At any moment you can catch a
live concert on campus, with student
troubadors popping up everywhere.
Singers, guitar players and
drummers are taking advantage of
the nice weather and taking their
talents outside.
Some are music majors, others
are just exploring their personal
interests while enjoying the nice
weather.
Music has brought students together
and bonded them. One former
student comes to campus just
to hang out play with her friends.
If you don’t have time to stop
and listen you can check out our
local talent on myspace.com
“Being a music major is hard,
you feel like you spend a lot of
time in a cell practicing; it’s nice
to get out of your cell,” said one
student of his reasons for taking
his talent outside.
The “Story ofWorlds” is a band
of two that was playing on a
bench outside of Rollins one day
recently.
Douglas Muro, 25, a liberal arts
major from Langhorne and Daniel
Keefer, 20, a music major from
Churchville, make up the band.
They just started playing together
Oct. 8.
The two routinely greet each
other by slapping feet instead of
hands.
They describe their sound as,
“rock folk thrash metal.no death
metal folk lore, that’s our final answer.”
They don’t take themselves too
seriously.
“We’re not human beings either
we’re actually genetically engineered
human hybrids,” says
Muro.
Muro would like to see students
of different skill levels work together
to create music.
“A lot of music majors look
down on others with less skill. It’s
almost like cliques of who is better
and who is not, we all have
separate ideas, separate skills, and
those ideas should be fed upon not
looked down upon,” said Muro.
“People should collaborate
rather than clash; if that’s what’s
happening I’m just not aware of it.
I mean no offense to any music
students.”
Keefer and Muro have gotten
to play with some other random
students.
“I have actually sat down and
played with a few people,” said
Keefer
“We tried to get this kid who
walked by to join what was his
name? I have his number in my
phone,” said Muro.
Playing outside you are bound
to face some negative feedback,
but the group says it has been limited.
“I haven’t gotten really negative
feedback. This lady walked by
and said ‘Don’t quit your day job,’
but who is she to say that?” said
Keefer.
Muro welcomes any signs of
creative expression as positive for
the campus.
“I don’t think our campus would
be half as cool without the art department,”
said Muro
A second, larger group of students
was found playing outside
near the Hicks Art Center on the
same day.
“I’m working on a song and
they’re helping me learn how to
write it down,” said Laura Melandra,
21, a music major from Newtown.
A singer, two guitar players and some drummers all sat around a table and collaborated. “We’re seeing
students playing around campus more and
more. It’s fantastic,” said one member of the group.
The group seemed to feed off of
each other.
“When I do drum rolls while
you do them they sound fantastic,”
one student told another.
“All the time, we’re out here no
one really gives us any grief, half
the time people will listen, most of
the time they’re busy so they just
walk past,” said John Conover, 19,
a music major from Richboro.
“Classes led to playing together,
I’m not in school here anymore,”
said Anna Slovich, a former student
from Philadelphia. “There
was a time when that was a problem;
it should be as inviting as
possible in my opinion, that’s how
things grow
“Your voice is getting good you
have a really cool twang to it,”
Conover told Slovich as she sang
and strummed a guitar.
“Whenever I hear a musician
that’s not a music major I try to
get them into music and have
them do something they like instead
of something they don’t like
or don’t want to do; just about
everyone likes music or can get
into it,” said Conover
Student response to the music
has varied.
“They play drums in side the
cafeteria. A few weeks ago we
were eating and this kid just
started banging on drums, everyone
got quiet.I don’t think people
were annoyed, they were just
kind of like ‘what is going on?,”
said Rachel Perch, 19, of Levittown.
“I’ve just kind of walked by I
never thought to say anything I
don’t mind it, it doesn’t bother
me,” said Alyssa Sellers, 18, an elementary
education major from
Yardley.
“I walk by, acknowledge that
they’re there, but don’t really
stop,” said Sellers.
“I’d say it adds to the experience,”
said Reggie Staton, 18,
from Bensalem.