Audio Scenery brings music, creativity to Dunn Meadow

Sophomore Mckenzie Earley was inspired by puppet shows, meditation, leapfrog, tribal dancing and the absence of a cover charge to create IU’s new club Audio Scenery.

“There was this free night at Space 101 and it had all of this really cool stuff going on,” Earley said. “It was a completely non-judgmental atmosphere where people were just free to be whoever they wanted to be, and I just wanted it to last.”

After that night, Earley worked to sanction the Audio Scenery club with IU’s campus  in order to produce more events like the one she had experienced.

“Our mission is to create a collaborative effort of dancing, art and music to support charities and become a constant occurrence in the B-town community,” Earley said.
In order to do this, the club will have free events in Dunn Meadow every two weekends for the upcoming fall semester.

The first event, however, will be from 12 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Saturday and will feature local bands including headliner Elephant Quiz and DJ Littlefoot in support of The Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington.

“It will be on a donation base,” Earley said. “I think it’ll be a great mix of the arts and the community.”

Senior Clark Dallas, guitar player for Clouds as Oceans, said though the band usually plays house parties and conventional venues, he is excited to play at the more festival atmosphere of Dunn Meadow.

“I always love just playing and getting to do what I like to do in front of people,” Dallas said. “I just hope people have fun hanging out, and I’m looking forward to just kicking it with friends and partying with a bunch of cool people.”

Earley also wants the event to involve the entire arts community by inviting other artists to come and set up in the field. Dallas said he thinks this is a great idea.

“I feel like in a town, especially Bloomington, the arts are so important and need to be accessible by everyone,” Dallas said. “These shows will definitely give artists that exposure and recognition they deserve.”

Dallas said in the future he would like to see the concerts support music and arts programs in public schools.

Sophomore attendee David Chervony said he admires how the event is bringing in so many people and thinks it could be a positive thing for a lot of different aspects of the arts.

“I’m really excited about it,” Chervony said. “In response to the diminishing arts, this could be a chance to give musicians and other facets a place to perform that they might not have had otherwise.”

Chervony said the club is marvelous in its concept of challenging artists to step out of their comfort zone by giving them the opportunity to share their work with a large amount of people.

“Through the online event invite, it seems that they’re inviting people of all skill levels to come and basically strut their stuff,” Chervony said. “So, with a positive atmosphere, this thing could become huge.”

Chervony said he is looking forward to possibly becoming involved with Audio Scenery and encourages others to hop on board, too. 

Earley said everyone is welcome to become a part of the club by e-mailing her at iuaudio@indiana.edu. Otherwise, she hopes people will come out Saturday and enjoy the art.

“It’s going to be a very enticing atmosphere,” Earley said. “It’s a great cause and we have funky vibe bands to keep the crowd alive.”