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(04/29/11 2:47am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>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.”
(04/27/11 3:55am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Canvas Magazine is having a premiere party that organizers hope will be as big as the creativity on their pages. The event will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at Rhino’s to welcome the spring 2011 issue. This time, junior and Union Board Canvas Creative Arts Director AJ O’Reilly would like to make a point to say that the whole campus is invited.“We usually do this for the artists of every issue, but we had a new idea for this year,” O’Reilly said. “I didn’t think the invite-only party matched the climate of the committee, so we’ve turned to be more about the arts and everyone can come.”To make this idea a reality, O’Reilly teamed up with his committee to bring in local musicians The Calumet Reel, The Natives and Lindsay Smith to perform. However, in order to parallel the magazine’s content, Canvas will also be hosting the two-time slam poet world champion Anis Mojgani. Sophomore and Assistant Director of the Premiere Party Brianne Eby said she hopes the local and national acts will help draw in a crowd of wide variety.“We really worked hard to make it appealing to everyone by reaching out to different venues,” Eby said. “I think we’re going to connect with a lot more people and enjoy a really fun night.”The party will be the first chance students have to get the issue before its debut on newsstands Friday. Eby and O’Reilly agreed when they said the most unique thing about Canvas is that readers can tell how high-quality the publication is.“Everyone’s favorite part is when the magazine comes out because it’s something that we have all worked hard on all semester,” sophomore and Assistant Canvas Director Bridgett Henwood said. “People can just tell when they read it that it’s well-done.”Henwood said that though Canvas isn’t popularly known on campus, when students do pick it up she thinks they will see it as a great representation of the IU student body.“We have a sort of rolling submission,” O’Reilly said. “For each issue, we take over 650 submissions and we take the best from those.”O’Reilly said Canvas is special in that it is one of the only publications that publishes work from both undergraduate and graduate students.“We get a wide variety of visual and written work,” O’Reilly said. “We get things from fiction pieces to sculptures to 3-D pieces to anything else you can imagine.”Eby said that she feels Canvas is a great way to acquaint people with the creative works of the community. She agreed with O’Reilly that she likes that Canvas is not just about the final publication but campus programs as well.“Recently, we brought the founder of To Write Love on Her Arms to campus, and as a part of Union Board, we look to do a lot of things for campus,” O’Reilly said. “We all work closely together and the friendships alone make it all worthwhile.”Henwood said the committee is always looking for new people to get involved in the publication through attending meetings or just submitting. O’Reilly said more information about getting involved is available at www.ubcanvas.com and will also be provided at the premiere party.“Come for the slam poetry and music if anything else,” O’Reilly said. “It’ll be a good way to get to know Canvas and celebrate a last hoorah before you have to buckle down and study for finals.”
(04/19/11 2:42am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Bloomington has one of the best contemporary music scenes in the Midwest and one of the best music schools in the world. IU graduate Loren Gurman decided to join the two in a creative experiment. The project, titled The Brio Pop Society, started as a collaborative process bringing together songwriters to work on a themed album to celebrate Live From Bloomington’s 25th Anniversary. The Brio Pop Society has since become its own entity under Gurman’s direction. A callout meeting will be Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Indiana Memorial Union Starbucks for all interested.“It was amazing to see that many wonderful people come together through a creative process especially at a single event,” Gurman said. “But I really think The Brio Pop Society could expand to become something even more.”The Brio Pop Society has been the brain child of Gurman since last fall when he had the idea to create a concept album by combining creative forces of contemporary songwriters and classically trained musicians. Songwriter and junior Nick Huster said he believes Gurman’s vision could become a reality with the right help.“I think it needs visionaries, creative people,” Huster said. “Someone who has the desire to invest in the idea and help people could really make this thing bigger and better.”Sophomore Coleman Lowndes said he is excited to get involved with other sides of the project after performing at the LFB show in February, and he encourages others to get involved.“There are many levels of involvement,” Lowndes said. “There’s the classic artists, the writers, the arrangers and the administrative side.”Gurman said he hopes to see people also interested in marketing, publicity and arts administration come to the callout meeting.“It’s a process that involves as many people as possible,” Gurman said. “I really want to hash out objectives and approach this with an open mind to make it something that touches as many people’s lives as possible.”Gurman said he hopes the project will approach creativity as something you do with belief in its potential to enrich lives.“It’s already shown successful this past February,” Lowndes said. “The writing circles Gurman brought together really just gave you that mentality to write well, and the song I recorded was one of the better ones I have ever done.”Huster said he would like to see more collaboration with professional musicians and people who create music as a living. The Brio Pop Society also wants to be charitable.“Sometimes I think big events could give more if they skip the major presentations and just donated all of the money directly to charity,” Lowndes said. “So, I’d like to see things on more of a small community side where we tell people to simply bring cans to one of our shows.”Gurman said he wants to maintain philanthropic and individualize the cause for each community.“Hunger awareness is a huge issue in Bloomington,” Gurman said. “But as we expand, I want to consider the needs of other communities.”Lowndes said he would be okay with keeping the project local but he cannot wait to see what the future holds.“I think people should get involved now because it’s a brilliant project,” Huster said. “It’s a big vision that has been successful here and has the potential to be successful on a larger scale.”Gurman said he is considering Portland, Ore., as a future home of the society but looks forward to getting started in Bloomington.“I want to work to expand nationally, and I look forward to working with people who have the same creative vision,” Gurman said. “But no matter where it goes, it started here.”
(04/15/11 3:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>An orange extension cord ran from a single outlet across the empty spaces of the Jordan parking garage and into an overloaded power strip.From the one outlet, a makeshift music venue was powered.“I was at the smoking table at Wright, and I heard a bunch of music blaring from the garage,” freshman Ian Kime said. “I always follow music when I hear it, so I simply jumped the river and hopped over the garage wall, and it was a full show.”Kime was not the only one the music attracted as new local bands Fluffer and Ivory Wave made their music heard by the entire Southeast and Central neighborhoods.“I lived in Read last year, and we used to jam in the garage,” sophomore and Fluffer vocalist Al Sigman said. “We always talked about doing a show here but never did. So we finally did.”The garage show was the rock band’s first show and had more than 40 attendees.“It was cool. We didn’t invite anyone,” Sigman said. “We really just wanted to see who would wind up coming.”The band’s makeshift venue isn’t the only unconventional thing about it. Sigman said all of the members come from different styles of music, and they mix their rock-based sound up by adding gunshot sounds. However, the most unique thing about the band may be the origin of its peculiar name.“A fluffer is the guy in a pornography who is in charge of keeping the male actor erect between shots,” Sigman said. “I guess we chose it because it was awesome.”Kime said he liked the band’s style and thought it picked the best place to play.“I think the garage show was a perfect move. It attracts the people that like music the most,” Kime said. “As soon as I saw it, I was like, ‘Hell yeah, a concert in the parking garage.’”Following Fluffer was band Ivory Wave. The members of the indie-rock band said they accepted Sigman’s invite to play as soon as it was offered.“It was a total do-it-yourself thing,” Ivory Wave vocalist and sophomore Matt Jackson said. “It gave an echoey product, and it was very loud.”Jackson said he was impressed with the turnout, and though two police officers showed up while patrolling Little 500 week, he said they were simply there to listen.“I was most worried about the cops coming,” Jackson said. “But when they did show up they said they weren’t there to hassle us and stayed to listen.”Both bands agreed that it was a great turnout, and listeners, including Kime, said they plan to attend the next show.“It was a lot of fun,” Jackson said. “So listen up for more music and follow the sound.”
