Alex is the founder of Upbeat GNV and the drummer for Rehasher. He currently lives in Chicago, IL and is a drum instructor at the School of Rock Chicago West. He graduated with his MA in Popular Music & Culture from Leeds Beckett University in the United Kingdom in 2022. He founded Upbeat GNV in 2020 and continues to help organize and make contributions to the organization from afar.

John Gray is a co-founder of Upbeat GNV and a multiinstrumentalist who leads several Gainesville, FL-based music projects, including The Savants of Soul, Lo-Minds, and Confession Kids. He is currently studying music production at the Berklee College of Music, and he assists Upbeat GNV by helping run the Upbeat Unwind program and assisting the organization with legalities and paperwork based on his experience working in the healthcare industry.

Max joined Upbeat GNV in 2022 after returning home to Gainesville from Cornell University to study his master’s. Since then, he’s become an integral member of the Gainesville music scene once again, and he is active both on the music scene and on campus, serving as a bridge between the organization and the University’s Arts in Medicine program. He also assists the organization with community outreach, and if you’ve been to our table, you probably have met him.

Casey joined Upbeat GNV in 2021 as a social media volunteer and was promoted to director in 2023. Though she doesn’t play music, she brings years of experience working with nonprofits to the table, and she is a talented artist herself who studied Fine Arts before earning her masters in Museum Studies at the University of Florida in Gainesville before relocating to St. Augustine.