Journalist. Pianist. Drummer. Mr. Hurricane. Dan Stark has accomplished a lot over his four years at Westhampton Beach, but there’s tons of interestings facts many students still don’t know about the musical phenomenon.

In October of 2020, Dan Stark, along with four other musicians, came together to form one of Long Island’s premier bands, En Fuego. En Fuego has performed at restaurants, schools, parades, and even our home football games. 

They won the “Battle of the Bands” in 2021, which was a competition between two bands to out-perform the other. Jack Oats, the lead guitarist, talked about Dan’s commitment to En Fuego’s success, “He’s the one that keeps everyone on track. He runs the instagram account. He schedules practices and rehearsals. He keeps things together.” 

Perhaps the most important accomplishment for Dan this year was winning the “Mr. Hurricane” award, one of the most prestigious awards for anyone attending WHB. The award goes to the person who resembles Westhampton Beach’s ideal student, someone who represents themself with class and dignity throughout all four years of their high school career. He was honored to receive it.

He said, “It was just humbling. To know people in my grade voted for me for this. It was a surreal moment when they announced it on the field. When people kept coming up to me and said ‘Dan! I voted for you!’ I finally realized ‘Wow, I can actually win this!’”

Dan hasn’t decided on a College yet, but the University of Connecticut is high on his list. “UConn is my top pick. Tons of stuff to do on campus. Great school. Great journalism program.” 

Dan has aspirations of becoming a journalist, and he certainly has the values to be a great one. Jack Oats spoke again about Dan’s desires to be in the journalism field. “I’ve read some of his stuff on the Hurricane Eye, and he had great vocabulary, and he seemed to be a very experienced writer,” he commented. “I was impressed with it. He will absolutely be a great journalist.” 

Dan is the current student editor for the newspaper, and even though he’s not taking journalism this year, he continues to upload articles covering a variety of topics. 

His passion for music, though, is unwavered. Dan maintains a high average while fulfilling his commitments to music at an elite level, in and outside of school. 

To students pursuing a music career, he said, “My advice to any musicians out there- there’s always people out there looking to start up a band. There’s always going to be people looking for that or just looking to jam. You’ve gotta put yourself out there, I mean look at En Fuego. Just be open to different kinds of music.”

Dan Stark is an icon at Westhampton Beach. From his hairstyle to his writing skills, he has made his mark. What’s next for Mr. Hurricane? College life. We know he will not only succeed in his future endeavors, but he will excel. WHB is looking forward to Dan Stark’s next step in his academic career.