(04/13/11 4:03am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Screens of black and white static lit the stage as a leaked prison track recording announced that the offender was no longer in custody. A man in a t-shirt and dreads stood silhouetted in the top screen as dancers took the other platforms. The image vanished and suddenly Lil Wayne appeared front and center on the stage. With blinding lights, pounding bass and an ecstatic crowd, Lil Wayne did Little 500 bigger than anyone else.“This has been the sickest experience of my life,” freshman Sean Jordan said. “Nothing parallels it. It’s a star-studded cast of rappers, and to top it all off, it’s Little 5 week.”Lil Wayne, along with Nicki Minaj, didn’t seem to disappoint anyone as they headlined the night. As Lil Wayne held the mic to the audience, fans screamed as a wave of cell phone lights and hands danced in the air. After crowd favorite, “A Milli,” it seemed that Lil Wayne was just as impressed with IU as they were with him. All the rapper could say after introducing his tour was “Wow, wow, thank you, Indiana.”“Nothing to top off Little 5 like Lil Wayne,” Jordan said. The Tuesday night show, presented by Union Board and the IU Auditorium, left little tickets to spare as it was the only student-presented stop on Wayne’s “I Am Still Music Tour.” Freshman Duke Taglia said he bought six tickets seven minutes after they went on sale to made sure they got prime seats. Seated in row six, friend Elizabeth Mirabella refused to stop dancing.“You cannot not have fun in this atmosphere,” Mirabella said. “This is crazy and everyone is so excited. Lil Wayne is at the top right now.”Opening the night was Travis Barker and Mixmaster Mike. The duo had fans going crazy as they each took the place of the speakers in a giant boom box that sat on stage.“They were definitely sick,” said freshman Erik Bisson, who was there with two other Sigma Nu members. “Travis Barker was like the perfect pre-game, rather pre-concert. They got everyone in the mood, everyone dancing and ready to bust a move.”The drum and DJ kept fans pumped as the entire stadium started to chant “hoo-hoo-hoo-hoosiers” in anticipation of the next act — Rick Ross.The self-acclaimed “Boss” was true to his words when he rapped, “I’m the biggest boss that you’ve seen thus far.” When he ordered hands up during hit song, “All I Do Is Win,” not a single person disobeyed, and even when the music was cut, the whole auditorium continued the lyrics — “up, down, up, down.”Freshmen Kali Ireland, Lilly Stephens and Jennifer Winston were pressed against the gate to get a better view of the rapper and were lucky enough to catch a towel that Ross threw from the stage.“We had to fight a Beta boy for it,” Ireland said.The girls said they wouldn’t have missed the concert for anything and the fact that it was Stephen’s birthday only made the night better. Stephens said the concert was the best night of her life and her friends agreed.“If Lil Wayne made a stop especially for us, you knew it was going to be good,” Ireland said.
(04/13/11 3:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>An older man told Tom Schwoegler at the Monday screening of “Breaking Away” that he and his wife always watch the Little 500 race scene of the film and yell out, “There we are!” when the camera pans across them in the stands. Schwoegler was the technical adviser for the 1979 film and has continued to be an avid Little 500 enthusiast and coach ever since.“I’ve never been married and I’ve never had kids,” Schwoegler said. “So in a way, the kids I’ve coached have become my children and the event is a big part of my life.”Though Schwoegler said the event has been a big part of his life, he has been a big part in the life of the race as well. He was the Little 500 coach for Acacia for 20 years and Kappa Alpha Theta for 19. This year, Schwoegler is coaching men’s team Sigma Chi and independent women’s team Wing It. With his vast experience, Schwoegler was welcomed to the IU Cinema by Cinema Director Jon Vickers for the free showing of Schwoegler’s 35 mm copy of the film.Vickers said the cinema plans to make the showing an annual tradition for the week of the Little 500.“The common thread between the race year to year is the continuity,” Schwoegler said. “The continuity is the road, and I think the thing that travels that road is the contagious passion that gets passed from person to person.”Sophomore Evan Fetherolf said one thing that has changed during the years is the conception of the Little 500 race.“When I first thought of Little Five, I thought it was just a huge party week,” Fetherolf said. “After I experienced the week my freshman year, I realized that the race really is the biggest part of Little Five.”The film peaked when it won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and a Golden Globe for Best Film. Though the film has been a hit and a classic in several countries, Monday was the first time that Fetherolf had seen the movie.“It was interesting to see our campus emphasized so much,” Fetherolf said. “The whole Little 500 experience is really unique and one that you might never be able to relive, and I think seeing the movie and going to the race is a big part of that entire experience.”Freshman Jacob Gabbard said he has heard so much of the infamous party side to the Little 500 week that it was cool to see the historical side to the race.“I’ve seen the movie growing up, and I really hope that this year’s race and events will live up to the hype,” he said.Gabbard said it was neat to hear the audience in the theater actually clap loudly when the Cutters won the race in the movie. “There is unity with Little 500,” Gabbard said. “Regardless as to whether you’re greek, a ‘dormie,’ as the movie puts it, a GDI or a townie, I feel it makes the whole campus come together as a community.”Through the years, the race has been celebrated with concerts, parties and social events labeling it the “Greatest College Week in America” and the essence of IU. “As long as the passion remains contagious, the Little 500 will continue to do really well,” Schoewgler said.
