Inside Vassar’s campus music scene

Sam Bloch Staff Writer

Students often critique the Vassar music scene in terms of who is booked and who is not. Many people turn to Bard and reference their music scene as a freer environment for groups and shows. As the first part in a two-part series, The Miscellany News examines Vassar’s music scene through Vassar College Entertainment (ViCE), indepedent clubs and student bands. The 12.9.05 issue of The Miscellany News will explore the Bard music scene.

Which national touring acts can the Vassar student body expect to see? Though it is ViCE’s responsibility to try to satisfy as much of the student body as possible—their mission statement identifies them as “the programming board for the campus”—it does not forbid them from occasionally booking smaller and less accessible acts.

But according to ViCE CEO Jeremy Robinson-Leon ’07, ViCE rarely does so because these acts are expensive ventures. More importantly, it is difficult to get students interested in these smaller acts.

“Whether it’s hip-hop, indie, folk, whatever, it seems that students are generally apathetic about going to shows that they don’t know much about,” said Robinson-Leon. “There is always a core group that will attend genre-specific shows, but that group may only be 40 students or so. That is often not enough to justify spending more than a thousand dollars.”
In light of this realization, ViCE has decided to book a large-scale show in March.

“It's been a while since Vassar has had a really huge show. The last one was The Roots in 2003,” said Robinson-Leon.

However, while Mookie Singerman ’06 was ViCE Director of Musical Events from fall 2003 to 2004, ViCE did not book any expensive acts. Prior to Singerman, it was Carter Logan ’04 who brought acts like Les Savy Fav and The Rapture to the quad.

“More shows meant more opening spots for campus bands,” said Singerman. “Which, in turn, cultivated a pretty eclectic and talented music scene.” Vassar bands were able to open for acts like Dead Prez, Sleater-Kinney, Rufus Wainwright and Ratatat.

ViCE is not going to book more middle-of-the-mainstream acts as it did under Singerman and Logan. Instead, Robinson-Leon wants to bring a balance of big and small acts, even though he conceded that ViCE loses money by booking smaller acts.

Other Vassar organizations contribute to the music scene on campus as well.

ViCE Jazz, held every Tuesday night at the Mug, has made a conscious effort this year to play different kinds of music to reach out to more students, according to ViCE Jazz Co-President Sara Weston ’07.

“Because we book small acts every week, we give students the opportunity to bring the acts that they want to hear,” said Weston. But both Weston and co-President Molly Flanagan ’06 admit that interest has dwindled as the Mug began to strictly enforce rules on drinking, smoking and ending the night at 1:30 a.m., instead of 2 a.m.

According to co-President Morgan Monaco ’06, Hip Hop 101 has several events each semester, including showcases, spoken word sessions, Mug nights and graph (graffiti) exhibits. But even particular groups like this, who are not intended to represent the whole campus as ViCE is, find it difficult to satsify their smaller audiences.

“Some students [ask for acts] that are too expensive,” said Hip Hop 101 Co-President Jesse Jacobs ’06.

Associate Dean of the College and WVKR faculty sponsor Ray Parker is adamantly opposed to the radio station hosting these kinds of concerts.

“It’s ViCE’s job to bring smaller acts and to bring whatever kinds of acts students want,” said Parker. “[But] WVKR shouldn’t be doing performances. They’re a radio station. They should help ViCE promote acts, not to bring them.”

But Halimah Marcus ’07, WVKR Finance Director, and Jake Friedman ’07, WVKR Public Relations Manager, take issue with Parker’s argument. They say it is the responsibility of WVKR to promote independent music to the student body, be it on the radio station or through live performances.

Though Vassar has a rich history of
moderately successful rocker alumni—including The Bravery, The Double and Mike D for a semester—only in recent years have Vassar students started to make a name for themselves while still enrolled. Genghis Tron, a dance metal outfit comprised of Singerman, Hamilton Jordan ’06 and Michael Sochynsky ’05, were lauded by metal magazines for their debut EP Cloak of Love, released in March 2005, and are set to record their debut album with Kurt Ballou of Converge in January.

Three Vassar-launched record labels still based in Poughkeepsie exist, including David Knowles’ ’08 Stovetop Records, Chris Kiehne’s ’06 and Jacob Berns’ ’06 BloodShake Records, and Singerman and Friedman’s Lovepump United. The first two labels have distributed albums by Vassar students and alumni, and Lovepump also distributes AIDS Wolf, a Montreal-based noise rock act. This past September, Lovepump held a showcase at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York, where they were featured in the CMJ Music Marathon Guide pamphlet.

But perhaps the success of bands and labels that extend beyond campus has not helped to reinvigorate the Vassar music scene.

“Genghis Tron formed here, but only played here three times out of 50 or so shows,” said Singerman. “Establishing ourselves outside of Vassar was more important to us.“

According to Singerman, The Finer Things, glam-Strokes types led by Lincoln Hadley ’05 and Jonny Froines ’05, only played at Vassar twice. Instead, he said, they played New York City “all the time” in hopes of a record deal. He stressed that there still are some talented bands on campus, like Tarantella and the Taylor Brown Trio, and that these bands have a loyal on-campus following. But Singerman believes that there are far fewer bands playing on campus than there used to be.

“Two years ago, you had tons of bands playing almost every weekend,” he said. “But it could just be a lull in the music scene.”.

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Sam Rosen-Amy/The Miscellany News