Do they play Jackson Browne’s “Doctor My Eyes?”
Well, no — but Full Code, the band composed almost completely of doctors from Penn Medicine Princeton Health, plays all kinds of other classic rock, covering favorites by, among others, the Grateful Dead, Weezer, Tom Petty, Coldplay, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, and Elvis Presley.
See for yourself, when Full Code plays an afternoon concert at Hinds Plaza, adjacent to the Princeton Public Library, on Sunday, August 17, and also an early evening concert at the Cranbury Public Library, Wednesday, August 20. Both shows are free and open to the public.
According to David Barile, MD, (percussion/guitar/vocals) who is medical director of the Acute Care for the Elderly Unit at Penn Medicine Princeton Health, the men chose the name Full Code because “it’s a little play on what we have to deal with every day.”
The other members of Full Code are Craig Gronczewski, MD, chief medical officer at Penn Medicine Princeton Health, lead guitar/vocals; Jasmeet Bajaj, MD, medical director of Critical and Intermediate Care, keyboards/guitar/vocals; Gabe Smolarz, MD, board certified endocrinologist, bass; Kevin Skole, MD, gastroenterology, drums; and WesT Windsor resident Samuel Yenn-Batah, director of Hospital Spiritual Care and Well Being, saxophonist.
The band has a manager, Cranbury resident Alan Stefanowicz, a laboratory courier at Princeton Medical Center’s Clinical Lab, who has been doing media relations and other managerial tasks for Full Code for about six months.
“The band first came to my attention through word of mouth at the hospital,” Stefanowicz says. “Given that I had always been a fan of classic rock, I just knew I had to meet these guys. After my initial meeting with one of the band members, I was asked to become their personal manager.”
The idea for the band came about when Princeton Health (formerly Princeton Hospital) celebrated its 100th anniversary with a gala in November of 2019. The festivities included a talent show for doctors, employees, and volunteers, and a couple of future Full Code members hit the stage.
“A bunch of people performed at the talent show, and I knew two of them had been playing together for a while, so I thought, why not put a group together,” Barile says.
As 2020 dawned and the COVID-19 pandemic sent everyone their separate ways, Full Code came together and began polishing a modest set of songs, sharpening their individual skills and, essentially, learning how to be a band.
At first, they rehearsed in Barile’s spacious backyard in Princeton, but currently they practice in a studio at Gronczewski’s home, also in Princeton.
Full Code started to get quite good, the word got around, and the band was asked to play a few private back yard shows.
“We also played twice at Princeton Porchfest, and at a fundraiser for Greenwood House, but we haven’t hit Europe yet,” Barile says, with a little laugh.
The guys are not musical newbies — all of the members of Full Code played in groups before, some since their youth.
Barile himself picked up the guitar about 10 years ago, “just looking for something to do with others,” he says. Then he shifted to drums, fulfilling a desire he’d had since childhood. In fact, he was the original drummer for Full Code, before Skole.
Gelling as a musical unit and perfecting the set list wasn’t as easy as Barile thought it might be. Songs he’d heard his whole life turned out to be more difficult than they seemed.
“Those I thought would be complicated were so easy, and those I thought would be easy were complicated,” he says, singling out the George Michael song “Waiting for That Day” as challenging.
“Elvis Presley’s ‘Suspicious Minds’ is like that, too, and so is the Beatles’ ‘Here Comes the Sun,’” Barile says. “They’re difficult because of the time signature changes, for one thing. They took a while to get it together.”
“Also, the songs that are quieter and slower are more difficult,” he continues. “We do a couple of very popular songs, just a voice and one or two instruments, and it’s hard to pull off, to be quiet and more subtle.”
Naturally, if the crowd is rocking out to something loud and fast, they’re less likely to be listening carefully. But a song in a more moderate tempo can make a band vulnerable.
Speaking of vulnerability and exposure, what’s it like for the docs to shed their stethoscopes and step up to the microphone as lead singers? Is there an issue with stage fright?
“Yes and no,” Barile says. “We’ve all given lectures and instructions in front of large groups, so I don’t think any of us are afraid to get up in front of people. But it’s different getting up and singing.”
“We all sing, or try to sing,” he adds. “Greg and Jasmeet carry the majority of the songs, I sing two or three, and the others will pick up a song or two.”
Barile says that his major musical influences are roots rock, Americana, rhythm and blues, gospel, and acoustic blues. He is especially interested in how American blues evolved into rock and roll.
“It really started in the 1930s with Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a guitarist (and singer) who did blues and gospel,” he says. “She was doing what Chuck Berry did 20 years later. I am a history buff, so I love America’s history of music.”
“That’s what is unique about the band,” he adds. “We’re all in different fields of medicine, but our interests in music are all varied as well, so we bring different kinds of spice to the band.”
Be sure to catch Full Code live this summer because later this year they’ll be retreating into the studio to work on original material.
“We’re trying to write our own stuff,” Barile says. “We have a couple of originals already and we’re working on more.”
“I can’t speak for everyone, but it’s been incredibly therapeutic, to come together with people you work with and play music, and it’s really good for the aging brain,” Barile says.
It’s true: learning and playing a musical instrument activates multiple brain regions and enhances cognitive functions like memory and attention, as well as executive tasks like planning and problem solving. Musicianship also requires fine motor skills and coordination and promotes neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to change and adapt by forming new neural connections.
However, sharing a creative project also stimulates the soul. For Barile, all these factors have been bonuses for being in Full Code.
“We commiserate, talk about our day jobs, and share our enthusiasm for music,” he says. “It’s been great for me and the other guys, to be able to have a band and play live music, especially during COVID, when we were all on the front lines.”
Full Code will be in concert at two locations in the area:
Hinds Plaza, adjacent to the Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street, Sunday, August 17, 4 p.m. Free. 609-924-9529. princetonlibrary.org.
Cranbury Public Library, 30 Park Place West, Cranbury, Wednesday, August 20, 6:30 p.m. Free. 609-722-6992. cranburypubliclibrary.org.
Members of Full Code include David Barile, back left, Kevin Skole, Jasmeet Bajaj, Gabe Smolarz; and Samuel Yenn-Batah, front left, and Craig Gronczewski.,