(04/11/11 12:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Addicted to Music festival was like a sneak peek of summer. A football was tossed between some guys at the far end of the parking lot next to McNutt Quad while others threw a flying disc. People were lying out on the warm grassy hill that overlooked the lot while freshmen Jacqueline Perry and Charlie Smith climbed a tree to get a better look at State Radio.The free show was a kick-off to Little 500 week and was sponsored by Union Board and IU’s Business Careers in Entertainment Club.“The show is really personal. You feel like you can talk to anybody here,” Perry said. “Random groups of people are just coming together for a game of hacky sack, and the best thing is that it was completely free and for a great cause.”Perry saw State Radio in 2009 and said the band’s shows are always a good time. The night kicked off with bands San Clemente and Midnight Gravy Train, who got the crowd on its feet and moving. Senior and BCEC Music Committee Co-Director Stephanie Navarro joined the band on stage as one of the “Gravy Girls.” The Gravy Girls lead the crowd in a giant train as they circled through the audience.“We just decided to go up there and dance last night,” Navarro said. “It was a lot of fun. I’m glad we did it, and I hope Addicted to Music will only continue to become one of the Little Five must-go concerts.”Even after the band had finished, the dancing was only beginning. When State Radio took the stage, freshman Will Forman climbed up on his friend’s shoulders and started to dance. “It’s an unexplainable feeling when you feel the music and it makes you move,” Foreman said. “Anything precluding Little Five is something I’m going to like, and this show is amazing.”Foreman said the atmosphere was so relaxed that he didn’t even realize the event was put on to support Amethyst House and IU’s Alcohol and Drug Information Center. When he heard of the reason behind the concert, it really hit home.“My brother is a former drug addict and has been in and out of rehab numerous times,” Foreman said. “In fact, he just got out of Halfway House.”Foreman said he has a firsthand account of what addiction can do to a family.“Drug addiction hasn’t just hurt him,” Foreman said. “It has hurt my entire family, and people need to be more aware.”Foreman said he wished Addicted to Music would have brought more awareness of its cause. “I think it’s a great show, but it’s such an important cause that I think they should have even been more attentive to the situation and letting people know,” Foreman said.Lead singer from State Radio Chad Stokes said he loves to play in Indiana and his favorite thing about the Indiana crowd for this show was the “dude on his buddy’s shoulders with no shirt on.” Stokes not only noticed Foreman, but he also agreed with him in that addiction is a problem that needs to be addressed. “It’s a cause we believe in,” Stokes said. “We have all been lost at times and have had friends who have been susceptible to addiction, and some have passed and some are still here because of organizations like this.”
(04/08/11 2:51am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Between Little 500 apparel and pricey concert tickets, the concept of free might be difficult for students to grasp. However, IU’s Business Careers in Entertainment Club has paired with Union Board to present the third annual Addicted to Music concert free of charge.The show will be from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday at 13th Street and Fee Lane, just south of McNutt Quad, and will feature local bands Midnight Gravy Train and San Clemente alongside headliner State Radio.BCEC Addicted to Music Co-Director Dan Dicker said it’s more than just a free concert — it has a larger purpose.“We really hope to raise awareness about substance addiction in college culture,” Dicker said.The event will support the Amethyst House and IU’s Alcohol and Drug Information Center. Organizations including the Indiana Prevention Resource Center, Indiana Addiction Issues Coalition, Counseling and Psychological Services and the Office for Women’s Affairs will also be in attendance to discuss the resources they have to offer to students.“We live in a culture of ‘What are you doing Saturday night?’ ‘Well I’m going to go drink with my friends,’” Dicker said. “Though college partying isn’t directly responsible for addictions, it certainly aggravates it.”Dicker said a dangerous mind-set many students seem to have is that they’re not alcoholics unless they continue to drink heavily outside of college.“I think addiction is something that is too often overlooked or looked at through the wrong lens,” Dicker said.One goal of the event is to help students recognize addictions and educate them on how to approach loved ones that might be struggling with an addiction.“Alcohol doesn’t care what kind of person you are,” Dicker said. “And it seems that people only recognize that when something bad happens to the people around them.”Dicker shed light on some of campus’ recent incidents involving drug or alcohol use and said this is when IU students need programs like this most. Union Board’s Concert Committee Director Lisa Wagner said she agreed with Dicker.“With this being a free concert, we are able to focus on more than just ticket sales,” Wagner said. “This is a very pressing issue for students, especially during Little Five week, and I think music is a great way to start a discussion about these problems.”By electing State Radio to headline, Wagner said she hopes to draw a crowd that engages in the cause.“Last year it was really cool because people were sharing their personal experiences,” Wagner said. “I think it’d be cool if the same thing were to happen again this year.”Dicker said State Radio runs parallel to that mission. When the band performed for the first Addicted to Music, Dicker said they were great with interacting with the fans and even talked about the main cause on stage when they weren’t even asked to. This year lead singer Chad Stokes Urmston will be playing an acoustic set in the IU Arboretum and encourages musicians to bring their instruments for a jam session at 4 p.m. Saturday.“State Radio is great about helping with philanthropic causes and loves to play benefits,” Dicker said. “They’re about positive change through art, and that’s the direction we want to take this.”Along with the performance, a trailer of a documentary titled “Confronting Addiction: The Short Documentary” by BCEC’s Film & TV Committee will be shown during the concert. The film features IU students who have dealt with addiction. In addition to the documentary, celebrity biographies ranging from Steve-O to Eminem to Lady Gaga are posted on the Addicted to Music website, www.areyouaddicted.org.“This is all being presented in a casual atmosphere and so students can feel like they can relate to a serious topic but also enjoy the music and come and go as they want,” Wagner said.Junior Natalie Christine said she plans to attend the event because she has seen the amount of effort some of her friends have put into the planning of Addicted to Music. She also agreed with Wagner and said it’s a great atmosphere to talk about issues such as addiction.“It definitely draws attention to the problem but in a positive way,” Christine said. “It’s not a lecture, but something you can enjoy. It’s a conventional way of raising money, and I think students will pay attention because it’s unique.”Addicted to Music will delve even deeper into issues with a testimony by creator of the Jennifer Act, Sharon Blair.“I want the event to be an avenue to reform,” Dicker said. “Sharon’s daughter, Jennifer, died after 15 years of battling addictions. Now, Sharon has dedicated her life to changing legislation to a system of mandatory treatment for people battling addictions.”Blair’s campaign is called the Jennifer Act, and Dicker said he hopes her testimony will really open students’ eyes.“This is an all around event, and I hope people take something positive away from it but also just enjoy the music,” Dicker said.
(04/05/11 3:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Jason Ferber started young. At age 15, he was handing out his CDs in the hallways of his high school in Minnesota. Once a friend showed his work to the president of Best Buy, Ferber said he knew he would really have to start living up to his work. After creating a Facebook page promoting his raps using his stage name, Truth Himself, Ferber gained 1,000 fans in one night. Ferber said he knew it just couldn’t be in his head. Now Ferber plays with friend and DJ Kyle Herbert. The duo just placed in the top 100 of the BroBible College Rapper Database. With this success, Ferber is playing more shows than ever, including two at IU. IU student concert coordinators Tae Na and Will Nordstrom have booked Truth Himself to play a free show Saturday at HugeFest and the week after at Kappa Sigma. Catch Truth Himself at HugeFest or check him out at www.facebook.com/truth himself. IDS What does it take to become a successful college rapper?TRUTH Well, I think a lot of college rappers are doing it wrong. They seem to be all about getting into free parties. Personally, I think it should be sharing your opinion and views with similar people. I’ve talked with Mac Miller and Sam Adams and I think Mac is definitely cool with what it should be all about. We’re young and in college. No one knows exactly what we’re going to be doing, and I think music relates us while we figure it all out.IDS Whom are you most commonly compared to? TRUTH Pop stuff. Surprisingly, I’ve never been compared to the typical white rapper, Eminem. However, I’ve gotten a lot of Black Eyed Peas — so much so I ended up meeting up with Will.i.am from the group.IDS What is life like as a traveling college rapper?TRUTH I love to think music could be my full-time job. Fortunately, I make enough right now to legitimately live on the road, visiting new places and making new best friends for three days. If I get an offer to play, I’m in.IDS What’s your favorite thing about performing?TRUTH I like being able to make people have fun. It’s the greatest feeling I can have. That’s who I am. I’m a fun person and so I’m attracted to beats and songs that are fun.IDS What’s your definition of fun?TRUTH Catchy and fast pace makes me automatically think fun, but I try to make my music more than just about having fun. I mix catchiness with something a little more lyrical and hopefully I create something that will stick in their heads for a very long time.IDS What have you heard about Little 500?TRUTH Honestly, I have never even been to Indiana and I had never heard about Little Five until I looked it up when Tae approached me about coming and then I was like, why haven’t I heard about this?IDS What are you looking forward to most about performing at IU?TRUTH I like big shows with loud people that look like they’re having fun. HugeFest sounds like a crazy event, and then performing at Kappa Sigma sounds like it should be a tight show as well. I’m excited.
