All About Cigarettes in the Grave!

A New Doherty-Based Band Just Dropped! | An Exclusive Spotlight Interview w/ CITG’s Band Members

Katz Paniagua, Staff Writer

October 29, 2025

All About Cigarettes in the Grave! | Thumbnail edited on Canva | Cigarettes in the Grave Official Logo.

Katz Paniagua.

Get to Know the Members!

**Click images throughout the article to view full image galleries.

Do you ever wonder what exactly inspires high school students to form a band? How can a few friends, a shared love for the metal genre, and one text message turn into something much bigger? Meet Cigarettes in the Grave! This new DMHS-based band features three incredibly talented sophomores: Geort, one of the band’s guitarists, Gaige Mathieu, the band’s drummer, and Aliel Claudio, the band’s other guitarist and lead vocalist. Together, they blend their life experiences, individual music tastes, and personal opinions to create their music. See what this exclusive, spotlight interview has to offer before the band drops their planned debut song, also titled “Cigarettes in the Grave.”

Q: Tell me a bit about your background.

“I grew up in Arvikä, Sweden and moved to the USA at age 7.” – Gaige Mathieu.

“I was born in Albania. I also grew up in Albania. I’m Albanian, White, Balkan, and my birthday is May 16, 2010. I speak Albanian and English; I have a very big family.” – Geort.

“Born Worcester, Massachusetts. Grew up in Worcester, Hispanic/Latino, Puerto Rican American (both parents are Puerto Rican.) Born Sept. 22nd, 2010. I like philosophy, aerospace engineering, law, psychology, marine biology, history, and mechanics.” – Aliel Claudio.

A New Doherty-Based Band Just Dropped! | An Exclusive Spotlight Interview w/ CITG's Band Members

Gallery • 3 Photos

Puerto Rican Flag.

Q: What do you like to do in your free time? Do you have any hobbies, passions, video games, or special interests? If so, what are they?

“Study philosophy, listen to music, aerospace engineering, and psychology.” – Aliel Claudio.

“I like to listen to music and workout.” – Gaige Mathieu.

“For hobbies, I play my guitar and I play soccer a lot. I love playing soccer, and I have been playing since I was 3. For video games, I love playing the Resident Evil franchise along with the soulsborne franchise. My special interests would be working out.” – Geort.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Resident Evil Logo.

Q: Did you join any extracurriculars, clubs, programs, competitions, or sports in the past. Are you currently in any? Did you do any work experiences or internships in the past?

“Newspaper club [Highlander’s Herald] (sorry for not attending recently).” – Aliel Claudio.

Highlander's Herald Logo | Visit www.dmhsherald.org to read more articles!

Q: What were some challenges you had to overcome during High School so far? Any advice to fellow Highlanders?

“Focus on your grades.” – Gaige Mathieu.

“Learning where everything was where I was working with. And homework. DO EVERYTHING AS SOON AS YOU CAN — so you don’t stress later.” – Aliel Claudio.

“Finding where everything worked and where everything was located. My advice would be make friends and put yourself out there, it’ll work.” – Geort.

Doherty Memorial High School's Media Center.

Q: Do you have any favorite teachers, star Highlanders/Friends or staff members here at DMHS? If so, tell me a bit about them!

“My favorite teacher is Mr. Dustin since he’s a very chill guy and generally a good person.” – Geort.

“Ms. Sawyer, and Mr. Coonan, Ms. Genkos, and Mrs. Gagne.” – Aliel Claudio.

“Ms. Sawyer, and Mr. Coonan.” – Gaige Mathieu.

Q: What’s a quote you would like to share?

“Always try to make today your tomorrow.” – Gaige Mathieu.

“Live, Laugh, Love.” – [Geort].

“Don’t let your limited time frighten you from embracing it.” – Aliel Claudio.

Cigarettes in the Grave

**Click images throughout the article to view full image galleries. Trigger Warning: slight mentions of suicide. Reader discretion is advised.

Q: What inspired you to start or be apart of a band in high school? How did the name Cigarettes in the Grave come to be? How did all the band members come together?

“I was inspired to be a part of a band because I love listening to metal and I always thought about being in a band. It took us a span of 3 hours to choose the name. We all had our own opinions, but we came to a conclusion to Cigarettes in the Grave. We all came together through a message on Snapchat from Aliel (aka the lead singer). We all first met in 7th grade and are still best friends to this day.” – Geort.

“It all started first when we had the random idea to just start a band. I started it off with texting Gaige, and then Geort about it. We all liked metal, so we stuck with it. We spent 3 hours on the name (the name of our first song that will come up sooner or later). Finding a variety of sources from other bands and coming up with our own. We all discussed how things would work, our positions and roles, and what we had and didn’t. We were all already close friends so we went on from there.” – Aliel Claudio.

“The inspiration came from a die hard passion to make music originally since I always listen to it and enjoy it. I first thought of forming a band as a joke, but I didn’t know my friends wanted to as well so we kind of kicked off from there.” – Gaige Mathieu.

