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Printer-Friendly ModeA show in need of a stage
Local bands seek campus exposure, community support
April 9, 2007 —
SVSU is home to many creative and artistically gifted students. Whether it is through Cardinal Sins, the art department or otherwise, all of these students are given several outlets for their creativity.
Well, almost all of them.
Walking around campus you can pick up an issue of Sins and read some original fiction and poetry, as well as see some equally original photography, all produced by SVSU students. Additionally, when walking through Arbury, you will be exposed to a wealth of different forms of original artwork, all produced by SVSU students.
One form of art that is curiously lacking from that list is music. We give all of these students an equal opportunity to have their voices heard through their art. However, several students at SVSU feel that their form of work is not being given the same forum as other forms of art, and are doing their best to change that.
During one of the recent local shows that have become a bit of a running trend here on campus, a few bands with SVSU representatives decided to sit down and talk about how they feel student-produced music, just like all other art forms, can help improve campus life at SVSU.
"A lot of people don't know that there are live, local bands in their town," said Kenn Frank, lead singer of the Saginaw-based metal band Hokori. Additionally, Frank attends SVSU as a criminal justice major, and plans on returning here for his graduate study. "Not many students realize there is stuff like this going on, being done by people their own age."
Many of the students on campus are active in local music. Whether it be through attending shows and supporting their friends' bands or being in a band themselves and producing original music, these students feel that music is just as valid an art form as a painting, story or sculpture.
"I think giving these kids an outlet for artistic expression is important," said Nick Prieur, guitarist for Hokori. "If you're an artist and you do sketches or paintings, you want people to see them. Well, I write songs and I want people to be able to hear them once in a while."
More than just music
Students like Frank and his band-mate feel that students at SVSU who produce their own music deserve to have their art heard and, more importantly, that students here deserve the chance to hear it. To Frank, and many of his compatriots, music isn't simply something to listen to and get a momentary pleasure from. For them, it's a form of art.
"We talk about giving kids opportunities to open up their minds artistically," Frank said. "We always talk about doing it artistically, but they never look at the musical aspect of art. They only consider a painting on a wall, or poetry. Well, poetry is a form of art, but so is music. It's technicality or the skill with your instrument; it's the power that is given across through the message of the vocals, or even the atmosphere of a song."
Adam Arnold, a theatre student at SVSU and guitarist and vocalist for The Gloaming, says that all SVSU students deserve the outlet that music can give them. Not only those who choose to play music and express themselves through it, but also those who listen to the music to relax from the stress of college life.
"Jimi Hendrix used to say, 'I would play as loud as I could, so people could come to my show and release their frustration through me,'" Arnold said.
How music can help
Not only do these students feel the need to have their art seen and heard, they feel that it can help to better campus life.
It is no secret that there are some areas of Saginaw that are less than savory. SVSU has the opportunity to give kids a place to go that is not only safe, but also has better facilities for them to enjoy the music. Plus, the members of these bands might like to see Saginaw.
"A lot of places around Saginaw aren't the greatest places for kids to hangout," Prieur said. "They get easy access to alcohol and end up falling over drunk."
Giving these students, who are currently leaving school on weekends to catch a show, a place to put on their own concerts would help build a sense of community on campus.
Arnold agreed with Prieur, saying, "We've always wished there were rock shows here, right here on campus, so we don't have to go anywhere else."
Frank believes that by holding events like this will not only help serve the students by giving them a quality activity to do on the weekends and help expose them to new forms of art, but it also gives them a chance to meet other students and help them build that strong sense of community.
"You never know what kind of people you are going to meet at a show," Frank said. "What if I'm sitting next to a person in class and, based on my own stereotypes, say to myself, 'There is no way that guy is going to dig my music,' but then we throw a show here and when I come to check it out he's there headbanging? Events like this would help open up peoples' minds a little bit, and say, 'You know, that guy doesn't dress like me, but I wonder what he digs?'"
Prieur continued where his band-mate left off. "I'm sure there are a ton of great people I don't have the chance to meet because there isn't much of a reason for me to come."
The future looks bright
Despite the fact that these students are feeling as if their art isn't as appreciated as it should be, they are excited about the current trend of local music on campus. Lately, groups like Program Board and Sins have taken big steps in helping give these students an outlet for their creativity. But some feel these events need more press.
"We try to play on Midland Street, or some place in Bay City, and all they want are cover bands," Nathaniel Kovalcsik, guitarist and vocalist for The Gloaming. "That's frustrating for us because we have a ton of original songs. I think it's terrific what those groups have done, and we look forward to seeing what we can do in the future."
Also, they feel the facilities campus boasts are far better than most places they've played and been around in the area. Kovalcsik says that he's been eyeing the Multi-Purpose Room for a show from the time he first saw it.
"That is the first thing we thought when they built that room: 'Wow that would be an awesome place to put shows on.' I'm happy that stuff is happening now, but it needs more advertisement, and it needs to happen more."
"The Multi-Purpose Room is designed for sound," Frank agreed. "It's got an acoustic wall, it's big. The campus does a lot of things to promote student activities like basketball games and intramural sports. I think that if people started looking at it like that, rather than kids wanting to come here, make a lot of noise and get beat up at a show, maybe they would be a little more open to it. In the future, I'd like to be able to say, 'Hey, you guys want to go to SVSU and go to a show.'"
The students said that the ball is in their own court as much as it is in the University's. They need to work together to bring even more music events to the students.
"After all," Arnold said, "this is a fine arts college."