(03/28/11 2:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A bottle of alcohol laid on the ground a few feet from where a group of drunken teenagers danced provocatively to the harsh sounds of dubstep. There was a sudden flash of light, and in slow motion, the exaggerated characters moved so that every detail of their emotion was conveyed to the audience.It was the opening scene of “Language of Angels” opening night and it set the ambience for realistic suspense of an unrealistic story. “It was in those first small moments where we could see the characters move toward one another in a way that would eventually help to tell the story,” sophomore audience member Taylor Crousore said.The opening scene was not in the original script, but was added instead by first-time director Adam Noble.“He asked us to think of our favorite high school party memory, one we would never forget, and that’s what we went off of,” said freshman Colin Van Wye, who played the role of JB. “It was the right way to make it feel natural and with the right music, I think the rave scene gave the audience that modern emotional understanding.”Van Wye said Noble never had an exact way of depicting the characters for the actors. Instead, Noble encouraged the actors to explore the characters for themselves. Junior actress Stephanie Cohen, who played Celie, said Noble’s suggested journal keeping let her grow as an actress and feel her character.“I was allowed to be onstage and be dead and alive at the same time,” Cohen said. “To explore that was really neat.”In the play, Cohen’s character Celie goes missing after a group of teenagers party in the deep caves of North Carolina. Though what happened to Celie is never made clear to the audience, her spirit lives on to haunt the friends who never looked for her that night.“Originally I didn’t know anything about the play except for the fact that it was a ghost story and later that it was a Japanese noh (a form of classical Japanese music drama),” Cohen said. “But now I see it describing what it means to be young and free and feel like you can do anything to having one night’s events determining the rest of your life.”To understand the setting of the story and how things were for the characters in those crucial moments, the cast took a trip to Indiana’s Marengo Cave.“It let us feel what complete darkness really was,” Van Wye said. “Our eyes couldn’t read any light, and it was just so dark, we couldn’t even see the outline of our hand inches in front of our face.”The experience helped the cast understand the lost feeling of the characters as well as convey the haunting dark feeling to the audience.“When you think of angels, most think of a protector,” Crousore said. “But the play didn’t portray Celie that way at all but instead in a more demonic way that was really interesting.”Crousore said that when the audience was blindingly flashed by stage lights to signify a change of time or place, the visual adjustment in those few seconds really shared that lost, dark feeling of the characters. Cohen said it was one effect the cast used to help the audience reflect on the message of the play.“‘Language of Angels’ has a definite spirituality about it,” Cohen said. “One of my lines in the play is ‘remember me forever,’ and I think it says so much about how the people in our lives and in our past affect our present and will reflect in our future.”Cohen said the level of ambiguity in the story really allows the audience to take the play in several meaningful ways and she said that was exactly what the cast wanted.“I hope the audience left the theater questioning their interpretation,” Van Wye said. “We didn’t want people to see the play and be able to say this is exactly what happened, but we wanted them to continue to think about it and show interest even afterwards in the meaning of it all.”Crousore said for him, the play was indeed a process of trying to figure things out and come to conclusions.“Sometimes you want justice in an ending,” Crousore said. “But with this ending, you have to create your own, and I think that’s what’s most enticing.”
(03/28/11 2:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Chris Lemon wore a hot pink fishnet sleeve with a rhinestone pop art shirt that read “FAB” and accented his fire bell-bottoms with neon suspenders and Mardi Gras beads. His face was made up with sequins, which he applied along with bright blue eye shadow and long silver eyelashes before putting his hair in a high pony tail. His outfit said he had no intention of being missed, and as he danced to the electronic music Saturday at Rachael’s Café as a part of Stay Up, he achieved becoming the center of attention.“I thrive to light, creativity, bizarre things, wild places,” Lemon said. “This masquerade is like a rave.”Stay Up, an event-host organization founded partly by magician Evan Voss, features three DJs: Jobie Wan, Snack Pack and Dioxin One. Debuting Saturday was DJ Dzierba.“I really feel that DJ Dzierba brings a whole new element of trance to the music that our group hasn’t experimented with before,” Voss said.Lemon described the sound as hip-hop, electric and dub-step.“It’s like an adrenaline pump,” Lemon said.Party attendee David Goodman said he feels Stay Up is the perfect name for the group and the atmosphere it strives to create through its upbeat electronic music.“The group had quite a following in the basement scene,” Goodman said. “I feel the name Stay Up suggests their pursuit to stay up in a new venue and not only continue their self expression, but share it with others.”Voss said the group’s new goal is to reinvent the rave scene in larger venues, and he hopes to reach out to larger cities, including Indianapolis and Chicago.“We want to throw bigger parties and expand to reach more audiences,” Voss said.Another factor in reinventing the scene is introducing the concept of clean partying.“Raves have reputations with drugs and underage drinking,” Voss said. “I really want to change that by creating the hype in other ways.”Voss said he believes his new idea of the rave atmosphere is much more legitimate and clean. He also said it establishes the local group as a community idol to younger kids.“Our next show should be cool because it’s a benefit show for the Girls and Boys Club,” Voss said.The show will be April 8 at Rachael’s Café and will help the club raise funds for new skate park equipment.“I love throwing parties and I love to see a crowd grow by the end of the night,” Voss said. “I feel this is a cool thing where we can have fun and still give back.”
