USU-founded program gives writers a chance to perform
Being in the spotlight. Playing from the heart. Letting themselves be known.
Members of the Independent Music Club hope for those moments every time they play.
The club, organized last year by students Cayle Christensen and Jared Shores, is giving those with musical talent the chance to be a little closer to the limelight.
Christensen, the club president, said the IMC was started because there wasn’t enough of a music scene on campus.
“We saw there was a need for people to play, so we organized a club so we could have access to the school,” Christensen, a senior in sociology, said.
Students like Mike Hancock have participated with the IMC before and said it’s a good way for bands to get their names out.
“Being independent means you have to push yourself. You have to self-promote,” Hancock, a sophomore in landscape architecture, said. “Find a club that will support you and publicize you. Get involved in IMC; they’re all about the little guy. They’re about supporting each other. We’re there to support the music.”
Hancock said he has been writing techno music with his brother for four years, has made a CD and hopes to someday be signed by a record label. Until then, he just plays.
“We’re in it for the love,” he said. “We have to remember that when we realize how broke we are. We’re not really in it for the money – we know it’s a long shot. We mostly write because we love music.”
Hancock and his brother are independent musicians, as are so many others at Utah State University. Christensen, a senior is sociology, said there are more than 80 people on the Independent Music Club’s e-mail list, and those are only the ones who have joined.
Christensen said the club meets once a month and has open-microphone nights at the Quad Side Café and other various locations on and off campus. They do acoustic shows and concerts, too. This month, they sponsored the Neil Diamond birthday party.
Christensen said for the concerts they usually like to incorporate local bands.
Hancock said that if a band has enough initiative, they can get their name out. He was in a band last fall that performed a Weezer cover concert. He said about 500 people came to Kent Concert Hall and many of them rushed the stage and jumped and sang with the band.
“It was so sweet,” Hancock said. “We felt like rock stars. It was unforgettable, very unforgettable, to have fans for one night and get everyone going.”
Kellen Tew, a freshman in guitar performance, was also in the band and said he will always remember the night he and his friends were almost Weezer.
“It was really fun when we got into it,” Tew said. “Halfway through, the crowd came up jumping up and down and singing along. At that point, I felt we did Weezer justice and we were the next best thing to seeing Weezer live. It was really flattering.”
That kind of concert may not happen for every band, but with the help of the IMC, at least everyone can have their chance at fame during the monthly open-microphone nights.
Chrtistensen said everyone is welcome and for a calendar of events, look up www.myspace.com/independentmusicclub.
-mnewbold@cc.usu.edu