Cigarettes in the Grave Official Logo.

Q: How would you describe your band’s genre of music or sound? Can you name any artists, role models, or life experiences that helped influence and shape the band’s music?

“Our favorite influences go from bands like Deftones and Green Day, to Slipknot and Metallica of any subgenre to metal music.” – Gaige Mathieu.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Deftones Logo.

“Our band’s genre of music is going to revolve mainly about metal. We all love different metal genres and we want our music to sound similar to Korn, Deftones, Pantera, and have a spice of our own. I don’t have much life experiences that helped influence our band’s upcoming music. I first got into metal after meeting a friend of mines, Nate, after attending suicide watch for a couple of weeks. The first “metal” I heard was ‘Motorbreath,’ by Metallica. Since then, I have continued to explore the genre and let it shape me entirely.” – Aliel Claudio.

Gallery • 2 Photos

Korn Logo.

“I mean so far we’re still deciding whether it’s nu metal of a different kind — maybe even heavy metal or just regular metal. For me, it would be Iron Maiden, Bullet for My Valentine, and HIM.” – Geort.

Gallery • 3 Photos

Iron Maiden Logo.

Q: If Cigarettes in the Grave could collaborate with another artist, who would they be? What would they bring to the band’s sound or creative process?

“It would probably be another great band like Deftones since it would be an inspiration from their music and it will maybe allow us to think more outside the box with music creation.” – Gaige Mathieu.

“Most likely Pantera. They have a good discography of both calm and aggressive music. They would help bring more aggression to this band that we want.” – Aliel Claudio.

“I would collab with Iron Maiden since all their songs are really good and they would bring a more creative and very good riffs to the band.” – Geort.

Q: Are there any projects currently in the works? Anything for Doherty’s upcoming Talent Show?

“We are working on making a stage presence in the talent show this year however with tight time, we may have to move to next year which surely we will have an idea by then.” – Aliel Claudio.

Gallery • 3 Photos

Katz Paniagua.

Last School Year's Doherty Talent Show.

“Currently we’re trying to get the funds for Gaige’s drumset. I currently have the money for a guitar that I will soon be buying. We do want to attend the talent show, but I highly doubt we can get far with such limited time. We’re shooting towards next year’s instead. We want to implement more calmer metal for the people who want to chill but also just have that ‘vibe.’ We are planning to do a cover of ‘Minerva’ by Deftones currently.” – Gaige Mathieu.

“We’re thinking about it, but so far, it’s still in progress.” – Geort.

Q: What were some challenges your band had to face as of yet? Have you received any criticism or doubts? If so, how did your band overcome them?

“I didnt really come to terms on liking the word “cigarettes” being in our band name but we are a multi metal subgrene band so it suits the theme for sure.” – Gaige Mathieu.

“Our main challenge was funding. We had to spend some time trying to get money for our instruments. Nobody has actually denied us and they completely support us.” – Aliel Claudio.

“Nothing so far as I know of.” – Geort.

Q: Although the band’s journey has just begun, do you believe you will receive any recognition during your high school years?

“Yes I do because by senior year, I’m gonna get even better with the guitar even though I have 8 years of experience.” – Geort.

“Yes, we hope to atleast get recognized in pur school once we do pump out our first project.” – Gaige Mathieu.

“Probably. I cannot guarantee but I do hope I could make history for a school that means a lot to me. Maybe in the future if this band goes higher, we can achieve that goal.” – Aliel Claudio.

Q: How do you visualize Cigarettes in the Grave in the next 2-5 years? Will the band be more stage focused, or more invested in the studio?

“I aim for the band to be in between since more studio time allows for more project development and or creation, also more stage focused in order to gain more public attention. – Gaige Mathieu.

“In the next 2-5 years? We want to do stage performances but when we want to upload our own music, we’ll do studio.” – Aliel Claudio.

“I feel like we’ll be more stage focused.” – Geort.

Q: What are ways can your band promote themselves?

“[…] so far just brainstorming.” – Geort.

“School events, flyers and posters.” – Gaige Mathieu.

“We currently don’t have anything to help promote us.” – Aliel Claudio.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share?

“Keep your peace and don’t let the absence of others occupy your time.” – Aliel Claudio.

After getting a glimpse into what the creation of the band was like, and hearing directly from Geort, Gaige, and Aliel about their own inspirations, what can you take away from this exclusive interview? How can you twist what seems like small idea or goal into a real life one? Can you relate to any of the challenges or creative processes they shared during the interview? These skilled features not only highlighted the ups and downs of forming a band in high school but also showed the importance of dedication, teamwork, and following your passions — no matter the obstacles. Thanks for sticking here with us, and don’t forget to click the comment button on the right-hand side to share your thoughts, or words of encouragement to the band! Stay tuned for more promotional, spotlight interviews.