(03/25/11 3:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s lead singer Richard Edwards said his new favorite word is “grimy,” which was also his word choice to describe the band’s current musical state.“My definition of grimy would be that kind of blues ballad with bright electric guitar,” Edwards said. “It’s grimy when it sounds like a bunch of people in a concrete room somewhere just playing together.” The band’s “grimy” new sound first got attention with the September release of its latest album, “Buzzard,” which was followed by a six-song acoustic EP in January titled “Happy Hour at Sprigg’s.” Edwards said he sees the music continuing in a similar direction as the band begins work on its fifth album, looking to release next winter.The band plans to play some of its new songs at a show 8 p.m. Sunday at The Bishop. “I see it going further in the direction of ‘Buzzard’ with that swampy blues sound,” Edwards said. “I think it will be more well-written grimy pop songs.” Margot violinist Erik Kang seemed to agree with Edwards but said the next album should still have its unexpected aspects.“I’m looking forward to what it will become,” Kang said. “Hopefully it will be well-reflected.”Kang said one attitude the band has always maintained for its career is a “wish for the best but prepare for the worst” approach. He said though it seems some people will measure success by limousines and champagne, he believes the band approaches it differently.“There’s an optimism you have when looking at things,” Kang said. “You find success in the process of just doing something and finding out you can make it.” Kang said playing for a major record label, being on television and having people know the band has all been a part of this process. “Playing music with friends and experiencing all of these different places makes it worth it,” Kang said. “But what keeps me going is visiting the places I’ve already seen but then still finding something new in them.” Edwards said one place that always has that home feel when he returns for a show is Bloomington. “The town is familiar,” Edwards said. “I’m looking forward to not only playing but seeing a lot of good friends.” Edwards said the band plans to turn the venue into an acoustic rock show, playing classics but focusing on its newer songs. “I feel like this last album is completely my personality,” Edwards said. “It’s everything I like about music. It’s observing things more objectively with a sense of humor through the grimy side of pop, and I want that to be heard.” Freshman Marcus Tedesco said he looks forward to seeing the band perform live Sunday for the first time. Though he usually listens to almost all classical music, he has made an exception for Margot since first introduced to the music last semester. “It’s a deeply relaxed kind of feel, which I almost perceive as the meaning of their music in a way,” Tedesco said. “They give their music artistry lyrically, melodically and decorate their rhythms, which always seem to be unique.” Tedesco said he looks forward to seeing the musicians’ techniques when they play their instruments and how the crowd reacts to their new sound in a live setting.“I don’t think evolution is something a band necessarily chooses to do. I mean, as humans, we all grow up, so it’s natural,” Tedesco said. “If a band always gives you the same sound, they’ll just grow boring, so I think people will continue to take well to it.”Edwards said he won’t try to give people what they want because he doesn’t want that kind of sound. Margot is looking to evolve. “It’s catchy, grimy, nasty, snide pop and we’re looking for our kind of people to come out and take a listen,” Edwards said.
(03/11/11 4:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Accompanied by a slide guitar and a banjo, IU freshman Peter Oren introduced his new band as “Lil’ Wayne, Rick Ross and Nicki Minaj” because the band has yet to settle on a name. However, the audience said he sounded a little less Weezy and a little more Johnny Cash with his high-strapped acoustic guitar and deep voice.Along with freshmen Quintin Caldwell and Terry Neumann, Oren is in the process of what many people just talk about doing: starting a band. Oren said they have yet to define their sound. “We’re new to everything,” Oren said. “And though I get a little nervous at times, I know this is what I enjoy doing.”Though still in the early stages, the band already played its first show this past week at The Bishop and is getting feedback. “I didn’t know what to expect when they came on stage,” sophomore attendee Rachel Kolavo said. “The lead singer looked nervous, but when he started to sing, I was taken aback with his voice and how great it really was. You can tell that Johnny Cash had to be an influence.” Though many had the same response as Kolavo, Oren said when friend Aaron Frazer of The Natives asked him on a scale of one to 10 how much Johnny Cash influenced him, he had to reply with only a three. “I’m more inspired by Bill Callahan in Smog or Wilco,” Oren said. “But we’re a baby band, we’re still defining a sound, and we still don’t even have a name.”Currently the band is still torn in its initial phase of selecting a name. Though CASO is what the band has been terming itself recently, Roman Nose and Blue Gums are still on the table. Oren and Caldwell said they hope to have a name with significance, and their final decision needs to be permanent. Neumann said he agreed and said the name is one of the most important aspects in the process of becoming a band. “The name is incredibly important because it’s what helps people recognize you as a band,” Neumann said. Though Neumann is new to the country/folk sound, he played in a British indie-rock band when he lived in England, which he said he believes has given him a lot of experience.“When we decided to play a show with only being together for a few months, I was completely surprised,” Neumann said. “In my previous band it took us almost a year to put together a solid enough set to play a venue.”Neumann said that the process of starting a band is somewhat of a journey, from collaborating styles, to writing, to gaining confidence and practicing to finally performing. However, with the first show out of the way, CASO has already decided to start booking more shows and is looking to start recording an EP to be finished by the latter part of the semester. “I was lucky to meet Aaron, who helped me to record solo vocals already and invited us to open for his band The Natives,” Oren said. “But we hope to record as a group now and just start focusing on good music writing.”As an English major, Oren said he doesn’t see himself as an extremely knowledgeable musician but wants to focus his songs on the lyrics instead. “I want the music to be simplistic, to really lay an emphasis on the lyrics which I hope will be a little more complex,” Oren said. “I am interested in a lot of social and environmental issues that kind of theme to a more melancholy sound.” Oren said though he wants to maintain a simplistic sound, he would like to see the band add another guitar or possibly a drummer with a bass and snare drum and hat symbol to make the music more rhythm-based. “I think the addition of drums will fill in that gap you get with having three string instruments rather nicely,” Caldwell said. The band has begun to make an impression on the local music scene. Kolavo said she looks forward to seeing them develop as a band. “Their sound was calming, and the crowd seemed to fall quiet to listen intently to their songs,” Kolavo said. “The guys seemed to fit in nicely with the Americana lineup, and I think people liked them for what they were.” Oren said he doesn’t really know what is to come for the band but said he loves to sing and write, so he’ll continue to do so.“I’ve never played in a band before so I’m really looking for people to tell us how they feel about our sound,” Oren said. “Otherwise, I guess we’ll just have to see what happens after spring break.”
