have their driver's licenses yet.

Often, the shows they're playing feature bands with members nearly twice their age.

"I owe my mom gas money because she takes me to practice," Ibrahim, 17, said. He attends Terry Parker High School but hopes to transfer to Douglas Anderson School of the Arts to join his bandmates.

Clark added that juggling homework, school schedules, extracurriculars, chores and coordinating rides are trickier factors than the actual pandemic.

"We must convince our parents to give us a ride and that interferes with their schedule," she said. "COVID really hasn’t affected us that much — probably because we started the band during the pandemic, and we are used to it."

The three bandmates are all fully vaccinated and say they try to be cautious in public to avoid getting sick — they do it to stay healthy, but more so because they want to keep gigging.

Together, the group hopes to eventually tour and they plan to keep playing live shows. But really, they're just happy to have found each other.

"I love them both and I am so glad I have the opportunity to create with them," Clark said.

Follow the band on Instagram to find out about upcoming shows @littlehelpersband.

Emily Bloch is an education reporter for The Florida Times-Union. Follow her on Twitter or email her. Sign up for her newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Meet Jacksonville punk band Mommy's Little Helpers