Two years ago, the Band Practice Room was nearly defunct. Now, it and Reed bands are flourishing.
There is a thriving band scene at Reed currently, bolstered in part by an improved Band Practice Room (BPR) and an upsurge in student club involvement. Two years ago the BPR was nearly defunct and twigs were occasionally used as drumsticks, according to current BPR Manager Daniel Ku ‘13. Daniel’s own band—Cellmate—is currently on hiatus as two of its members work on their senior theses, but Daniel has continued to be an active presence throughout the year in fostering community involvement in and use of the BPR.
“Even when the room was in a state of disrepair you could see it had great potential. Two years ago there was a lull in student organization involvement but since there has been a resurgence, with the BPR seeing a definite increase in involvement. We’re able to practice in a very close space and release whatever anxieties we might have; it’s in the center of campus but is isolated as well.”
One of the bands taking full advantage of the space is Cupid; made up of Taylor Thompson, Miles Bryan, and Sam Yehros. They formed over this past school year after Thompson worked at a camp called The Rock & Roll Camp for Girls and was inspired to start her own group. She and Miles found they had great musical chemistry and were excited to add Yehros, a drummer, to the band as well. They have been practicing together in BPR ever since. “It’s exceptional we have a band practice room,” says Bryan, attributing some of their ability to form a group to their access to the space. “We weren’t band people for the most part, I never thought I’d make it into a band.”
“It’s good to see bands like Cupid using the facility to practice and write,” says Ku. “It was great to record them,” Ku continued, referring to the two singles the band has released through bandcamp.com that were recorded in the BPR.
Another group that has made use of the BPR for recording purposes is Hausu, although they have since branched out and recorded their upcoming album—which at YU Contemporary in SE Portland. The band includes Ben Friars-Funkhouser ’14, Alex Maguire ’14, Carl Hedman ’13, and Santi Leyba ’14. Their new album, Total, will debut June 23 on Hardly Art, an imprint of Sub Pop Records. The band has already toured on the West Coast and across the country, but stay they still enjoy playing shows at Reed.
“Playing at Reed is really fun,” says Friars-Funkhouser, “it’s nice to have friends and other people we know come to our shows and there’s been good turnout at Reed shows.”
“It’s been a large part of my experience at Reed,” says Hedman. “It’s a cool way to do something artistic outside of school.”
“Schoolwork imposes,” added Friars-Funkhouser, “but it gives you a stronger dedication to make your work outside of school good.”
“We started playing as a group freshman year,” says Maguire. “We would practice three times a week for 2-3 hours at Carl’s house, then started playing shows in Portland. That year we played a show with Craft Spells in Winch, and opened at Holocene and Mississippi Studios, then toured on the west coast the following summer”
As they have become more well known on the west coast they have grown to become more of a Portland band than a Reed band, however, Friars-Funkhouser noted the “resurgence of Rock music at Reed. [The BPR] wasn’t used very often our freshman year, but Daniel has done a great job with it.”
Members of Hausu did still have the opinion that there was very little respect for equipment in the BPR, sentiment that was partially echoed by Ku, who sees that the respect for the space has increased recently. “There’s a lot of traffic and not much funding so it’s sometimes difficult to keep up the room. People often come in inebriated, but it’s getting better, people are taking more ownership of the shape. We recently replaced all the heads on the drum set and are looking to make more improvement as well. This room has great potential, especially with a lot of freshman are finding are finding it to be a place for creative expression.”
Taylor Thompson, Miles Bryan, and Sam Yehros of Cupid.
One band of freshmen that has had a particularly strong presence in the BPR this year is Los Gatos, consisting of Sophia Barba ’16, Peter Gunnar ’16, Wilson Mendes ’16, and Omar Alhashani ’16. “We started jamming 1st semester,” says Barba. “That’s when I started learning bass. Omar’s been playing the drums for a while and Peter and Wilson have been playing guitar since they were kids. We’ve been learning as we go, sometimes forcing ourselves to do things we’re not good at.”
“I wrote most of our songs when I was in high school,” says Gunnar, “but was never able to have them performed by a band. They’ve amplified it.”
The band separates themselves from other bands at Reed by their improvisational style. “It’s not choreographed or planned,” says Alhashani.
“I’m a believer in one-track recording,” says Gunnar, “the quality should come through live the same as it does in studio. Everything’s improvisable, we just create a starting point.”
“Every time it’s different,” concludes Barba. “The environment changes.”
Beyond their own artistic views, the group also discussed the ways in which Reed facilitates their creative endeavor. “Reed has all that we really need,” says Barba, “but it is still difficult sometimes.”
“The BPR provides a good opportunity to be involved in creative processes,” says Gunnar, “but recording in the BPR is more difficult than it should be.”
Ku acknowledges that the BPR has some shortcomings, but is hopeful that the increase in traffic and greater freshman involvement will crate a greater sense of ownership and institutional continuity. “If freshman want to see the BPR as a better place, then they should take initiative,” he says.
There are many changes that the BPR that may be unavoidable for the BPR in the upcoming years. After the completion of the new Performing Arts Building Prexy will no longer be used for music. “There is currently a small room in the basement that is used for rehearsals of smaller groups,” says Ku, “and it is unclear whether there will be a space for these groups in the new performing arts building.”
Ku has been in discussion with Kristin Holmberg about the possibility of dealing with added traffic accompanying the need for a place for groups that previously used Prexy to have a place on campus where they can practice. Ku seems excited by the idea, saying, “it could possibly make the BPR more academically focused and could create a better diversity of music.” The music you hear as you cross the blue bridge in upcoming years might not be that of a rock band but of a jazz duo.
When Ku leaves at the end of the year, these challenges will be taken over by Chris Ward ’16. Ku says he wanted to give it to a freshman to allow for these changes to be approached with more long-term goals in mind. “I was handed the position this past summer and have learned so much and now see so much that I could potentially do if I only had more time.” He is optimistic about the future of the band practice room and bands at Reed.