(03/10/11 2:41am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Bluebird Nightclub welcomes home Wayland’s frontman Mitch Arnold Friday as the band returns for a show in Bloomington. A graduate of Edgewood High School, Arnold said he was always surrounded by Bloomington’s music scene when he was younger. However, he said becoming a musician would have been inevitable despite his upbringing. “My parents were always supportive by taking me to see John Mellencamp and other shows in Bloomington growing up,” Arnold said. “But I think I would have been drawn to a piano or guitar regardless.”Arnold said at the time, his parents didn’t realize the amount of trouble they were getting themselves into by having a son in a band. Now, as a touring musician, Arnold said he wouldn’t have it any other way, and though Bloomington wasn’t what made him a musician, it’s still one of his favorite places to play.“It’s cool because a lot of my family and friends get to see me play, and it gives it that kind of intimate feeling,” Arnold said. “The Bluebird is a very special place to me. The IU crowd really gives me an out-of-body experience on stage.”Arnold said he always enjoyed coming back home and playing acoustic sets at the Bluebird during winter break, so when the band members were planning their Midwest tour, Wayland knew they’d have to stop in Bloomington.“Last December was our first show here, and since, it’s been our favorite place to play,” Wayland lead guitarist Phillip Vilenski said. “Crowds like Bloomington’s make eating gas station food all worth it.”Vilenski said Bloomington is full of rock ’n’ roll enthusiasts, and he couldn’t be more honored to play for them at the Bluebird, where musicians like Mellencamp started out. However, Wayland isn’t the only one who is happy for their return to Bloomington. Bloomington resident Kim Scott said she went to high school with Arnold and has always been impressed with his talent and she wouldn’t miss the band’s upcoming show.“I heard that they have some new songs, and if they are anything like the first album, everyone is in for a treat,” Scott said.Arnold said they plan to play all of the songs off of their new album, which was recorded last fall with Can-Am Studios. Famous for recording such artists as Guns N’ Roses, Pearl Jam and Aerosmith, the studio is also located in Los Angeles, the same city where Arnold first met Vilenski after high school 10 years ago. Vilenksi said recording there really impacted their music, and Arnold agreed.“We decided to go with a little bit different sound with the new album that we hope people will like,” Arnold said. “Our producer and engineer really pushed us to our potential, and the new sound kind of came naturally through that.”As the band became a little more melodic while maintaining the Southern rock influence, Arnold said it also wanted a fresh start in another aspect. So, upon the album’s release, the band changed its name to Wayland from their former title, Whiskey Circus.With a new identity, a new sound and a new album, the only thing the band will be keeping is its love for playing in Bloomington.“I’m sure it will be a packed place full of people having a great time,” Scott said. “We are all so proud of their success.”
(03/07/11 3:45am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>No one could deny the feel of the bass at Rhino’s on Saturday night.“Your head nods are beautiful,” SEMI-PROS emcee said.The crowd didn’t hesitate to participate as the all-ages venue held a benefit to help purchase a new soundboard, raising $336. Even though Rhino’s didn’t reach maximum capacity, the crowd continued to grow as acts like Anti-Swag Fiend Party, DJ Wally Wonder, Freddie Bunz and headliner C-Rayz Walz took the stage.“Hip-hop ushered me through my adolescent and teenage years,” Walz said. “So, supporting good venues and good music was a given for me.” Walz said he has been rapping professionally for the past 15 years but started at age 5 in his Bronx home in New York City. “I played everywhere I could when I first got into it,” Walz said. “I just wanted to get on a mic, spread my name and show people what I do.”Walz said hip-hop bridges the gaps of culture, ethnicities, race and age. He said all-age venues like Rhino’s bridge that generational music gap and give people the chance to express themselves through music despite their age. Bloomington South senior Kevin Weinberg said if he could say one thing to Rhino’s it would be “I love you.”“I’ve been coming to shows here for six years and playing with different bands here for five,” Weinberg said.Weinberg, who performed with Rattlesnake and the Church of FreshBeets, plays regularly at Rhino’s with his primary band Xenosound. “We’re all in high school,” Weinberg said. “But Rhino’s is always supportive of us and not only us but gives chances to anyone who wants to play.”Weinberg said Rhino’s is also the only venue that pays them to play, and he said he has become really close to the administration throughout the years.“If I had the money, I would give it all to Rhino’s,” Weinberg said. “But as an aspiring recording arts and music major, it looks like I might always be a poor Bohemian, but we appreciate Rhino’s for letting us keep trying to make it big.”Now 18, Weinberg said he is definitely looking to reach out to other venues, but he said he’ll never leave Rhino’s. With each performance, there seemed to be a shout-out of appreciation to the venue for everything it has given young artists. Between sets were beats spun by DJ Wally Wonder, who said he is an advocate for Rhino’s and Bloomington’s music scene. But the evening wasn’t all about the music, as IU senior Quinton Parker and his group B-Boys and B-Girls became the center of attention with their break dance-style choreography.“The benefit was actually my first time at Rhino’s,” Parker said. “But the venue is definitely dope.”The B-Boys and B-Girls are not only present in Bloomington’s break dance scene; the group spends a lot of time traveling around the state. Parker said after visiting Rhino’s, he’s definitely going to look into getting involved with the venue’s teen programs.“I’d like to see about coming back this summer and maybe doing a few workshops or even teaching a dance class,” Parker said. Parker’s idea runs parallel to Rhino’s mission of reaching out to the younger population and mixing generations through music. “I surprisingly don’t really like performing,” Parker said. “But just being able to vibe out at a hip-hop night like this is chill because it’s the music we enjoy.”
(03/07/11 2:10am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Stage Director Tomer Zvulun reinvented the tragedy and morality in “Faust” when he introduced the opera’s original 1859 production by Charles Gounod to modern times.Zvulun’s revision of “Faust” gave its final performances this weekend at the Musical Arts Center. “I think Tomer did an astounding job in making the characters cinematic in a way to where today’s audience, especially the college generation, could really relate to the content,” “Faust” chorus member and junior Ben Smith said.Like the original, Faust regrets his life decisions and makes a deal with the devil to regain youth. However, in Zvulun’s script, the world reverts to an earlier time, and the audience is taken back to the 1930s, whereas the original play remains in the same time period. “Faust” was Smith’s third opera at IU, and he said it was his favorite to take part in thus far.“The moral of ‘Faust’ focuses on the realization of our choice’s consequences,” Smith said. “But it also reflects on choices of our society as a whole, such as in times of war and the potential they carry to have immense impact on individuals.” The double-cast opera paired IU doctoral student Jonathon Matthews and undergraduate student Andrew Lunsford for the role of Faust in the four productions. Lunsford said he auditioned originally because he felt the role fit his voice, but the character and moral soon became large factors.“The thing most moving is the sheer tragedy of a sweet innocent girl being seduced to the dark side,” Lunsford said regarding heroine Marguerite. “It’s a morality tale of good versus evil, and the tragedy, though sad, is beautiful.”Lunsford said the overall chemistry of the chorus and the orchestra to the story was amazing.“I feel the production went beautifully,” Lunsford said. “I really hope the audience was able to see that and feel the level of energy we had and enjoy it as much as we did.”Smith said though the cast members had fun with each other, their main focus was on their character and being involved onstage.Sophomore Destiny Powers said she came to the opera because a lot of her friends were in the production’s chorus.“I think the opera really pushed being appreciative of what you have and not throwing yourself to the devil,” Powers said.For some of the cast, performing in “Faust” offered its lessons.“I have learned so much from ‘Faust,’” Lunsford said. “But overall I’ve learned to never, ever quit. You’re going to have people tell you that you can’t do something, but you have to find that drive inside yourself and know it’s not going to be easy. You have to fight for what you love, but I’ve seen it’s all worth it.”
