The power is out in his Back Bay brownstone, so Patrick Baggett forgoes the elevator and hikes up the near-pitch-black stairwell, apologizing for the lack of light. It’s December in Boston and cold enough that his breath comes out in plumes of steam with each exhale. The lack of heating in his 130-year-old building is par for the course.
His apartment on the sixth floor, shared with bandmate Jack Dobbins, is a portrait of collegiate rock and roll: a soundboard settled on a chair in the corner, a vinyl shelf stocked with a collection of fraying records, a vintage leather jacket hanging off the couch and laughter reverberating between Baggett and the members of Key Found.
This was what Baggett and Dobbins envisioned when they first met at Berklee College of Music; not the allure of world fame — at least for now — but to be in a place they love, making music with their best friends.
“I knew from the second I got to Boston that I wanted to start a band,” Dobbins said, recalling a 2023 conversation on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Boylston Street. “I think it was October or November, I was just like, ‘[Patrick], you want to start a band with me right now?’”
The group began performing as Key Found that year, recruiting fellow Berklee student Will Guthro as a drummer. They gained some momentum with the college crowd, performing with a different bassist, but they still felt they hadn’t reached their final form.
“We kind of worked like an engine,” Dobbins said. “Three of the parts were moving really smoothly together, but we needed a fourth part to complete the engine. Charlie was that last piece of the puzzle.”
Bassist Charlie Boyes was an unlikely addition: a Berklee drum principal.
“I’d never played bass, but I was like, ‘This is too good not to be a part of,’” Boyes said in the living room of his best friend’s apartment, tapping out rhythms with fingers calloused from hours of rehearsals.
In the year since they officially formed, Key Found has grown far beyond a group of friends on a Berklee stage. They’re looking to take their place among the iconic Boston bands, no small feat for a city that artists like Aerosmith, Pixies and The Cars call home.
Boston has been home to a vibrant music scene since the ‘70s, with almost 30 major concert venues, a population of over 150,000 college students and no shortage of young artists trying to get their start in the business. Key Found is among the many bands that are vying for success.
“For the first bit, when you’re in a band, you kind of just do it for yourself. You have to, because you’re fighting for your life,” Baggett said. But with its recent traction over the past few months, Key Found’s focus has shifted. The members realized that success is less about rock and roll glamour and more about supporting each other and the music ecosystem around them, a rarity in a scene often characterized as cutthroat.
One of the most important strengths for an emerging artist, Baggett said, has nothing to do with natural talent or star quality. Rather, the one question at the forefront of the band’s mind: “Can you help other people?”
“For some reason, [arrogance is] common in a lot of musicians,” Baggett said. Especially in an environment like Berklee or the tightly-knit city of Boston, where people are in constant competition for opportunities, it’s easy for self-preservation to become self-centeredness.
“You have to have the audacity to think you’re good enough for people to listen to you,” Dobbins said. “But there is a certain point where you’re not untouchable.”
Guthro, propped up on a FaceTime screen in the middle of the drive back from his hometown in Maine, explained that the band’s biggest accomplishments have come from letting go of the “survival of the fittest” mentality and working in tandem with the people around them. “It’s something that we’ve gotten a lot better at recognizing that we needed,” he said.
One of those accomplishments was a deal with Green Line Records, Northeastern’s student-run record label. Key Found officially signed on in the fall 2025 semester and released a single, “Tennis and Racquetball Club,” in December 2025, a major milestone for the band in more ways than one.
Sonically, the single echoes the vibe the band’s growing fanbase has come to love: punchy guitars, slick songwriting and familiar elements of the “classic rock” sound, as Boyes described it. But in terms of its production process, “Tennis and Racquetball Club” was the first time Key Found felt it had truly banded together on a song.
“What’s cool about ‘Tennis’ is that it’s a representation of the new evolution of the band. It’s the direction that things are in and are going in because it’s all four of us,” Dobbins said.
The focus on collaboration over competition has become invaluable to Key Found’s success so far and has already helped the members accomplish many of their early goals. Working with artists and creatives from Berklee, Northeastern and around the city has given them a different perspective on what truly matters when it comes to success.
“At the end of the day … talent is such a minuscule thing when it comes to making it,” Boyes said. What’s more important, the rest of the band agreed, is supporting the people around them and building connections with those who’ve helped them along the way.
And as their community and fanbase grow, so have their ambitions. Gaining experience with every recording session and live show, learning from each other and making music that resonates with people are what propels the band forward.
Key Found is in a “constant state of innovation,” Boyes said, but its drive isn’t going anywhere. The band has a full docket of live shows in the upcoming months, each an opportunity to pursue their passion with the people they love.
“I really think [Key Found] is gonna go somewhere,” Dobbins said. “You should get on the train as early as possible because it means a lot to us. We’re only gonna get better.”
“Don’t listen on Spotify. Come to a show,” Guthro said.
“Listening is one thing, but you should come see us,” Dobbins said. “It’s f*****g fun, and at the very least, you get to watch us having the time of our lives.”