By Jeanine Budd
From Hold Anything’s solo acoustic performance, to the upbeat and animated rock group Lansdowne, the wide spectrum of New England’s up-and-coming talent was displayed Friday at afterHOURS.
Seven local bands – Project 1.9, Hold Everything, Andy Mead Band, Lansdowne, Doggie Hi! Yippie, Tiny Dylan and On the Drop – took the stage and showcased their talents at a concert organized by the music industry department’s Record Industry class.
“These bands are all really good and dedicated,” said Claire O’Niel, a senior music industry major and student in the class that put on the event. “They all put a lot of time and effort into this and plus, they all have catchy tunes.”
Seven groups of students from the class each chose a band to work with. The groups played the role of record label for their chosen artists. Friday night’s performance was the culmination of the semester’s work.
With few technical errors at the concert, the extent of their efforts was visible.
“There was a lot of outside work because each group had to do a photo shoot, two or three recording sessions, then a mix and then we had to do a live show,” said Krissy Laux, a middler music industry major and student in the class. “It took weekly meetings and a lot of e-mails with band members and coordinating schedules and things like that.”
Each group promoted its band’s performance with flyers, Laux said. The student groups picked their bands based on “marketability, sound and uniqueness,” she said.
Laux said the groups also had the option of working with students from Northeastern’s graphic design and technology programs.
Learning how to manage bands proved to be a challenging task for some students. Friday night’s performance was just a small piece of the entire class.
Dana Brown, a middler music industry major and another class member, said each band recorded two or three songs with its group in Northeastern studios.
“It’s kind of a different stress than having to study for a test,” she said. “This artist is a good friend of ours and it’s a career that we’re messing with, so we don’t want to mess anything up.”
The class’s professor, Andrew Mazzone, manages bands and is also a musician himself. This year was his first teaching at Northeastern as a part-time faculty member.
“With this class, you can see that not all classes are filling out blue exam books. There’s other stuff, too,” he said. “Northeastern is really at the forefront of practical, musical education. With all these kids doing different things, it really creates a community, and Northeastern should be proud of these programs.”
The band’s performances did not affect the grades of the class’ groups, but provided an opportunity to expose a wide array of local musical talent.
The six-piece Andy Mead Band used both electric and acoustic guitars, as well as a saxophone and, at one point, a beat boxer clad in a black, button-up shirt and a plaid hat.
As a stark contrast to the Andy Mead Band, the folk trio Doggie Hi! Yippie brought a calm, somber style to the stage.
“I like [Doggie Hi! Yippie] because they’re different. They’re folk and we don’t have that around here much today,” said Victoria Correia, a sophomore music industry major in the audience.
Local rock group Lansdowne used its intense energy to get the crowd on its feet. Jon Ricci, Lansdowne’s lead vocalist said he was surprised by the number of people sitting on the floor.
“This is weird for me,” he said. “Do you guys like sitting? Is this how you ‘rock’ at Northeastern? I feel like I should be telling ghost stories around the fire or something.”
While the crowd was relatively calm, many students said they enjoyed the performances.
Correia said local band showcases are a good way to support local upcoming artists.
“People should come [to events like these] out of the goodness of their hearts because these bands have given us so much time and recorded their songs and given Northeastern the rights to those songs,” Brown said. “They’ve put a lot on the line for us.”