(03/03/11 4:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The hip-hop scene in Bloomington is emerging Saturday to revive its presence in the community and raise money for the venue that has let musicians express themselves through music. For the past 18 years, Rhino’s Youth Media Center has served the community. It has offered an after-school refuge for high school students and music venue for all ages.Rhino’s assistant director and booking agent David Britton said the venue has been a part of his life since he was younger.“I went there as a kid and it was really important to me,” Britton said. “I went off to college and came back interested in sound engineering, and the venue was just comfortable to me, and I really care about the mission.”Britton said he thought of the idea for a benefit show after the venue’s soundboard broke. Rhino’s had to start renting one in order to keep being the host of shows.“Buying a new board will save us renting costs,” Britton said. “It will also improve the overall sound quality of the venue, which is definitely needed.”The new soundboard will cost $1,850. Though the club owners have raised some funds, Britton said he hopes Sunday’s show will push them over that edge.Adopting Britton’s idea, Rhino’s employee Erin Hanner took the project and ran with it, eventually recruiting a line-up of artists.The lineup includes Freddie Bunz, DJ Wally Wonder, A.C.E. O.N.E & Big Skittz are SEMI-PROS, Anti-Swag Fiend Party, Stakula and Bankenstein’s Monster and Rattlesnake and the Church of FreshBeets. Headlining the evening will be C-Ray Walz.“Basically the benefit show has become the brainchild of my friend Erin,” DJ Wally Wonder, aka Jeff Barrows, said. “I agreed to play because it sounds like a really good opportunity to support the venue but also support the fading hip-hop community by getting it involved again.”Barrows said in the past two years he has seen a change in the authentic hip-hop. The hip-hop sound has started to be overcomed by more of a style he called “blog-happy,” which gains its popularity on the web. Barrow said with spring coming, he wants to rejuvenate the classic hip-hop scene.“I want to reach out to all four elements of hip-hop,” Barrows said. “That is, graffiti writers, break dancers, rappers and DJ’s.”Assisting Barrows in this goal for Sunday will be Bloomington break-dance crew B-Boys and B-Girls.“All of these groups are about getting more momentum, a boost of culture that reminds people of the time where hip-hop was kind of a big thing,” Barrows said.The upcoming event will help to raise money for the venue. Barrows said it will also allow the hip hop scene to reach a different crowd.“We’re big on the party scene,” he said. “Since Rhino’s is an all-age club, we hope to make an impression on the younger crowd. We want to start a movement and get kids more interested.”Barrows also reaches out to the IU student population to help recreate the hip-hop scene and keep the culture alive by coming out to the hip-hop shows and bringing everyone together. “Hopefully as a venue we will continue to grow and provide even more free arts and media programs for teens,” Britton said. “I’d like to see more national artists come through too, but locally, I would like to see some of the older crowd bands share the stage with the kids who are just starting out in music.”
(03/02/11 4:31am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Pulsing with painted faces, neon lights and screaming amps, the basements of Bloomington disguise themselves under ordinary houses amid the college town.Unorthodox venues prove the local scene is active, as hundreds of music enthusiasts trek down basement staircases to the underground scene — a secret of Bloomington. “Dancing is all I want to do in my leisure time, and in this scene, I never have to leave the front row,” said junior Aubre Jean, Live From Bloomington’s assistant director by day and basement dancer by night. “Bloomington basements have been my life for the past three years.”In these dwellings are the often sweaty dancing devotees, but their eyes are all fixated on a particular guest — the bands, which are responsible for transforming these dark, damp basements into a stirring mix of passion every weekend. But one band has been relentlessly creating a unique kind of hype in the basements of Bloomington since its start in 2006. It has come to be known as Elephant Quiz, and it is famous for its extreme presence.“They’re such a good representation of our generation and what music is to us,” Jean said. “By expressing our generation, they’re said to take all of these raw ingredients and create their own flavor of smoothie with their own special talents.”Jean, who has been a host to an Elephant Quiz show at her house before, said she had shows to support the music she is passionate about. She said part of creating that intimate atmosphere has been booking Elephant Quiz as the night’s headliner.“For me, Elephant Quiz is one of my favorite local bands, and the crowd thrives off of them,” Jean said. “Basement shows are about living in the present moment, and this band is all about creating that moment and pulling people in, and their energy is only higher because they’re a multidimensional attraction.”The band’s “multidimensional attraction” includes a laser light show, strobe lights, projectors, additional sound equipment and, on occasion, fog machines.“We insist on pushing the limits,” lead vocalist Andrew Pickel said. “We take our music, and we take that energy in a dynamic sense to create an extremely loud, trippy, really flavorful show.”The band, whose members are all natives of Bloomington except one, has its roots in Pickel’s sophomore year in Bloomington North High School’s jazz band. Now, with bass player Kevin Hinnefeld, lead guitarist Zach Frasier, emcee Jacob Kowalczyk and drummer Dan Wood, the band continues to gain popularity with its “just let go” multi-genre sound.“I say we’re still searching for a genre, because we’re that music that tends to pull out the inner rage and encourage people to let go, dance, get crazy, get funky and boogie,” Pickel said.Jean said she feels that Elephant Quiz intertwines a wide variety of genres, and Kowalczyk said the members are able to do this through their instrumentation and different vocal styles.“It’s really something when the band is playing on more of a funk or jazz, hip-hoppy, groove dimension and Pickel is singing and then all of a sudden there’s rapping,” Kowalczyk said. “It turns people’s ears on in a way they’re not used to. It’s fun.”Kowalcyzk said it’s about communicating emotion and motion to a crowd. While emceeing he said he feels like he is on autopilot directing a wave of energy.“With each song we try to convince people of a concept or a state of mind,” Pickel said. “With notes and chords and lights we bring them from the very bottom to the very top.”Since their popularity has been growing, Pickel said the band members have reached a place where they can cut out and the crowd leads them to the next hook. He said they set their music up for the crowd to interject and tell them what they want.Freshman Megan Bruggman was at an Elephant Quiz house performance last weekend along with her friend, Emily Carew.“Lights were going off, and I thought I was freaking out,” Bruggman said. “People in the basement scene appreciate music, and you don’t have a choice when everyone is singing along but to dance.”Pickel said the lights don’t create the energy but accompany the sounds, evolving it to a texture that is an all-at-once throw only possible at a basement show.“The bands that are noticed and appreciated in the house venue scene are weird and unique because they do something strange, whether it’s with their songwriting or instruments, which make conventional venues afraid to risk a night on them,” Kowalcyzk said. “We’re one of those wacky groups, but we’re about the music, and that’s what people care about.” Pickel said it is important to emphasize that the underground scene is bigger than people think, and its bands are serious about the profession. Jean said too often people have negative stereotypes toward house parties because of the assumed alcohol and drug intake.“I never leave the front. I’m always there because I love the music,” Jean said. “Though there’s always going to be those few ignorant people that take things too far, a lot of us, we go strictly for the music.”Pickel said he wants people to recognize the professional side of the party-oriented scene.“If you’re there, you know it’s about the music,” Pickel said. “The best reward of that is to hear people say during the week, ‘So I went to this basement show this weekend and there was this awesome band.’”Pickel said the next plan of attack is to expand into playing the festival scene. Until then, the band will continue to introduce the people of Bloomington to the music of the underground scene.“The local scene is kind of a secret because otherwise it would be overwhelming,” Carew said. “But I think we discovered it that night.”
(03/01/11 5:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Strutting has never been as benevolent as at the Strut for Smiles fashion show Monday at Alumni Hall in the Indiana Memorial Union. “I have never heard of a fashion show that was produced here at IU to raise money for a cause like this,” IU sophomore and Operation Smile member Lacey Myer said.The show was the idea of freshmen Amy Chen and Samantha Loeffler five months ago. However, neither one would have predicted what the night would become. Raising $1,050 in ticket sales, not including a number of donations, Loeffler said she and Chen are glad people came to not only support the show and the cause but the hard work of everyone involved. Show attendee Dianna Walker wrote a $100 check at the production’s conclusion and said she did it because she is a mother who loves children’s smiles.The event raised enough through ticket sales alone to give five children who suffer from facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate surgery for a healthy smile. “I think it’s a very good cause to raise money for because it’s not common,” freshman attendee Priscilla de Castro Massey said. Massey said she first heard about the event through her friend Israel Rodriguez, who was one of 26 models for the evening. However, Massey said she also had a deeper tie.“I find the support of this cause pretty interesting because I actually knew someone with cleft lip,” Massey said. “More children have it than people recognize, and it’s great that someone is doing something about it.” After the first part of the show themed “The Corners of New York: From Brooklyn to the Hamptons,” Loeffler and Chen came onstage and said one of the reasons they did the show was because they could not imagine a child without a smile. They followed with the introduction of the evening’s speaker, Dr. Scott Walker. While his slide show about his personal foreign experience with Operation Smile brought tears to some, he ended by saying it was time for everyone to be proud of the event and the difference it was making.“Everyone has worked so hard on this show, and I think it is a great thing,” Myer said.After the heartfelt moment, things picked up as Hip Hop Connxion took the stage with its upbeat choreography, helping Chen and Loeffler welcome a taste of Brooklyn to the production.“The music was so good,” Massey said. “I was dancing in my seat the whole time.”JMUSE would only continue the energy with a passion-felt introduction, skat, skit and intense step choreography that echoed through Alumni Hall. “The hip-hop group and JMUSE were spectacular,” said freshman Oscar Rivas, who came to support the show as a member of Phi Alpha Delta. “They were a perfect transition set from Hampton’s high class to a very ’80s-style Harlem look.”The intermission was met with applause, including hoots and hollers, but was soon silenced by loud music with a more edgy feel than the production’s first half. What had been Lacoste and Ralph Lauren moments before was replaced with labels such as American Rag and Free People, provided by Macy’s and local Bloomington boutiques. “The models did an amazing job strutting down the runway,” Massey said. “The clothing selection was really fashionable.” The evening concluded with a thank you from Chen and Loeffler to Midwest Fashion Week’s creator and designer Berny Martin and campus organization Compass Fellowship, along with a long list of numerous supporters. Loeffler and Chen left their audience with one line: “I hope you enjoyed your taste of New York tonight.”
(03/01/11 3:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Bluebird declared war Thursday as it held the finals for the Little 500 Battle of the Bands. The final four included The Adultery Brothers, The Gentle Shades, Charlie Patton’s War and Mid-American. However, only one was victorious and given the opportunity to open for one of the concerts sponsored by Ice House Foundation during Little 500 week. Though tension was high throughout the competition, Charlie Patton’s War was eventually declared the overall winner. The all-sophomore group, made up of lead vocalist Blake Rhein, drummer Aaron Frazer, guitarist Kyle Houpt and keyboardist Justin Hubler, said as a newer band it couldn’t be more excited for this opportunity. IDS: When did you first hear of the Little 500 Battle of the Bands competition?Hubler: I think it started in November, but we didn’t find out about it until the middle of December.Frazer: Well, I saw it, but I didn’t think anything of it.Houpt: We thought there was no way. We were like, “It’s too late, whatever.” Frazer: Right, because the top eight were well over 100 votes each, and that just seemed like a daunting task, to overcome that deficit. But then The Adultery Brothers entered and very quickly made it to the top eight, so we were like, “Maybe it’s not too late.”IDS: How was your overall experience with the competition? Rhein: We played all right both nights. It was nice having a longer set the second night.Frazer: I think having a longer set in the finals really allowed us to showcase our versatility and really show the range of our influences.Rhein: ... and it was nice to play third both nights. That was a good spot. We were kind of able to be that climax as the last band, a good resolution. Houpt: It’s like a novel, if we were able to write a novel of the finals. IDS: How do you feel about your newfound success in winning Little 500 Battle of the Bands? Rhein: We can’t believe it. It feels really strange.Frazer: We were the only band who didn’t have any members 21 or over. Most of our friends are our age, too, so it would have been understandable if we didn’t get as many votes. It was cool to have won, but we’re keeping things in perspective. We are a new band, and we’re amidst a great music scene. Houpt: It was an honor to play with the other bands.IDS: How did Charlie Patton’s War first come to play together?Rhein: Kyle and I were living together, and we had the idea of starting a band. We were really set on it, and we started playing together ... Kyle was a talented drum player but a much more talented guitar player, so we asked our friend Aaron if he wanted to play drums with us, and he seemed very excited, so he obliged. We were soon to find out that you can’t have Aaron without Hubler, and after playing with Hubler for three minutes, we decided we had to have him. And then we were Charlie Patton’s War, and that’s pretty much how we formed.IDS What do you define your musical style as? Frazer: I usually tell people it’s heavy blues-rock, soul influenced. Aaron It definitely comes from the blues. It’s inspired by good ol’ rock ’n’ roll, but it also comes from gospel, country, funk, jazz ...Rhein: Hip-hop.Frazer: Sure, hip-hop.Hubler: Pretty much every style of music.Frazer: To just call us a blues band might not be the most accurate because I think we use Charlie Patton’s War to explore other types of music. IDS: Are you currently working toward an album or EP release? Frazer: Some people have asked us, “Are you going to start recording an album or anything?” But at the moment we don’t really feel any pressure to do that. We’ve just been making songs as they come and fortifying the ones we have.IDS: What will be your reward for winning the competition, and what do you look forward to most?Frazer: The whole Battle of the Bands was sponsored by Ice House Foundation, which is the sponsor for some of the concerts during Little Five week, so we’ll get to open for one of those in April. Rhein: We’re excited. If we’re opening for a hip-hop artist, we’re going to try to bring a little more of those elements because that’s what the people are coming to see. It’s a lot of people. Houpt: Reaching out to a whole new crowd of fans that might not have heard blues music before. Rhein: You can’t really fit 3,000 people in a basement, so it will be cool to play to that many people.Frazer: Right now the main people who listen to our music are friends and friends of friends, so it’ll be cool. It’ll be nice to just have our name up there, and when people talk about the Bloomington music scene, it’ll be nice to have our name mentioned. Hubler: That’ll definitely help us.